New arrivals

The first few weeks in a new country are weird; the same experiences in Bangui are being worked out again in Freetown. You have to start life again at zero – no friends, no experience at work, no knowledge of your new organisation, no house, no car, no internet, no phone, no bank account, no local money, at one point no toilet paper… It can be a gruelling experience, and the key thing that keeps you going is the acceptance that in a few months’ all will be well. Each day you lay a few more bricks in your new life, gradually getting that little bit more comfortable.

It’s a process that breaks old routines and habits; something that can be frustrating if you want to be doing a lot more with your life. But at the same time, it’s an opportunity to establish the new habits that can help carry you through. It’s amazing starting a weekend when you have no routines and just the wide open space of two free days. The temptation is to fill your time with work – and that’s not necessarily a bad idea, as you need to get up and running and a little extra investment pays dividends. But at the same time you feel the huge potential. When we’re well established it can be a struggle to find the time for things, but now all your non-work time is empty so you can fill it as you see fit.

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