“I can’t believe this is happening again!” Carly’s words echoed in her empty apartment. She skimmed the email from her team leader a second time.

Due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, the government has implemented a strict lockdown. You will need to remain in your apartments except for …

Carly glanced at the scant list of exceptions. Over a year into the pandemic, things in her country of service had finally started returning to normal, and now this. She made it through the first lockdown partly thanks to the companionship of her roommate … but that ended when her roommate returned home to Canada a few months earlier.

“I’ve been through this so many times; why is it still so hard?” Angie* has served overseas for 11 years. She has lived in three different countries and changed roles and cities more times than that. Friends and teammates have come and gone. But this latest move, prompted by unexpected visa issues, has left her floundering.

Third Culture Kids experience a variety of challenges, some more than others! Consider a young teenage boy impacted by several cultures. Born in his country of origin, he was placed in an orphanage with significant levels of neglect. After a few years, he was adopted by a family that turned out to be abusive. At the hands of his new parents, he suffered through physical and emotional abuse and neglect.