Fast Facts
Population: 9,885,661 (July 2007 est.)
Area Comparative: slightly more than three times the size of California
Literacy rate: 47.5%
Life expectancy: 47.2 years
Population below poverty line: 80% (2001 est.)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: $1,500 (2006 est.)
Religions: Muslim 53.1%, Catholic 20.1%, Protestant 14.2%, animist 7.3%, other 0.5%, unknown 1.7%, atheist 3.1% (1993 census)
Languages: French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects
(From the World Factbook. Click here for more information on Chad)
Over the past 4 years, has become host to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing out of Darfur (Sudan) to the east and to the south. These families have arrived with almost nothing and are now doing all they can to survive without their own fields, animals, savings, or belongings. Local families are sharing their limited resources such as water, firewood, and schools with refugee families, but the overload is taking its toll. Prices for meat and vegetables have increased, less farmland is being cultivated as more families take it over to build temporary homes, water tables are going down, and cash savings are being depleted.
To meet these growing needs, CRWRC is joining with the Global Relief Alliance to create sources of clean water, grow vegetables during the dry-season, and provide food to feed Chadian families until the new crop can be harvested. The Global Relief Alliance is a partnership of 6 agencies that has been working together to meet the needs of people living in Darfur, . This alliance includes CRWRC, Food for the Hungry International, MAP, Medical Teams International, World Concern, and World Relief. World Concern is taking on the lead agency role in.
The alliance now hopes to also help 20,000 people (approximately 4,000 families) in through a food for work program. The families will be asked to work together to build dams and other water projects that will equip them to irrigate fields during the dry season. In exchange for this work, families will be given vouchers that they can use to purchase food from local merchants. Families will also be given seeds and tools that they can use to cultivate fields and grow vegetables during the dry season. This will help them to meet their long-term food needs.
CRWRC is providing a food, seed, and tools to families in Chad as a response to the prolonged refugee crisis in that country. However, Chad is not part of a CRWRC Ministry Team and there are no CRWRC staff if this country.