Saving Lives in Chad

Of swiss/dutch nationality, Caroline Heuberger grew up in several different countries in Europe. After her BSc in Public Health Nutrition and a Master’s in Dietetics, Caroline has spent the last four years working as a dietitian in the UK. As nutrition programme manager for ACF-UK in Chad, she is in charge of coordinating the supplementary feeding programme in Abéché as well as evaluating its performance.

2 December 2010 - As we waved goodbye to one of the Action Against Hunger staff members whose programme had just finished, I was reminded of my arrival in Abéché, Chad, six weeks earlier. The nerves and excitement of leaving my dietetic job in the UK for my first humanitarian mission came flooding back, alongside the first impressions of dusty roads and donkeys. I remembered the first day in the office: everyone arriving as per usual at 7.30am before setting off for the hustle and bustle of their various programmes.

Action Against Hunger runs a variety of food security programmes here, including a Food for Training project, two research projects, a programme for acute malnutrition that was recently integrated into the local health service, and the supplementary nutrition programme I inherited. Initially Abéché mainly served as a base for programmes helping displaced people in the eastern part of Chad, until we discovered that the high malnutrition rate amongst the local population also warranted a response.

The security situation here in Abéché is quite precarious. I felt very James Bond en route to visiting the health centres where the programme is implemented; despite having to weave through the traffic at a snail’s pace, we stayed in radio contact with the base at all times! Meeting the local team that monitors the malnourished children and provides advice on breastfeeding and weaning was humbling; they perform a challenging task every day, contending with basic facilities, tricky logistics and often a deluge of children.

Back at the office, I got cracking on evaluating the programme’s performance, whilst my local assistant Vivien kept spirits flying with all manner of African gospel music at break times. With the end of this year’s funding for the programme looming, my role for the next two months will be to see what opportunities exist for the future by liaising with our partners and donors. 

As programme manager, I’m also here to ensure things run smoothly; fortunately Vivien has been with the programme for the last two years and coordinates the daily tasks very competently. As the workday ended, and a bug crawled up my back as we put the computers to sleep under their little cosies to prevent them from getting sandy, I was very much looking forward to getting stuck into this new world!

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