i am a software developer, and my current focus is to build a client base that i can get work from. establish a network of people who would like to work with me. as a single parent full-time jobs are out of reach. and part-time jobs are extremely rare. especially remote. so i have to make due with whatever projects i can get.

hi, i am from austria, my children are born in china where i lived for 15 years. my wife passed away just before covid, and after the travel restrictions were lifted i decided to leave china and moved to east africa. the biggest challenge early on was that friends around me didn't believe that me taking care of the kids alone was the best option for the children. that was very frustrating because it felt discouraging and made me question my own capacity. one friend who was also a single parent shared with me that his social worker told him that no matter how bad he was doing he was still the best option for his child because no-one could ever replace being the real dad, no matter how hard they try. when i shared that with others, they flat out rejected it. and that hurt a lot. i grew up with a single dad myself, and so actually i have a pretty good role model, which i could sum up as: i don't care what everyone else thinks, i am going to do this my way. i was an outsider in school, and i was proud of it. thinking about it now, one reason to leave china was to get away from these people who didn't think i could do it. africa is challenging, and i can probably tell some stories about that, but i'll just share some highlights for now: the people here are very loving and supportive. because everyone's life is challenging here, my challenges aren't special and nobody is taking pity on me. also putting us into a generally challenging situation distracts from my own shortcomings. i don't get the feeling that the challenges are a sign that i failed, instead i can tell myself that i chose this path, and the challenges are just part of that, and even if i fail and we have to leave africa again, the experiences we make along the way will still be worth it.