Veronica paints a vivid picture of her move to the Congo, with her husband and one year old son, in the 1960’s. Trying to forget her own experiences as an expat child, she tries hard to become a part of the community with her Congolese, Ghanaian, Belgian and Dutch neighbours. With help from the doughty Mrs van Royen (herself a survivor of the concentration camps in Indonesia) she builds a life for her family despite the food shortages and growing unrest among the local population.

Struggling to analyse the political situation, murky at best, Veronica is rare among expatriates of the era, most of who tended to turn a blind eye to what was going on around them. The prevailing attitude was one of endurance and voluntary isolation from the locals, tolerating the boredom and amusing themselves at the ‘club’ until the contract ends and it’s time to return to their home country. The exceptions seem to be the stoical missionary expatriates who at least feel they can make a contribution to local society.

Still trying to make sense of why ‘the company’ (never named) is still keeping a firm hold on the manufacture of palm oil in the Haute Congo, Veronica relishes the move to Elizabetha, on the banks of the Congo River. Once settled in to their new home she befriends and soon comes to rely on their houseboy, Nicholas. Of course Nicholas is all too aware of the impending attacks by rebel groups in the foothills, but it is his duty to take care of the family and this includes protecting them from the approaching rumours of disaster.

 

“Drums on the Night Air” is both an adventure story and a personal journey of discovery. Veronica struggles to comprehend the impending civil war which contrasts with her ideal vision of an independent Congo. Finally fleeing Elizabetha just days before the birth of her second child, Veronica grows from the naive young wife into a strong and capable mother of two. Altogether a refreshing and candid look back at a tumultuous period of expatriate life.

Authors: Veronica Cecil

Published by Constable & Robinson Ltd, London (ISBN 978 1 84901 641 4)

Review by Donna Worrall

 

In the expatriates’ on-the-move life, people often have to deal with all sorts of distressful situations concerning logistical and economic aspects or emotional issues. When children are involved, it might be quite difficult to help them accept a new international assignment as they have a different perception than adults. They sometimes find it hard to adapt to international transitions.

This book can be a great tool, not only for parents but also for educators and mobility professionals, for helping children to go though a smooth transition and have all their concerns positively processed.

The authors, Simone and Ana are respectively a psychologist and intercultural coach, and a storyteller. Both of them have been expatriates and have children.

The story is very simple and deals with a young boy, Mike, who will soon be moving abroad with his family because of his father’s work. Acting like a detective in search for clues and with the help of his best friend and his family, Mike will successfully face fears and difficulties arising from expatriation.

This story has different chapters regarding all the small but big issues that might come across a child’s mind when it’s matter of moving abroad, leaving a safe environment for an unknown new place. The book deals with changing a house, town and school, leaving good friends behind, being challenged with a foreign language, loosing track of personal belongings and so on. I think for most expatriates, this is a “Deja’ vu”!

This is a book that has to be read together, parents and children, as it gives the opportunity for the kids to talk about their emotions and personal memories. Furthermore, I have noticed that while reading the story, children get passionate about it and come up with more and more good tips for detective mike.

The book seems to be more aimed for school-aged children, whose life has already been influenced by the use of computers, Internet and web-cameras. Small children might need a different approach to the issue of moving abroad.

Authors: Simone T. Costa Eriksson and Ana Serra

Illustrator: Maria Isabel Vaz Guimares (Meri)

First published Great Britain 2010 by Summertime Publishing

Review by Patrizia Bazzoni.

Author: Natalie Tollenaere

Book Review by Patrizia Bazzoni

Book review: The Art of Possibilities - Creating our path in an international mobile life

The Art of Possibilities aims to turn all challenges that people might encounter during their life “on the move” into a new opportunity and not be overwhelmed. Chapter after chapter the author leads the reader into a very personal journey, guiding them step by step in an unusual and creative way. Through a simple artistic process that doesn’t require any art talent, the readers will be able to get all their frustrations, passions, dreams, and strengths to the surface. This newly acquired awareness will then give the readers the possibility to take their life into their hands and get the most out of it.

“The Art of Possibilities” is a brilliant book. After having seen lots of publications on the same topic, I think that Natalie really teaches us a unique way of dealing with our expat issues, and to a larger extent deal with all the personal changes that might occur in our lives. The exercises called “creative reflections” suggested by Natalie at the end of each chapter do have a healing effect on our out-of-balance life, and lead us in our journey towards a happy and satisfactory expatriation experience. Moreover, the book stimulates our creativity in an easy and rewarding way, and surely represents an opportunity for setting some time apart and taking a break from our hectic daily lives.

About the author

Natalie Tollenaere is a Belgian life coach specializing in services for globally mobile families. She has been an expatriate herself, lived in seven countries since 1987 and has an artistic background. Natalie has been able to successfully join her creative life and life experience together with her professional training. Over the years she has specialized in offering art-expression classes to accompanying spouses and third-culture kids (TCKs) in order to help them cope with their expat life. The idea of writing “The Art of Possibilities” comes from the workshops, which Natalie has been offering in the expatriates’ communities of different countries around the world. The book embodies Natalie’s professional motto of “the art of coaching through art”.

Thoughts on Robert Raymer’s “Tropical Affairs”

Written by Amanda Potter

Narrative essays collected into a book are a little like the predecessor to modern blogging. Robert Raymer’s “Tropical Affairs”, a collection of previously published non-fiction narratives about his life and times in Malaysia, almost reads like one (in a good way). Through his years of essays we learn a little about Robert’s life as an American living in Malaysia for more than 20 years, sympathize with his struggles, and cheer in his successes.

Tropical Affairs collects essays from Robert’s own life through relationships, work, children, and hobbies and after 20+ years in his adopted country, it’s clear that Robert loves Malaysia and the people who call it home. The book is organized into a series of themed sections with a little something for everyone to relate to. Personally, I found the expatriate, writing, and “being myself” sections the most interesting, but parents and even movie fans will find entertaining and thoughtful morsels as well. Humor and candor play equal parts in Robert’s writing, reflecting the complex and multicultural experience of living abroad.

However, although the essays are interesting, often entertaining, and sometimes even inspiring, I was left wanting a stronger central narrative to carry the book as a whole. I had hoped to learn a little about Malaysia through Robert’s experiences, but without any prior knowledge of the region, the essays didn’t lay the groundwork for me to fully understand his encounters. In addition, I found the way the essays “time traveled” back and forth through is life to be a bit jarring; especially when there were two essays written about the same exact event but not placed side-by-side.

Ultimately I found “Tropical Affairs” to be best read by simply flipping the book open and selecting a story at random. Each on its own is sweet and filled with experiences that anyone can relate to. And I like the slightly provocative title which encourages you to have a short, fun affair with each story, but maybe not a long term relationship.

Robert Raymer is also the author of (the equally provocative) Lovers and Strangers Revisited, a short story collection about Malaysia. He writes for several publications and also blogs and maintains a website at borneoexpatwriter.com.