Transitions are hard but can come with so many unexpected blessings. Whether you are 3 and 5 or a little bit older, moving around and making unexpected transitions can be a mix of stressful and difficult while also exciting and fun. So, in light of our sudden move to the UK at the end of October, our unexpected stay at my parents’ home and then our move back to Chad at the beginning of March, I thought I would ask Rachel a few questions about it all. Here are her views about the last few months… Rebecca 3yrs, Rachel 5yrs How did you feel when we had to suddenly leave Chad last year? Sad because I would miss Daddy and my friends. (The instability of the situation was so hard and to leave Sam not knowing when we would see him or return to Chad was very difficult for the girls).

What did you like about staying at Nana and Grandads house? Sleeping on a bunk bed on the top. What did you enjoy the most when we were in the UK?

Last family photo taken just before Abby, Rachel and Rebecca left Chad in October last year.

Playing with my cousins and playing with new friends at school, The snow and making two snowmen. (Hooray, we had just one big snow downpour which was so exciting for the girls to see)

Fun time with cousins at Christmas What did you enjoy eating in England that we can’t get in Chad?

SNOW!!!! To have enough snow to build two snowmen was very exciting…Daddy was a great builder…mummy watched from inside!

Strawberries and grapes and broccoli. (We consumed a vast number of grapes during our stay and were treated to very tasty strawberries. Believe me fresh broccoli tastes so good)!

Did you enjoy going to school instead of home-school?

Yes. (she definitely did…please pray as we now continue home-school…Mr Kersey you are a hard act to follow!)

How did you feel about going to school?

Nervous because I hadn’t been to school before but I made some good friends and I liked my teacher.

Rachel received the early year’s cup for a week.

What was the best thing about going to school?

It was really fun and we had chick eggs in the classroom.

How did you feel when it was time to come back to Chad?

Happy because I had missed my friends and my cats and my house and my toys, but I was also sad because I would miss my new friends in my class at school and my cousins.

What was the best thing about coming back to Chad? Seeing my friends again and my cats. Playing outside all the time and jumping on the trampoline. Going horse riding again.

What are the different things you see in Chad that you don’t see in England?

People wear things over their faces – the men have white things wrapped around their heads (A lot of men wear turbans to protect themselves from the heat and sand and for cultural and religious beliefs. Many women are also seen wearing head coverings due to their religious beliefs).

Rachel had just begun weekly horse riding lessons before we left last year so she was very excited to be able to ride Ati again.

It is very sandy (At the moment it is dry season so there is a lot of sand and dust everywhere) It isn’t raining (It only rains for three months of the year here and rainy season is usually July-September. For now we have 3 more months of intense heat and increasing humidity before the rains come. Our daily highs are currently low 40’s Celsius).

The road to Rachel’s horse riding lessons

The roads are bumpy We see camels, goats, horses, horse and carts, donkeys…and we saw a hippo in the river (Rachel’s horse riding lessons are a 30-minute drive out of the city centre and so for half of this journey we are on desert paths and come across all kinds of interesting sights)

Horse and carts are a familiar sight all over the city, transporting many different things

Camels have become a familiar sight

People don’t speak in English. (The official language of Chad is French but many people speak Arabic and local languages…there are over 120 languages within Chad) We sleep under a mosquito net so the mosquitoes can’t bite us and make us sick (Malaria is very prevalent in Chad and is one of the highest causes of deaths in the country)

Rachel and Rebecca at the hangar and at Daddy's office enjoying seeing the planes



Why do we live in Chad?

Rachel in her mosquito net getting ready for bed

Because this is our house! Because daddy works for MAF and this is where he has to do his work

What do MAF do?

They fly a big aeroplane and a little aeroplane to help people. (that about sums it up…MAF uses planes to transform the lives of the worlds most isolated people in need www.maf-uk.org )

Please do keep up with our news from Chad via our blog – www.sam-abby-baguma.blogspot.co.uk