I’m pretty sure you can guess who won!

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It’s Easter in Sweden and spring is on its way. The snow has melted, but the winds are still cold. My dad got restless on Thursday and there was somewhere he just had to go. We took the train and traveled north, …to Smögen, my mother’s island on the West Coast of Sweden. My dad [...]

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We are still in Sweden, preparing for a trip south. We are all eager to go back home (to West Africa), but while we are here, there are many beautiful places worth visiting and it’s nice enjoying snow, mist and cold for a change… There will be enough heat awaiting in Niger during hot season [...]

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Yesterday afternoon, we went bowling and had a wonderful time. A simple life quality moment full of laughter and togetherness. I could not ask for more. After the past two months of pure surreal, every hour of normalcy is a luxurious treat. Full recovery will take its time, but every day brings more ups than [...]

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So sorry we couldn’t all be home in Africa and enjoy a family day together, but we are saving all that for some day in the (hopefully!) near future!! With much love, Esther, Miriam and Uncle S

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If I could turn back time I would relive all those moments again The good and the bad The wonderful and the painful The laughter and the tears If I could turn back time I would hold my breath and be still I would take in every sight Every smell, every look, every word spoken [...]

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My dear brother joined me for a ride!

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This past Thursday was a sad day. After waiting for nearly nine months, my brother and sister-in-law unexpectedly lost their baby daughter just days before the date she was expected. A beautiful little niece named Sifra. The funeral was in Holland this past Thursday. A greeting in white from her mother, father and sisters Little [...]

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My brother called me from Holland yesterday to tell me that their unborn baby, expected on November 7th, had passed away during the night. All was well at the hospital checkup the day before and my sister-in-law could feel the baby move about usual in the evening. In the morning, its heart had stopped. No [...]

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Today is my father’s birthday. Grattis på födelsedagen, pappa! As I was going through the archives, I stumbled upon the diaries that my brother and sister kept during our 1986 Sahara journey. 1986 was the year that we moved from Tunisia (where we had been staying for two years) to Niger, the least developed country [...]

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Dear readers! Three weeks ago, www.esthergarvi.org saw its first guest blogger when my sister shared her thoughts on the choice of our parents to trade the comforts of Scandinavia for a meaningful life in Niger, West Africa. In 2006, after more than twenty years in the least developed country of the world, our mother fell [...]

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On this day in Sweden, thirty-something years ago, my future big brother was born! If you’ve ever wondered why my nieces Tabita and Priscilla are so cute, here is half the answer! Josef in action – Sweden 1979 17 May 1981 – celebrating Norway’s national day in Oslo Josef and a reindeer in Norway Riding [...]

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I promised you yesterday that I’d post a continuation on the 1986 Sahara crossing today, so here goes: A quick recap for those of you who just dropped in for the first time: The Garvi Family is on a five week long journey through the Sahara desert, moving their little tribe from the comforts of [...]

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My world in Africa as you know it began in 1986 with a five week long journey through the Sahara desert, when our family moved south after spending two very agreeable years in Tunisia where my parents prepared to set up a project in the least developed country in the world: Niger, West Africa. In [...]

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