Expatriates the world over mourn Alexander Bjoroy

The expatriate community mourns young Alexander Bjoroy who was amongst the victims of the Air France flight from Brazil to France.

Alexander was returning to boarding school after spending time with the family who relocated to Brazil for work.

Many of us are confronted with similar choices to ensure we give our children the best educational opportunities when a move abroad might jeopardize them. Boarding schools and long flights become the norm for many families and this is what makes this tragedy so strongly felt among the expatriate community. Expatriation and flight travel are all and one.

Alexander used to be a student at the British School of Houston and this is how I was instantly connected with him and his family, through a condolences message the school had sent out to all the BSH parents.

The same night while expressing to Patricia in Pekanbaru in Indonesia the sadness that overcome me at the news, she said that she had just had a call from a friend in Pekanbaru who was distraught because she had just been informed that the son's of a friend was on that plane too.

It did not take long to realise that we were talking about the same person and that her friend was close to the Bjoroy's family.  

I was struck at how closely knitted we are, no matter the distance the connection within the expatriate community is so strong to overcome any geographic dispersion.

Our sorrow for the family is deep, their tragedy is our tragedy. 

We are not able to offer consolation, the loss is so great that we feel lost ourselves. 

We can only humbly offer the Bjoroy family the embrace and the hug that is coming to them from all over the world.