One of the things I remember best about Chad was the feet. Whether someone was working construction, mechanics or just simply setting out on a 3 day walk to their home village to make sure their family was safe after rumours of Janjaweed cattle-raids - as one of our 50-plus year-old guards once did - most people went about their daily business in flip-flops or a loose pair of sandals at best. The signs of neglect and general state of disrepair of a lot of these poor feet is as good a description as I've seen or heard of the harshness of the climate and the sheer demands of simple daily existence for the people who actually live there.