Vaccination Campaign Underway in Rwanda

This week marks the annual campaign for vaccination of new born and infants in Rwanda. The campaign is organized by the MOH and other partners including the UNICEF, The Global Fund, The Access Project and other international organizations.

The campaign is held twice a year with a three day campaign at all hospitals and health centers across all of Rwanda. The event is supported by the local government, and health centers. Community Health Workers educate the public and drive the population to visit health centes in their area to protect their children against preventable disease and illnesses. The campaign addresses concerned mothers and both parents. This round is focused on polio as well as nutrition with doses of vitamin A.

I got to participate in the campaign in my district and accopmanied the Vice Mayor for Health and Social Services during her visit to one of the health centers to inaugurate the three day campaign. Such visits by high level officials, which also included representatives from local health centers, the local defence forces, and other officials, promote such prevention campaigns and encourage the general population to participate.

Books for Africa – REQUEST FOR SUPPORT (https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=696-001)

BACKGROUND

District of Gakenke is one of 5 districts in the Northern Province with 19 sectors and a total population of 233,217. Gakenke Ville is the district decentralized capital and will be the site of the proposed library. Gakenke Ville consists of two sectors, Nemba and Gakenke. Nemba sector is home to Nemba District Hospital, one of two district hospitals. The hospital provided full range of primary care services, Emergency department and other services and is supported by a community health center that processes over 150 patients per day. Gakenke Ville is also home to several schools including primary and secondary schools. The district is not supported with any vocational schools or post-secondary education. Other than a modest library at the district hospital with some dated medical books, the district has no libraries in place.

The main employers in the area include the district office including the office of the district Mayor, the vice mayors for social services and health and business development. Other local and international partners include:

GE Healthcare and GE Foundation – supporting the district hospital and local health centers through the donation of vital medical equipments as well as technical and educational staff training.
World Vision – technical assistance, education, nutrition
Medicus Mundi – healthcare services, facilities support, technical training
BTC – infrastructure support, facilities development
The Global Fund – technical support and training and facility construction in the fight against infection disease
The Access Project – technical support with medical staff education and training
US Peace Corps – community service and development


COMMUNITY NEEDS

Like many communities around Rwanda, the community in Gakenke has many needs starting with clean water sources, nutrition services, medical care and education. Several national and local initiatives as well as resources are being mobilized to meet community needs. However, despite recent development and support from local and regional authority classrooms continue to be cramped with students who also have to share one book for every 3-4 students. The community also lake a resource center or the tools that can help the next generation learn important skills and knowledge essential for this digital age.

Directors of the local schools, the district authority along with the support from the local Peace Corps volunteer and Books for Africa port from the local Peace Corps volunteer, will work to provide the initial seed for securing needed text books and resources to school aged students as well as developing a community resource center. The goal of the public resource center is to provide access to books in different subjects and domains, enrich the local community in terms of cultural exchange and knowledge, as well as provide a computer resource center to teach commuter science skills.
See Appendix A for order form.

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION

The community at Gakenke is very supportive and excited about the prospect of having a well stocked library in their community reflected in the support from the Mayor’s office and ending with school children at the local elementary school. In show of good will the local community is committing the following resources:
The district office to commit needed resources in terms of securing an adequate space to house a community public library.
Director of Education Services along with directors of local schools to secure clean and adequate space at schools to house library books in an environment that is conductive to learning and cultural exchange.
The proposal is being shared with other NGOs and partners supporting the community at large in Gakenke whom are expected to provide technical support and other donations in kind.
The president of the local Joint Action Development Forum known as Terimbere Gakenke, is offering store front space rent-free. The space will be used to house the Rwando-American Social and Cultural Organization (ROSCO). This organization is a joint effort directed by the local Peace Corps volunteer in Gakenke and other community members. The mission of the organization is to stimulate cross-cultural exchange between Rwanda and the US with a social atmosphere. The donated space is to showcase Rwandan art and culture, include books, references, and other media resources on American history and culture.

CASE FOR SUPPORTING THIS COMMUNITY

Similar to many other communities in Rwanda, the local population is eager to learn and hungry for new knowledge and skills. However, the community at Gakenke is home to a diverse group of population given the presence of one two District Hospitals, a boarding secondary school, the district office including the mayor’s office and other district authority facilities. In addition, this community is supported by Peace Corps and Peace Corps volunteers that will ensure continuity of the project with focus on sustainability and training of local community members.

Week 3 (Ibyumweru Gatatu)

Third week of August was exciting with a change of pace!! I had learned the week before of a planned visit by a team of executives from GE Health to assess and review the installation and utilization of medical equipments that were donated in the past, to have an inauguration party and to assess a few more sites for future donations.

Monday I met with the assessment team and planned for a reception and inauguration party to receive the GE Foundation executives.

I worked with my counterpart and other hospital staff on putting together a pp presentation highlighting the services and statistics from the hospital, highlighting local and global partners, reviewing some of the equipments donated by GE and success stories from the field.

The reception was a great success complete with a secondary school drummers and cow dancers; the attendance of all district officials including the mayor, vice mayor for social development and health, representative from the local police and defense forces!!

The GE team was taken on a tour of the hospital grounds and got to see the impact of the modern equipment in action. The equipment the hospital received empowers health providers and is saving lives. A list of equipments includes patient monitoring systems, infant warmers and incubators, radiology modalities, lab equipments as well as anesthesia workstation!!

The GE team seemed to be pleased with the tour and the visit and were most impressed by the accountability and professionalism of the staff. The GE personnel noted how all donated equipments were accounted for during their visit and promised to provide further support through training and maintenance.

I'm also glad to announce that the team's trip was a success that GE Foundation is committing another $300,000 in equipments to support health centers and hospitals around Rwanda.

August in Rwanda (Week Kabiri, 2)

Week 2 of August was Peace Corps In Service Training, or following with PC's love for acronyms, IST. IST is a weeklong retreat marking the completion of Phase I of our deployment in the field. It was the first time all of us PCVs reunited since we were sworn in on April 15th and shipped out to site. During the first three months we were expected to acclimate and adjust to our new homes, conduct a community based assessment identifying community needs and starting to think in terms of what our projects will be like.

IST was a time for us to share on our experiences, successes and failures during the first three months. We each gave a 10 minute (timed) presentation to the rest of the PCVs. In between, we had some language training and other group activities such as brain storming for group projects.

I should mention that IST was held at a nice resort in the town of Kibuye on Lake Kivu. Kibuye is a beautiful lake front town in the western province and sits in a lagoon on the lake. Lake Kivu, one of the great lakes of eastern Africa, boarders Rwanda to the west with the shore on the opposite side belonging to the war-torn DR Congo. The lake is crystal clear despite disputed reports of possible Schistomises and pockets of methane gas and is dotted with several islands.

On Wednesday, we sailed off to Amahoro or Peace Island. PC set up a picnic for us out there along with full service lunch (the kitchen staff along with all the silverware, big stainless steel food containers, and drinks joined us on the 35 minute boat ride to the island!! it was cheaper than ordering brochettes on a stick and french fries!!)

IST turned out to be a relaxing and rejuvenating week for us. The days consisted of breakfast in the morning starting at 7 followed by training sessions from 8 to 12 when we break for lunch. we then start again from 1 till 5. At 5, a group of us would change in to swimming trunks and bathing suites and go for a swim in the lake with the watchful eye of our medical director!! (p.s. non of us contracted Schisto as far as I know, yet to be confirmed). With the full moon lighting the night sky during this week, one couldn’t resist night swims in the lake under the bright light of the full moon reflecting on the lake!!

I must say that I was looking forward to go back to my site after IST full of energy and excited to start my new project.

August in Rwanda (Week 1)

August has been full of adventures for me in Rwanda. I moved yet again to a new site (luckily to a place I've been before and with strong connections), but I also got to add to my experiences here in Rwanda.


Week 1: trip to Nyungwe National Park and Chimpanzee trekking. Took the bus 5 and half hours to Kate's site where I met with other friends and crashed in Kate's little tiny one bedroom house!! That same night, went to a interesting BBQ at some South African contractor's pad. In Rwanda constructing a new tourist's 5 star lodge for Dubai World, these guys lived a life that was far away from what we've been accustomed to while in Rwanda...it was a welcome change of scenery for sure


Waking up at 4 AM and getting ready for a two hour ride on the back of the Acre Fund truck was priceless. Laying in the flat bed in the back and staring at the sky as the sun rises over the tea fields was quite an experience. We had to get to the park early to catch the Chimps during their morning ritual of grabbing on leaves and fruits for breakfast followed by grooming sessions before they start coming down the trees and finding a new place to set up their nests. So turns out Chimps set up a new camp every night!! Chimps move in big groups usually a family of 50 that's lead by one alpha chimp.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Tyazo on Lake Kivu and home to the Acre Fund office. The Adventist Church owns an amazing house on the lake with canoes, rafts and other water sport toys.

The Travel Bug: from the Northern Province

Rwanda is blessed with unfettered beauty and endless hills and valleys that it earned the nick name the land of thousand hills. However, these hills seize to dominate the terrain once you’re deep in the Northern Province and arrive to Musanze. Musanze is the third largest city in Rwanda (after Kigali City and Butare) and sits on a plateau that’s half encircled with the Virunga volcanic mountains. The Virunga Mountains are declared a protected national park known as the Volcanoes National Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoes_National_Park) which is also home to the endangered Mountain Gorilla.

The Volcanoes National Park offers a great place for hiking with several trails with various levels of difficulties. I recently hiked mount Bisoke (3,711m), one of the five volcano mountains, with a group of friends and other muzungu tourists. The other mountains are: Muhabura (4,127m), Gahinga (3,474m), Sabyimbo (3,634m), and Karisimbi (4,507). (reference: 1m = 3.28084 ft)

Mount Bisoke is home to the Amahoro Gorilla group and is crowned with a crater lake, which makes the three and half hour hike to the top worthwhile. The scenery from Bisoke is breath taking with amazing views of the other mountain tops breaking through the clouds atop the villages way below, and if you’re lucky you might come across other wild inhabitants of the national park such as the mountain elephant and the mountain buffalo. Our group was not lucky enough to see neither but we certainly stepped in their TERD!! The fauna in the area is just as amazing starting with potato fields right at the entrance of the part and starting with bamboo park (home to the mountain buffalo and elephant). As you continue ascending, you’ll reach the rain forest and as the weather gets colder with elevation, you’ll start noticing the more Siberian type plants with small leaves and tiny flowers!!

If you’re an avid mountain trekker but feel constrained by you modest PC stipend and feel the pinch to spend the $65 for park fees and another $80 for a car hire, another option is just as fascinating. Mount Kabuye is one pf the largest mountains in Rwanda and is right outside my new hometown of Gakenke. Mount Kabuye is about 3,500m offers an interesting hiking experience and is FREE. And for the price of a cold beer and a chocolate croissant from Naukumat you can spend the night at my house and get an early start the next day with a guided tour from yours truly.

In addition to trekking and visiting the Mountain Gorillas, Musanze offers a great opportunity for mountain biking, and is also a short bus ride (1:15 hours) to Gisenyi, which sits on the northern end of lake Kivu.

Updates on my earlier post titled "My New Home Away from Home"

Moving yet again. this time I'm relocating from the Rwandan capital of Gorillas and volcano mountains to a small little village on the way to my old home of Musanze from Kigali.

My new home is a village...one dirt road that leads at the end of it to the district hospital...the market here is open only twice a week and has 1 or 2 decent restaurants. On the bright side, I get to enjoy quiet time, clean air, and the view of the second largest mountain range in Rwanda.

To coupe with the slower pace in my new village I acquired some additional books to pass my evenings. On my immediate reading list are the following (as of Sept 12, 2009):

Recently finished: We Wish to Inform you That Tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, Three Cups of Tea By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Currently reading: The Big Necessity by Rose George
In my possession:
A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's rebirth and the man who dreamt it by Stephen Kinzer ,
Kilimanjaro: a Complete trekker's guide to Africa's Highest Mountain by Alexander Stewart

Book I refuse to continue reading: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. The writer is too negative and presumptuous!! unless someone can convince me that it gets better I'll leave it at chapter 2!!

Enroute from the my dear friend Huong back in Chicago:
Dead Aide by Dambisa Moyo and Niall Ferguson

Books I'd like to read: Mountains beyond Mountains
I'd like to watch: Real Time with Bill Maher, other HBO shows

Wild Animals in Rwanda

Wild animals in Rwanda are very rare if at all in existance. Other than mountain gorillas (in the volcano national park), goats, cows, and sheep there are no wildlife in Rwanda at all. There aren't even stray dogs or cats!!

Rwanda is very dense with population and highly cultivated which leaves no room for wild animals. There are two main national parks in Rwanda, the Volcano national park which houses the Mountain Gorilla and Akagera National Park which boarders Tanzania and Uganda and houses more of a savanna type land scape. they supposedly have giraffes, zebras and other savanna type animals but not as much as in the Tanzanian side.

On the other hand, birding here is amazing and Rwanda is actually a destination for bird watching and ornithology, bird science. I come across many interesting birds almost on daily bases while on site (http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=6777&m=0)

UPDATE July 31, 2009: I recently hiked mount Bisoke (3,711 m = 12,128 ft and third largest in this range) in Musanze. Mount Bisoke is a volcano mountain crowned with the crater lake and is home to the Amahoro Gorilla group. Our trekking guide mentioned to us that there are other mountain animals inhabiting the volcanoe national park. Although, our group of 8 hikers that day did not sight any animals we certainly did encounter signs of their presence such as fresh terd!! The poop apparently belonged to mountain buffalos and the mountain elephant, which I would love to see!!

4th of July Celebration

I'm actually writing this post and the post before from the US Embassy, Kigali library. Today is the 4th of July (US Independence Day) and the embassy is hosting a celebration for the US expatriates and their friends in Rwanda. (4th of July is also Liberation Day in Rwanda and is a national holiday)

I took an early bus this morning from my town to attend the celebration. I was excited to be part of the larger American community here in Rwanda and for a chance to network and meet with other people here and also to grab a burger and enjoy some American food. The speech by the Ambassador was very inspirational and reminded me and others of the role we all play in a small country in the central Africa. The service that we all have to offer in furthering the American dream in sharing liberty and development with the Rwandan people. I must say for a while I was able to overcome the challenges I'm facing during my service here.

Furthermore, the burgers and the potato salad were a score!! Although they were not the same juicy burgers from the States, and where is the popsicles at?!!

Cheers and happy birthday America

An amazing and Peaceful Ending to a Strange Day!!

The time is 10:45 pm Karen, my housemate in Musanze, just finished a late dinner and not wanting to go to sleep right after dinner (white rice, all Turkey SPAM, and corn) we decided we'll go out for a walk (my town turns into a ghost town after 7:00 pm) but with the moon lighting the sky we decided we would go never the less. As we walked down the dirt road under the moon-lit skies we came around a street corner we could hear some chanting, singing and clapping. Karen and I decided to follow the path to the source of the chanting which after passing a corn field and a barn with peeing cows, we reached a small house with covered windows and a small hidden door. At first I thought the door was locked from the outside which I thought was bazaar, but decided the push the door which opened into a small dark room (10x10) with wooden benches and pictures of the Virgin Mary on the wall. There were two ladies and a guy sitting on one of the bench next two another room behind a curtain. We sat down and could hear the chanting and clapping coming from the other room.

We were then led into the other room with one candle lighting the even smaller room. We first had to take our shoes off before going in there. The room had a few women sitting on the floor, two guys kneeling and another two guys standing. One of the two guys standing was leading the prayer and the others were yelling back screams and hallelujahs. One of the women stood up at some point and started tapping the floor with here bare feet and clapping her hands while shaking her head! We experienced this service (which Karen said is similar to Korean style Prayer) for about 30 minutes before the chanting stopped and everybody stood up and grabbed their flash light. Two of the guys in the group spoke English and after I introduced the two of us in my little Kinyarwanda, they welcomed us and invited us to join them as the continue praying except...

This time they were going to continue their praying in the forest! I looked at Karen and we both decided that it would be interesting to experience a Rwandan chant in the middle of the forest under the moon lit skies.

As we were preparing to head out, the women in the room starting flashing their flashlights on my feet and mumbling. I had my flip flops on and a pair of shorts. The discussion was around the flip flops and how they won't serve on the trek to the forest!! One of the guys looked under his bed and grabbed the nicest shoes he had and offered them to me. Then they grabbed two heavy jackets for Karen and I (it was a cold night out). As we realized that we were not well equipped for a night trek to the woods and participating in a prayer that was to end around 3 or 4 in the am. We decided that we would be better off if we go home with the promise to come back on Sunday. (stay tuned for the next round)!!

I was really touched by the whole experience and the spirituality in the chanting and dancing from the group of Rwandan's. I was also touched by their hospitality to two strangers walking into their house and offering us their shoes and clothes!! It was an amazing and peaceful ending to a rough day when just a few hours earlier I was accused of being racist to black people!! the same black people I chose to dedicate the next two years of my life professionaly working and growing with!!

MY NEW HOME away from HOME: Peace Corps Service; ***** Starz

Where: Northern Province City: Confidential (according to PC safety and security policy) Population: 350,000 (500 people/sq Km) Most prominent residents: the Mountain Gorillas (700) Attractions: the Virunga Mountains and the Volcanoes National Park (Parc National des Volcans) Health Services: 1 District Hospital and 11 Health Centers (Centre de Santes) I recently relocate to this new site within the same organization (the Access Project). And although I dreaded the move my new accommodations are nothing but humble!! After a long day of travelling to remote villages and health centers off the beaten track assessing the current (or lack of) and empowering HC directors (titulaires) with effective management practices, I return to my 4bd /2 bath house to relax and unwind in my garden of banana trees, green beans, and white eggplant!! (and soon I'll be growing tomatoes, cilantro, and basil courtesy of my amazing family and the amazing care package they sent to me in the mail). Although I still to endure with my cold morning showers, the rest of my accommodations provide all levels of comfort. and in the age of technology and communication I have to get back to my blogging...

President Kagame commenting on Peace Corps

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, from what I was told, first came to learn about Peace Corps as a child as he had an English teacher in Uganda that was a PCV. Common story here from prominent people in the Rwandan society, such as the country director at Access Project, is that they were inspired by PCVs growing up.

President Kagame's support to the return of PC to Rwanda stems from his experience. You can read his latest inspiring comments in the Huffington Post at the link below. Such support resonates in the community and certainly gives us a positive push when the rough gets going and the going gets tough!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20090609/cm_huffpost/213370

Care Package

I just received my first care package since arriving to Rwanda and you can't imagine the smile on my face at the moment of receiving a well sized small box in brown paper. The care package was sent by my best and dearest friend Ilona back in Chicago and in addition to all the love packed in there, here what Ilona also included:

Latest season of Family Guy (perfect for those many quiet nights at site with no entertainment)
Gummy Warms
Neon Sour Gummy Warms
Sour Patch Kids
Life Savers Gummies (ok I've developed a strange craving for anything sweet the past couple of months here!! I use to never like sweets)
tic tac (5 of them)
Packets of Dentyne Ice gum and Trident!
Oral-B tooth brush
Mint Waxed floss
AfterBite itch relief (this will come in handy following all those malaria infested mosquito bites)
lip balm
band aid
Extra strength Tylenol
Antibacterial hand sanitizing spray (can't get enough of this with all the kids I come in contact with)

And of course a cute little note from Ilona... I love you girl :o)

p.s. I specially requested gummy bears and am attacking those right now. so gots to go.

CIAO

Week ONE!!

First week at mysite was eventful!! We got there on Saturday, April 18th. That day we met with our resource family over some Fanta (fanta is the general term for soft drinks here, you can ask for fanta coka, fanta sprite, or fanta orange). On Sunday, we had two guys help us clean the house (I share a two bedroom house with another volunteer). That day, we went to a baptism party for our host family's 10-months old daughter. On Monday, I started work with the NGO I'm assigned to, the Access Project. We accompanied our counterpart, Dr paul, on visits to several health centers as part of an audit review of the health insurance services in the district.

On Tuesday, I was interacting with some orphan kids at an orphanage adjacent to one of the district hospitals and of course all those kids had to cough in my face which left me sick and house bound for the rest of the week (I'm still trying to fully recover or "yashize" in kinyarwanda). Thursday night, we were invited out to dinner with the Chief Police Commander in our district and were accompanied by the mayor and other officials. Saturday, I worked on fixing my Peace Corps issued mountian bike and that night we went to visit another volunteer at a city nearby. We spent the night there and came back the next day in the afternoon.

Today, I'm back in the office and setting up a work plan for the week with more health center visits and assessments as well as interviewing for health insurance managers for the district...fun fun!!

At Site

Yesterday was my first day as a Peace Corps Volunteer working with the Access Project in the Northern Province. I’m placed at a small village about an hour away from the capital Kigali to the north with a population of about 19,000. The district here supports 2 district hospitals and 19 health centers, three of which I visited yesterday, as part of an audit round with the Mutuelle managers (Mutuelle, is the national health insurance provider in Rwanda).

The north is known for it’s high mountains and cold weather. In the background from my new house is Mount Kaboye (aver 8,000 ft high). My plan is to hike mount Kaboye’s peak which takes about 3 hours one way from the base.

Other attractions include the Gorilla National Part which is about 30 minutes away as well as the volcanoes (45 minutes away).

My village itself has little to offer other than the welcoming people and the beautiful nature. The market is open only 2 days a week and there’s only one decent restaurant on the main road, which turns into a truckers’ stop at night. There’re two or three other restaurants that I’m yet to visit.

Swearing-In Ceremony

Last week marked our transition from Peace Corps Trainees to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). On Wednesday, April 15th, 2009, 32 PCVs were sworn-in in a small ceremony hosted by the US Ambassador to Rwanda. Our group thus became the first PCVs to return to Rwanda in 15 years. The ceremony was attended by government officials, representatives from global NGOs and other local organizations, returning PCVs, as well as PC/Rwanda staff. The ceremony was also covered by members of the media on both TV and radio (a picture of me and other volunteers was on the cover of the local paper).

http://rwanda.usembassy.gov

The next day we were treated to a picnic on Lake Muhazi (about 1.5 hours east of Kigali) before we are dropped off at our sites. The picnic was a great stress relief and offered us a lot of fun activities starting with playing soccer and volleyball, to meat and fish brochettes, and finally with the US marine guards taking us water boarding on the lake.

Peace Corps Trainee to Peace Corps Volunteer

Tomorrow I, along with 31 other trainees, we get sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. We spent the last 10 weeks in training. We trained in the language, kenyarwanda, cross culture and healthcare in Rwanda.

This week we're in the capital and preparing for the swearing-in ceremony, which will be held at the Ambassador's office. I'll be moving to my site this Sunday, which is really exciting. I'll be working with an NGO called Project Access. I'll be working with healthcare centers and hospitals on improving services. In addition I'll be working on other HIV/AIDS programs.

I'll write more in a future post. For now I'm looking forward to the swearing-in ceremony

Amahoro (peace)

Earthquake

So I experienced my first earthquake here in Rwanda (third in a life time)!! So the country of 1,000 hills were formed through a series of earthquakes that continue on regular bases. The earthquake registered 6.1 and was about 200 miles away. the quake was strong but short it lasted about 30 seconds. By the time I realized what was going on it had stopped. but it sure was interesting.

Kinyarwanda Vocabulary

Due to popular request here are some vocabulary for your reference. In general, kinyarwandan words end in e and is pronounced like in spanish (muramutse is muramutseh)

Murakaza Naza Welcome
Muraho Hello
Muramutse Good morning
Mwerewe (pronounced Merewe) Good afternoon
Bite se? (beates) What's up?
Beragenda? how's it going?
Murabeho Good bye

Yego Yes
Oya No

Sawa Ok

I'll continue to update this on regular bases but feel free to ask me

My Assignment

So I have two more weeks left on my training then we go to Kigali, the capital for 1 week. Peace Corps has a graduation ceremony followed by a swearing-in ceremony for Peace Corps volunteer at the ambassador's house, which is awesome.

Following the swearing in, we all move to our sites. Mine is at a place called Gankeke (pronounced Gashenhh). It's a small village about an hour north of the capital and about 30 minutes from the second largest city in Rwanda, Musanze. Gakenke is known for some attractions mainly mount Kaboye, the tallest in Rwanda and one of the tallest in Africa it sits about 12,000 ft. My plans are to hike mount kaboye every chance I have. Musanze is actually a tourist attraction with many hotels and cool spots. The main industry is focused on the national parks and the forest where the gorillas reside. It's a popular area and was featured in the national geographic. They also have other large mountains and popular trails.

I'm looking forward to it for sure. Gakenke supports 2 district hospitals and 19 health centers.

The NGO I'll be working with is called Access Project (www.theaccessproject.org). They're affilisted with Columbia University and work in 4 regions around Rwanda in addition to their office in Kigali. They provide management and technical support to health clinics in meeting operations and quality indicators, improving services and access to care. One of their latet projects involves building a new health clinic and a youth center. The NGO staff is amazing and I'm very excited

My Weekend Adventures I

In a previous post I gave a picture of a typical day for me in Rwanda. Some people inquired about how I’ve been spending my weekends. Here’re some weekend activities:

Friday, March 20, 2009 – The Rwanda Music Awards took place at the National University here in Butare. The tickets were 2,000 RWF ($3.5). A group of us decided to go that night and I’m glad we did since it ended up being a cool event with the big shots from Rwandan pop culture present. We managed to find our way to the front row of the theatre hall. The atmosphere was full of vibe with hip hop and pop performances. The awards ceremony was a mini MTV music awards with the best teen artist for 2009 seated two seats down to my left. Next to him was the 2009 best Hip Hop Female artist! Right behind here was the P Diddy of Rwandan music (2009 producer of the year). It was fun being in the presence of celebrity without all the hype…the performances were great especially hip hop. The sense of fashion of celebrities is worth mentioning. Bling bling is well presented here with thick jewelry around their necks. Animal print shirts (leopard, zebra) with flared cuffs is big here I came to notice.

Saturday, March 21, 2009 – Part of our three months training involves culture exchange in addition to Language and technical healthcare lessons.

The culture exchange lesson this time involved Rwandan Kitchen. The day before, for one of the language lessons the teachers focused on words and phrases common to cooking. This past Friday we broke into 4 groups. Each group had a shopping list and were tasked to go to the market and purchase the items on their list (all in kinyarwanda). My list consisted of:
- 5 kg of meat
- 20 kg of potatoes
- 5 kg of sweet potatoes
- 2 kg of bone!!

The full list included live chicken (5), fish, greens, various vegetables, and more. On Saturday morning we started our day at 8:00 to start cooking Rwandan food in a Rwandan kitchen. A quick note on Rwandan kitchen, Rwandan kitchen has no stove or any of the electronics commonly found in the US which made for a fun and long cooking experience. The highlight for me was slaughtering two of the five chickens. I must say that a sharp knife would’ve made it less of a horrifying experience but the chicken died in peace!! Others were in charge of peeling and chopping 44 Ibs of potatoes for the frensh fries!! Others scaled the fish and prepped it to be fried! Overall it was quite a cultural experience!!

Out for a Run

Here are two stories that I would like to share with you:

The first one was earlier today. While I was out jogging from the training center at Taba (the village town we're staying in) I came across school kids who were heading home from school. As they saw me heading down hill, one kid turned around and yelled "Umuzongo" which is the word for white people, and all at a sudden a group of kids turned around and started running in front of me. I greeted them and kept on my way but turned around to find 8 of the kids keeping pace with me. it was such a fun experience and they continued with me for the next mile and half. It was inspiring indeed.

The second story was related to a site visit to one of the clinics around Butare. The clinic I visited was at the umodogodo (village) of Murkazi. The purpose of the visit was to learn about the health care system in Rwanda at the community level. The clinic we visited had about 25 beds and served a population of about 11,000 some people travel 2 hours to reach the center. Some of the services provided there are geared around maternity and pediatrics. They had a small lab with one microscope, a centrifuge and simple tools for urine and preliminary blood tests. They also had a small pharmacy. We toured the facility including the Labor and Delivery ward. We then walked into the post natal room to find a 1-day old baby. It was a humbling experience but inspiring at the same time. The quality of the clinics here despite the simplicity and lack of automation exceeded our expectations in terms of some of the patient registration practices and quality of care. The dedication of the staff in assisting patients and making sure the community members receive the medical attention they need was visible and is worth highlighting.

Perhaps in a separate entry I’ll touch on the health insurance system they have here in Rwanda and far exceeds the US…

Until then, love you and miss you all.

p.s. I wish I could post some pics but the connection here is too slow.

A day in my Life in Butare

Things are great here so far. Rwanda is a beautiful country and the people are amazing. The weather is great too since it's on high altitude. The scenery is like being out in California, it is that beautiful with hills and all.

So I spent two days in DC for orientation and got to meet the team there. This is the first Peace Corps group back in Rwanda in 15 years so there's a lot of excitement around it. They had a reception for us at the PC headquarters with the Rwandan ambassador to the US and the Director of PC so that was nice. The trip out to Rwanda wasn't bad, we had two 7 hour flights to Brussels and then to Kigali, the capital to Rwanda. We spent two days in Kigali. the first day we had a meeting with the Minister of Health who shared with is the vision and the country goals related to healthcare. They're excited here as well and we were featured in the paper twice already. the second day we went to the Genocide memorial and museum which was very emotional.

We are now in Butare, 2.5 hours south of Kigali. Butare is known as the intellectual capital of Rwanda with the national university and museums. We're staying at a campus that's run by a group of nuns as part of an NGO. It's nice here. We each have a room with a bed and desk. We share bathrooms but they keep things clean. We're also served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. PC also set this up as a training center for us so they have classes for us in the shape of shacks outdoors. Each class is 4 people and we each get a teacher that teaches us Kenyarwanda. A typical day for me is:

My alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. I take a nice bucket shower (very weak water flow) and now they installed water heaters so at least it's not cold showers!! Breakfast is served from 7:00 to 8:00. Sometimes we get eggs, bread rolls, avocados!!, gebna roomi, nutella, as well as coffee and tea. At 8:00 we start our classes. they broke us into groups of 3-4 with a Rwandan teacher (they speak English) the classrooms are outdoors and in little gazebos in a courtyard garden which is amazing and inviting environment for learning. at 10:00 we get a tea break which they serve with local deserts. 10:30 we’re back in class. Lunch is served at noon. lunch consists of soup (lentil or mixed vegetables), rice or pasta, greens, and some type of meat (usually goat meat). We continue again with classes till 5:00 PM (the afternoon session today involved community activity so we went to the market and practiced our kinyarwandan with the locals) 5:30 we go to a place nearby for some sports activities (volleyball, basket, and soccer) Dinner is at 7:00 Pm after that we either chill outside. Two people have guitars so they play some tunes and we study. I'm usually in bed by 10:00.

It’s amazing how fast we’re learning the language we’re already going out to town and interacting with the locals in the local language.


Murabeho

First two weeksin Rwanda

Cheers from Rwanda, Muraho, Amakoro?

This is my first blog entry since I got here. The internet connection is not the best so it's been a challenge signing in.

We're now into our third week in Rwanda and it's been an amazing experience so far. We're in Butare, 2.5 hours south of Kigali the capital. Butare is not as large of a city as I thought it would be but it's beautiful. The university campus is nice and the surroundings are full of greenery and hills.

Rwanda is known as the country of 1,000 hills and being here I can see why that is the case. We've been going through some extensive training in the local language and culture. the local language here is Kenyarwandan and it's amazing that I'm picking up the language and able to communicate after two weeks here.

I'll keep this short but will post two more entries one related to my daily routine and another on foods in Rwanda. Feel free to post questions or leave comments.

Miss you all

Last day at Work

So Tomorrow is my last day at Sg2 (http://www.sg2.com/). I've been with Sg2 the past 3 years as a Healthcare consultant, and have learned tremendously during my tenure here. I'll miss the people I worked with, the brain power housed in this place, the free breakfasts/lunches/and snacks in the terrace, the commute, and the many people that make Sg2.

Next week, however, starts a new journey that I'm excited about and look forward to. I booked my ticket to fly to Washingron DC for the PC orientation and staging. I'm looking forward to meeting the new group of people that I'll be spending the next 27 months with and will keep you posted to the next phase of my Journey (flight to Kigali, Rwanda)

Training Site, Butare, Southern Province

So I just learned that I'll be spending the first ten weeks of my assignment in a city called Butare in southern Rwanda (2.5 hours south of the capital Kigali). Here's some info on Butare that I was able to find online. We're going to be hosted by Nuns in a seminary in Butare, which is the cultural and intellectual capital of Rwanda.

Read below (link: http://www.rwandatourism.com/kigali.htm)

Butare (HUYE now ) was the largest and most important city in Rwanda prior to 1965, when it lost out to the more centrally located Kigali, 135km to its north, as the capital of independent Rwanda. Today the site of several academic institutions, including the country's largest university,Huye ( Butare) is still regarded to be the intellectual and cultural pulse of Rwanda. It is also an attractively compact and sedate town of shady avenues emanating from a main street lined with comfortable small hotels and breezy terrace restaurants.

The most prominent tourist attraction in Huye (Butare) is the superb National Museum, which houses perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. Absorbing displays of traditional artifacts are illuminated by a fascinating selection of turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles, but also into the subsequent development of Rwanda as a modern African state.

The cultural significance of the Huye area is further underlined by a visit to nearby Nyabisindu, formerly known as Nyanza, the traditional seat of Rwanda’s feudal monarchy. The impressive Royal Palace at Nyanza, an enormous domed construction made entirely with traditional materials, has been painstakingly restored to its 19th century state and is now maintained as a museum.

Placement

So I received my placement letter from the Peace Corps after a long wait. I accepted my placement offer to joing the Peace Corps as a volunteer. My assignement will be in Rwanda in Central Africa focused on developing their health care system specific to AIDS/HIV. I will be posting a new blog with more details around my assignment and background on Rwanda.

Cheers,
Ahmed