Having managed to sort out all our visas in good time for Niger we decide to head out of Ouagadougou to the town of Fada-N-Gourma where SIM has another mission station. We would have stayed longer in the capital but the older children where desperate to meet up with their friends who they hadn't seen for over a year. Needless to say, our children have rather strong powers of persuasion so we headed out on the Thursday afternoon and arriving in Fada just as the heavens opened and that rain came down.

One of the advantages of arriving this time of year is that it is cooler. The disadvantage is that there are lots of Mosquitoes around which means the odds of catching malaria are increased.

Our aim was to set out for Niamey on the Sunday so that Joshua could be there in time for his orientation on the Monday morning, but as with most planning in this part of the world our travel plans had to be adjusted. Over the weekend a security alert came in from one of the embassies stating an increased activity of bandits in our area so we made the decision to travel over on the following day with two other missionary families. Thankfully we had an uneventful journey arriving at Josh's school just before midday. We didn't make the orientation.

The capital on Niger is quite a bit smaller that Ouagadougou but the sight of the Niger River giving it a definite uniqueness which is definitely a plus.

One of the things that struck me on first entering the school gates at Sahel Academy was the grass. Apparently the grass seeds were bought out from the States and as the school is right on the bank of the river Niger, watering the grass is not a problem.

Josh getting to grips with one of the school's more popular sports, softball.

It's a far cry from Djibo. Probably as hot, but the grass!!!

The children have never been to America, but I think that the school is as good a place as any to develop the accent and learn aspect of the American culture. Although Josh will be able to take IGCSEs here the flavour is definitely not British. The school standard, however, seem to be high both in facilities and academic achievement. Being the only Brit in the school there are certain adjustment we will need to make but on the whole it's looking good.

Probably one of the things Josh likes most about being at Sahel is the Dorm, with his friends 24/7. It will take some time for him to realise it will be a little different to summer camp when the heat gets turned up work wise.