...I lived in South Africa with my husband, 2 sons, 3 dogs, 1 cat and a very noisy bird I inherited from my mother (sorry, no partridge in a pear tree). I am a paramedic with over 30 years experience and had worked for the biggest Emergency service in South Africa during the abolishment of apartheid and the subsequent political unrest leading up to the first democratic election. Once the euphoria of a new government wore off and the majority of the population realised that there were still no overnight jobs, houses or equal education I was at that time working for the largest private ambulance service in the country and still experienced senseless deaths and tragic repurcussions of political and crime related incidents. In addition to this, AIDS was, and still is, one of the biggest contributing factors of families being torn apart and the burden of survival resting on the shoulders of the youth who had neither the resources or motivation to try and break the vicious violent cycle.
For the past 10 years I have been involved with high school students (and all their adolescent quirks, moods and insecurities) as the resident paramedic and First Aid coordinator and although I loved the daily interaction with them and the change in my career to that of a sports medic, the increase in crime, corruption and political instability in my private and social life was once again compromising the safety and well being of myself and family and we realised that we will have to move in order to survive.
Based on the information I received through an old colleague working in Qatar and the image it created, the idea of a quiet, safe, slow paced life style seemed idylic and an answer to our prayers. So after a few months of submitting the paperwork, medical examinations, more paperwork, packing, unpacking and then repacking my bags, I was ready to embark and prepare a new chapter in our lives. My husband and youngest son were going to join me 3 months later when he finished his final high school examinations. But till then, I was on my own, in a strange land with different cultures and beliefs. I cannot begin to describe my feelings when I landed on a balmy October evening at Doha airport.
But that, my dear reader, is another story.....
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