Question from a reader: Did Niger ever feel like 'home' to you?

Our family tree...

Did Niger ever feel like ‘home’ to you?
Yes, it did! Niger quickly became our ‘normal.’ Joanna and I had already experienced one major cross-cultural adjustment when serving in Liberia, in the eighties. So, our adjustment to Niger (thanks, in part, to our colleague Jan’s prep work) was much easier – in spite of having young children and an infant with us.

Our Liberia experience had made us less risk averse. Also, our experience with ‘culture shock’ from the more-extreme conditions that we experienced in Liberia meant that we were spared from it in Niger, where conditions seemed somewhat ‘milder.’ I think that our previous experience in Liberia helped reduce the cross-cultural stress for our children because they sensed Joanna and my comfort with the adjustment. Thus, they settle in quite well.

Noting the differences of life in Niger led to many innocent questions and observations – some of which have been captured in my book. These observations from our kids allowed for some great dinner-table conversations and valuable learning. It became a normal part of life to see and experience new things.

On one wall in our home, we created a huge family tree with pictures of all of our family, extended family, and close friends that our children referred to as aunt or uncle. Because of the open adoptions of our (then) three children, this became a huge mural. Regularly we would take one of the children in our arms to the tree to look at the pictures of our loved ones.

We decided to try and stay away from the expatriate crowd for the first months. This encouraged us to make friends with the local Nigerien families that lived around us. It helped our children to develop friendships outside of the expatriate community – which can sometimes isolate itself from local life. Due to a regular home routine, we all quickly felt at home.
​
At one time, after returning from a visit to Canada, Joshua voiced the sentiment for all of us: “Boy, it is good to be HOME again”!

---

Joshua apprenticed with African friends in a local stone carver's shop.