It took quite a while to re-adapt to life in Britain. Apart from the pain of leaving my home and friends from the past 15 years, there is a huge culture shock in returning to the UK. One struggle I always have is the trauma of going to the supermarket! Facing the overwhelming choice and abundance after the simplicity of the African bush is emotionally upsetting. Other things that are hard to get used to are the continual rampant advance in technology, the huge amount of waste, the constant British grumbling, the cold and damp, the blasé acceptance of our comfort compared with the day-to-day struggle for basic existence in Burkina, the pre-occupation with trivialities… I’ll probably write more about some of these during the course of this blog.

But for all that, my time in Britain up till now has been going well. Church and friends have been very supportive. I have taken a very boring part-time job, made bearable by the cheerful and friendly guys I work with. I have been working on my website. I have produced a video of our work in Boukouma. I have done a small exhibition of some of my photos. And I have been doing some study. I also do occasional church talks and stuff, but I am trying to keep that to a minimum, and protect time for myself to prepare for going back. The goal at present is to aim to return to Burkina at the end of 05, if all goes well.