Present-day Chad. Adam, sixty years old, a former swimming champion, is the pool attendant at a luxury hotel in N'Djamena. When the hotel gets taken over by Chinese buyers, he is forced to give up his job to his son Abdel. He takes this very hard, feeling socially humiliated. The country is in the throes of civil war and armed rebel forces threaten the government. The authorities demand that the population contribute to the "war effort" by giving money or volunteers old enough to fight off the assailants. Adam is constantly harassed by the District Chief for his contribution. But Adam has no money, all he's got is his son...