Our Story

We took the leap.

And somehow, a place we’d never even heard of became home.

We’re the Swanepoels—an Afrikaner family of four originally from South Africa, now building our life in Spokane, Washington.

In March 2026, we arrived in the United States as refugees with eight checked bags, two kids and absolutely no firsthand experience of America. Until our flight tickets arrived, we didn’t even know where in the United States we were going. Then we saw the words Spokane, Washington.

Before America

Our story didn’t begin with moving countries. South Africa was home. I grew up mainly in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, while Eben grew up in Pretoria. Over the years our family lived in different parts of the country, including Mossel Bay, George and eventually Middelburg again.

For years, Eben worked abroad to provide for our family. Video calls were part of our routine, but video calls aren’t dinner around the same table. Eventually we found ourselves asking what we wanted our family’s future to look like.

The opportunity we never expected

In May 2025, we applied to come to the United States through the Afrikaner refugee program. We didn’t know whether anything would come of it, so we prayed about it and left it in God’s hands.

Months passed. Then things began moving, and eventually we had to start letting go of our life in South Africa.

Eight bags

We sold furniture, sold my car, gave household things to family and moved in with my dad. Then four people’s belongings had to fit into eight checked bags.

There were clothes and electronics, Eben’s biltong maker, my sourdough bannetons, far too many kitchen towels, favorite stuffed animals and our 22-piece wedding photo canvas set.

Saying goodbye

Leaving wasn’t exciting every second. There were parents, siblings, grandparents, friends and familiar places on the other side of that decision. My dad took us as far as he was allowed to go on our final day in South Africa. There were a lot of tears. It was hard. And then we kept walking.

And then there was Spokane

After a very long journey, we landed in Washington. For the girls, those first days almost felt like a holiday. Suddenly Walmart and Target weren’t things from American movies. For the adults, reality was setting in faster: we weren’t visiting America. We lived here now.

Our first home was a basement apartment. Grocery shopping became an adventure. We learned that a bag with corn on it does not automatically make pap.

Starting again

Little by little, novelty became normal life. We bought a car. We learned to drive on the other side of the road. The girls started school. Eben found work, then I found work. We figured out grocery stores, road signs, school buses, ingredients and a thousand things nobody thinks to put in a moving-country manual.

A different kind of family life

Eben is a qualified electrician and previously worked abroad as a QC inspector. Today, while working through the process required to get his electrical experience recognized here, he’s working as a carpenter. A friend in South Africa asked why. His answer was simple: he comes home every night.

Now we can plan dinner together. He goes to work. He comes home. We eat as a family. It sounds ordinary. That’s exactly why it matters.

Somewhere along the way, it became home

Our first apartment always felt temporary. Eventually we moved into a house with a yard. The girls settled into routines. We made friends. We had people over for braais and potjie. We started trying to convince neglected grass to grow.

Somewhere between school mornings, dinners around our table, new friendships and yard work, America stopped feeling like the place we’d been sent. It started feeling like home.

We’re still Afrikaners

We speak Afrikaans at home. We braai. We make biltong, bake rusks and cook the foods we grew up eating. But we also didn’t move across the world expecting America to become South Africa.

There are new traditions waiting for us too: Thanksgiving, snowy winters, American Christmases, road trips and foods we haven’t tried yet. We’re keeping the pieces of home that matter while making room for everything still ahead.

And that’s Life After the Leap

The leap itself was getting here. This website is about what happens afterward: the recipes, mistakes, traditions, house projects, road trips and everyday moments that slowly make up a life.

We’re not finished building ours. In many ways, we’ve only just started. Welcome to Life After the Leap.