Our story begins with the world’s largest oil company commencing a project to develop & transport oil reserves in the land-locked country of Chad, Africa. The project in itself nearly doubled the entire economy of Chad and provided a large resource for social and economic development. The personal connections that developed between various international employees and the local Chadians ultimately led to the creation of Chad: The Heart of Africa. As internationals began to interact in the country, learn the history, and more importantly know the people, seeds of compassion and hope in a bright future for the Chadian people began to implant.
Duane Naron worked on the Chad project from 2000 to 2003 and retired shortly afterward in 2007. During his tenure on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project, he visited the country numerous times and worked directly in training local Chadians to carry out various job functions once in full production. Following his retirement in 2007, he struggled through the façade of blissful leisurely life in retirement, which over the next few years led him to deeply consider the possibilities for a productive retirement life. He decided retirement provides a unique opportunity to apply the same diligence and skill toward the profit of men, women, and children as he previously utilized to the profit of a corporation. In the fall of 2010, he brought together a number of individuals to dream together in how to actively make a difference in our world.
Individuals from a variety of ages and backgrounds joined in late 2010 to initialize the planning for working in Chad, Africa. Though our history as an organization is short lived, we come with great expectation. Perceived inadequacies paralyze dreams and failures will abandon those dreams. Perhaps it is persistence and resilience that realize them. Dare to dream – and change your world.