Thank You :)

This past week has been a roller coaster. Not only was it my last week here in Rwanda, it was also my busiest. On Monday, Petek and I were able to fix more blood pressure cuffs and a pulse oximeter. We were super excited about the pulse oximeter because it was our second electrical fix! We found out that there was a broken wire within the circuitry, which caused a short circuit when the probe was connected to the reader. We also were able to try out a new restaurant that was in town! I don’t remember what it was called exactly...it had the word “pizzeria” in it. I ordered a beef stir fry with rice and mango juice for only 2500 RWF. It was super delicious!

On Tuesday, Petek and I were able to paint the tires for the second half of our secondary project. We let them dry for the rest of the day and assembled them on Wednesday, when Maddy and the CEO of EWH, Leslie, visited. We gave her a small tour of our hospital and showed her our secondary projects in action. Afterwards, we made our way to lunch with our head BMET, Serge. Petek and I originally planned to go eat at the pizzeria restaurant we found earlier in the week but Serge suggested going to his favorite restaurant that served some killer Rwandan food.

Thursday was an interesting day…well at least the night was! First off, we finally had water for the first time since Monday! We didn’t have water for a very long time because there was a huge conference that was happening since the middle of last week. Since there were a bunch of people staying at the hotel, there was a shortage of water. Petek and I were very excited to be able to shower that night lol…Because it was our last night in Byumba, we planned on relaxing in our room and packing up our suitcases. However, Serge randomly called us and told us to come outside immediately. Thinking it was an urgent matter, we walked out. After waiting for approximately 30 minutes, we were greeted by Serge. He told us to walk with him to a hotel to meet with our director. We originally thought he wanted to talk to us about giving us a ride to the bus station since we had large suitcases with us. However, when we arrived, he invited us to sit down and have a few beers. It was a pleasant surprise because we never found the time to sit down and talk to him or Serge. We were able to enjoy each other’s company until the topic of religion came up. The director asked us if Petek and I were Christian and we both answered “no” since she’s an Atheist and I’m Buddhist. The director kept throwing us questions about our beliefs which made us uncomfortable because he kept asking us why we weren’t Christian. Fortunately, Petek and I were able to go back to the hotel before he could ask us anymore.

On Friday, Petek and I went to the hospital to say our final goodbyes to everyone. We also set up one of our chairs in front of the maternity department and delivered the other to Jacques at the physical therapy department. And with that, Petek and I made our way back to Kigali. Our first stop in Kigali was La Palisse Hotel, where the conference was held. Petek and I dropped off our luggage there and waited for the others. About an hour and a half later, a bunch of the others showed up. We spent some time catching up before a few of them decided to go to Kimirongo to buy souvenirs. Jenny, Richard, and I made our way to Meze Fresh since we were hungry. We were able to gaze out into the Kigali landscape as we caught up some more and enjoyed our taco salads.

Sitting on the chair we made!

One last photo with the dentist before we left for Kigali.

On Saturday, all of us found our way back to La Palisse Hotel after Umuganda to start our conference. All of us were able to share many stories and laughs from our experiences at our regional hospitals. It was very refreshing to learn about everyone else’s adventures. Petek and I were also able to present as well. We even made a fun video to wrap up our presentation. LINK HERE! Since we were the last to go for the day, we all made our way to our last dinner in Rwanda. Of course, we ate a Rwandan buffet. Afterwards, we all went to the pool and had a few drinks. It was all good vibes that night. J On Sunday, we finished up with the conference. After, we waited for our bus to take us to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone. Some of us were even in tears! Although I’m glad to be home, I really do miss Rwanda, the students and OTGCs of EWH, and all the people I met in Rwanda. This was definitely an once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget. J

One last food pic (so bittersweet...)

I can’t believe that this will be my last post for this blog! Before I end this, I’d like to write up a little reflection. These past two months have been amazing. Not only was I able to learn a ton (ie. About engineering and life), but I also made lifelong friendships. I’m so glad I chose to go on this trip. Ever since I got back home, I kept on reminiscing about Rwanda. I feel as if no matter how much I try to write about my experience, my words could never fully express how I really felt or fully describe the experience. You would have to go there yourself to understand my experience completely. Thank you EWH for giving me the opportunity to go on this trip. Thank you to all my donors who supported me financially. Thank you to my friends and family back at home for keeping in touch with me whenever I missed home. And finally, thank you to my EWH friends who I shared this experience with. I would not have wanted it any other way! Would I want to do something like this again? It’s highly probable. Would I recommend someone to do this? YES YES YES!

This was by far the most memorable summer I’ve had. I couldn’t thank everybody enough for making this internship so perfect. J

One last selfie with everyone... :) I miss you all!

Warning: photo spam ahead!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted on here! This has been a very eventful week for me. I’ll start off with last weekend. On Friday, Petek and I went to Kigali to hunt for souvenirs for our friends and family. We were able to buy some African shirts for our parents. I bought my dad a beige shirt with a rhino on the front. For my mom, I got her an authentic African dress. I hope they like it! After all our purchases, we went to Bourbon to get dinner then headed back to Petek’s homestay. The wait for the bus to Kicukiro took around 2 hours. The traffic was insane that weekend because it was the weekend of the African Union. Many roads around the Convention Center were closed off for security reasons. Unfortunately for us, we had to pass the Convention Center to get back to Kicukiro. After getting on the very crowded bus, we finally made it back to the homestay.

On Saturday, we met up with Jade, Laura, and Bre and J Lynn’s for breakfast. It was nice seeing some familiar faces! We talked about our experiences at the hospital and towns. After breakfast, we made our way to town to go to Kazi ni Kazi: a small shopping area to buy spare parts and electronics. We had to buy some spare parts for our hospitals and materials for our secondary project. Petek and I were able to buy a new charger, paint brushes, and super glue from there. Afterwards, we parted with the other group and went to go get souvenirs. We went to Kimirongo and bought masks, artwork made from banana leaves, figurines, and plenty of keychains. I was able to bargain for the first time there! It was quite fun to bargain because the vendor was very friendly and willing to lower the price for me. For dinner, Petek and I went to a Korean restaurant called Dae Jang Geum. I ordered galbi tang (short rib soup) and kimbap (Korean sushi) whereas Petek ordered bibimbap (mixed rice). Although the food wasn’t as good as in the US, it was delicious! It definitely satisfied my cravings for Korean food. It was Petek’s first time trying Korean food as well! She really enjoyed eating her meal as well.

Our Korean meal!

Yummy kimbap

This week has been very busy for Petek and I we because we started our secondary project. We decided to make some shoe cubbies for the dentistry department and OR. We started off by first cleaning some old cubbies that we found in the scrap metal pile. We couldn’t find anything that could help us rinse the cubbies so we decided to wipe them down with baby wipes, which took half of our Monday. On Thursday, Petek and I painted the cubbies. We were both very pleased with how both of them turned out! We also left our mark on the cubbies by putting a hand print on them. On Friday, we did some final touch ups. Now all there’s left to do is to give the cubbies to the departments. We hope they’ll find our cubbies useful!

We had to stop taking inventory to take a selfie with Serge.

Our cubbies!

Matching with the finished product

Hospital partner selfie feat. scrap metal

Left my mark!

On Friday, Petek and I stayed with my homestay. It was very nice to see them again and catch up. We also had dinner with them. It was so nice having a home cooked meal! The food tasted amazing as well. The next day, we made our way to Nyanza to visit the King’s Palace. It took us quite a while to find the palace, however. First, there was a bike race in Nyanza, which blocked off a lot of roads. Second, the signs “directing” us to the palace were not very helpful because we got lost. Third, not a lot of people spoke English so we weren’t able to ask the locals where the palace was. In the end, it took us about an hour to find the place. We were able to find some locals who spoke English to help us out. The palace was beautiful! It was nice to learn some of the Rwandan culture. The king’s palace looked like a giant dome. There was a pole in front of the entrance that was called the forgiveness pole. Our guide informed us that once someone touched the pole, the entire village, including the king, would forgive that person for whatever they did. There were also sticks at coming out from the top of the roof. Having one stick coming out meant that there was a widow living in the house. The other two symbolized that the house belonged to the king. We took off our shoes and entered the palace. Inside there was a waiting room, a VIP room for the king’s friends, another room for the queen’s friends, and the bedroom. The bed was huge. It seemed like it could fit maybe five people on it! A fun fact I learned was that the shortest king was 2.17 meters! The bed was definitely fit for a king, especially for a king of that size.

Front entrance of the palace

Inside! P.s. check out my cool African shirt

There were also two smaller dome shaped houses behind the palace. One of for a girl who was in charge of the milk. The other was for a boy who was in charge of the banana beer. These jobs were very honorable jobs because the boy and girl were chosen out of the rest of the village to serve for the rest of their life. After seeing these two houses, we visited the cows. The cows had huge horns! There was a cow herder there that would sing to the cows. We were told that the cows love music and attention. One of the cows came up to us, ushering us to pet him. Cows were my favorite animal as a child, so I was super excited to be able to get so close to one!

The milk girl's home.

Pots that stored banana beer. The sticks are actually straws made of papyrus.

In front of the banana beer boy's home.

Inka! (Cow in Kinyarwanda)

We were also able to see the modern palace. The palace was very big and had multiple rooms. I was able to learn more history about Rwanda, including the expansion of the country (Another fun fact: Rwanda means “expansion”). In the 18^th century, Rwanda’s borders used to expand into Uganda and the Congo, with a little help from Belgium. However, when these colonizers left, the borders shrunk to today’s borders.

After visiting the palaces, Petek and I took a bus to Muhanga where Savannah and Grace lived. We were able to also see Addie, Katie, Megan, Gabby, and Bryan. We all cooked dinner together and had a feast. We made spaghetti, mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans and carrots, and garlic bread. We enjoyed our dinner while watching The Office. Grace also made these deep fried banana balls for dessert! Although it a simple dish, it tasted very good, especially with Nutella drizzled on top. The group sat around and caught up while enjoying these banana balls.

Group pic with the food we prepared!

Serving it buffet style~

My plate of food. My favorite part was the garlic bread and veggies! 

The next morning, we all woke up around 8 AM and made grilled cheese sandwiches with avocado and omlettes for breakfast. There were also some left over banana balls, so we ate those as well. We ate breakfast while watching Despicable Me 2. After eating and finishing the movie, Petek and I made our way back to Byumba. It’s shocking to know that we only have one more week left here. This Friday, I’ll be heading back to Kigali for the EWH conference. Next Sunday, I’ll be getting on a plane to go back to America. Time has definitely flown by! I will definitely be making the last week memorable. I wonder what adventures will be in store for us this week.

Grilled cheese and avocado! Not pictured: omlette and banana balls because I ate them haha...

A Happy Hump Day

Petek and I walked into the hospital this morning thinking that it would be a slow day, especially since it was Wednesday. When we entered the maintenance room, we took our usual seats and waited for Serge and Eric to come in. When they came in, we said good morning to them and started working. We first put back together an oxygen concentrator we looked at last week. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to fix it due to not having spare parts to replace the broken ones with. After that, we looked at a laptop charger and desodered the broken components on its circuit board. We found a spare part and tried to desoder that off of its circuit board however, we found out that the piece was also broken. To get our minds off of not being able to fix those pieces of equipment, Petek and I decided to take inventory in the dentistry and radiology department. We met the friendly workers there and asked if they had any broken equipment that needed fixing. They said that there weren’t any, but we did see Serge walking towards the maintenance workshop with the head nurse of the maternity ward. We saw that she was carrying a handful of sphygmomanometers and a bucket (literally a bucket) full of thermometers. After taking inventory, Petek and I made our way back to the workshop. We thought that the equipment the head nurse brought in would be tough fixes (we were also bummed out about the oxygen concentrator and laptop charger), so we took our time troubleshooting. We were watching music videos on YouTube when I found out that there was a simple fix on one of the sphygmomanometers. I realized that there was a hole in the cuff that could easily be mended. Petek and I put some super glue on it and the device was as good as new! We were excited since it was our first fix in a long time. We told Serge and he brought us to the pediatric department to confirm that the sphygmomanometer was fixed. Petek and I eagerly stood next to the nurse that was using our fixed piece of equipment on one of the patients. When she was done, she removed her stethoscope and smiled at us.

“Il fonctionne” she said in French. Petek and I were both super excited. Serge congratulated us and the rest of the nurses in the pediatric department clapped for us. This was the most praise we got from fixing equipment. Even though it was one of our easier fixes, the nurses were the happiest. I think it’s because a sphygmomanometer is a device that is used daily. With our morale boosted, Petek and I were able to fix all the other sphygmomanometers, which belonged to the maternity ward. The head nurse was very pleased to see that we fixed all four of them! We also were able to fix a bunch of the thermometers for the pediatric department by the end of the day.

Testing to make sure the thermometers worked...and they did!

After finishing work, a one of the kids from the local elementary school walked up to Petek and I as we were walking back to our room. She gave each of us flowers. Soon after, her friends came up after her and gave us a handful of flowers! Both of us were very confused, but very happy. This was definitely a sweet end to hump day! This Wednesday also marks the start of the final quarter of this trip. I still can’t believe that I’ve been in Rwanda for a month and a half already. Time has definitely flown by. I feel extremely accomplished because of all the effort I’ve been putting in to help fix medical equipment in Byumba. Although I’ve ran into some bumps along the road, I know that I was able to help out someone along the way. J

Flowers!

The Most Asian Day Ever!

This week felt a lot shorter than the others. I didn’t have work on Monday since it was Liberation Day. Wednesday was the end of Ramadan, so not a lot of people came to work. Petek and I also found out that Fridays are half days for us so we get out at 12! Despite the short week, Petek and I ran into some problems at the hospital. We weren’t able to fix any medical equipment this week. Most of the time, we were waiting for email responses from manufacturers to help us troubleshoot since the problems we ran into weren’t as simple as the first week. On Tuesday, a nurse from the maternity ward came in and asked us to fix two handheld blood pressure monitors. She explained that there was only one working monitor left and how it’s quite difficult for her to monitor the blood pressure of 7-8 patients with only one monitor. That made Petek and I feel quite pressured to fix the monitors as soon as possible. The nurse told us that the cuff would inflate but would not deflate, thus not properly recording the patient’s blood pressure. When Petek and I opened up the monitors, we could not find anything wrong. We also asked our head BMET if he could find a problem. However, he also could not find the problem. On Thursday the nurse came back in and asked us if we fixed it. We answered “no” and explained what we expected the problem could be. After explaining, she responded with “I can’t wait any longer. I need them fixed now. I will just go to our director and ask him what I should do.” And with that, she walked away with the broken monitors. It definitely was not a good feeling when we could not fix such a simple device for her. Petek and I felt very discouraged when this happened. It seems as if the hospital staff have very high hopes for us two despite knowing that we only had one month of training. We understand that there will be some pieces of equipment that we won’t be able to fix. However, we are trying to stay optimistic and hope for equipment we can fix in the last three weeks we have here!

On Friday, after work, Petek left to go to Musanze to do the volcano hike with others. I didn’t feel too well, so I spent the rest of the day in bed. I think I was just exhausted and needed some time to relax. On Saturday, I made my way to Kigali to meet up with Jenny to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Little did we know what we would have a day filled with adventure ahead of us…

We met up at Nyabugogo, a large, and extremely hectic bus station. Since it was the afternoon, we decided to go get lunch at a restaurant called Pan China, which was pretty popular among other umuzungus (foreigners), according to TripAdvisor. We took a bus to the Convention Center because we thought the restaurant was close by. However, after walking for about 30 minutes, we realized we were lost. We ended up asking police for directions. The police were kind enough to call motos for us and direct the drivers to the restaurant. It was my first time riding one, so I was a bit hesitant. We were also discouraged to ride motos, especially in Kigali. However, there was no taxi or bus in sight so that was our only option for transportation. With that, I put on my helmet and sped off on the moto. It took us awhile to get to Pan China because: 1) it was a lot farther than expected and 2) the moto drivers didn’t know where it was either! We had to drive around the neighborhood for a while until we found the place. Jenny and I ordered Sichuan beef, stir fried noodles with vegetables, and a banana chocolate milkshake. Yes, a milkshake. At a Chinese restaurant. IN KIGALI. The entire meal was delicious. It was very rewarding, especially after wandering around the city looking for this place.

Close up of our food...it was so good...

Look how excited Jenny is!

After our late lunch, the manager of Pan China ordered a taxi for us so we can get to the genocide memorial. The memorial was much like a museum where you can walk through and read the different posters displayed. I was able to learn a lot about the genocide, including the buildup prior to it and the aftermath. I definitely recommend going to this memorial because it was extremely informative.

Jenny and I made our way to RZ Manna, a Korean bakery. We ordered tried out a bunch of different bread flavors including soboro, mocha, and sweet potato. We also tried their coffee, which was amazing. I haven’t had coffee since we were still at IPRC…

Top: Sweet potato bread & mocha bread

Bottom: Soboro & brownie

Mocha frap~

After RZ Manna, Jenny and I were going to go back to Nyabugogo so we can get back to our cities, but we ended up talking about the latest trend back at home: Pokemon Go. For those of you who don’t know, Nintendo released a new app where you can catch Pokemon in real life. It works by syncing your GPS to the game. This allows you to walk around wherever you are to search of Pokemon. I had the app on my phone, and Jenny was curious on how the game worked. We ended up walking down the streets of Kigali for a solid 40 minutes to “catch ‘em all.” My childhood dreams of becoming a Pokemon master have finally come true! I’m sure both of us looked ridiculous since I was holding my phone out in the open and Jenny had her computer out since we used it was a Wi-Fi hotspot.

These two MTN workers thought I was taking a picture of them...little did they know There was a Zubat on them!

Literally flipped out when I saw these two hanging out on the road.

There was a Sandshrew next to Jenny this entire time!

The weekend was definitely quite an “Asian” day. We ate Chinese food, had bread and coffee at a Korean bakery, and even caught some Pokemon in Kigali! I hope next week I'll be able to find more when I come back. :)

Reunited with the EWH Squad at Lake Kivu

We are well into our sixth week in Rwanda. It’s been a week and a half since all of us have parted ways to work at our regional hospitals. I can’t help but feel a bit sad when I think about being away from the rest of the EWH squad. The days are much quieter and a lot slower. I even started counting down the days until the conference and my departure back home. Without the rest of gang here, I started to feel more and more homesick. Maybe I just need to find ways to keep myself busy to think about these things… On a brighter note, Petek and I were able to fix plenty of equipment. We fixed an infant warmer, a few pulse oximeters, and a surgical lamp, just to name a few! Both of us are very excited to see what else we can fix at the hospital. We also have been able to take warm showers daily here in Byumba. We were almost in denial that the water coming out of the faucet was warm! We spent a few minutes standing in our bathroom, running the hot water over our hands and almost burning ourselves! As for food...although there is not many restaurants to try, the hotel we're staying at has excellent food. The new city has definitely been treating us well!

Checking to make sure the pulse oximeter works. (It does.)

Despite the slow days at the hospital, Petek and I look forward to see familiar faces on the weekends. This past weekend, we traveled to Kibuye to visit Lake Kivu with Laura, Jade, and Bre. We later found out that everyone else also decided to go to Kibuye as well. Planning the trip with everyone was very disorganized so everyone decided to follow with their own plans. On Saturday, we made our way to the environmental museum. We learned about the different sources of energy there is in the world, and what kinds of energy Rwanda uses. At the end of the tour, the museum guide showed us an herbal garden that was located at the top of the building. It was interesting to see what local plants can be used to treat burns, stomach pains, and many other ailments. Afterwards, the five of us, and Katie who joined us later in the day, went on a boat ride on Lake Kivu. We visited two islands: Napoleon Island and Peace Island. We hiked up Napoleon Island and were able to catch an amazing bird’s eye view of the lake. On our way up to the top, we saw plenty of bats. All of us were unsure as to why all the bats were out in the daylight. We tried asking our tour guide but he wasn’t so sure either. At Peace Island, we were able to swim in the lake. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my swimsuit, but I was able to dip my toes into the cool water! We ended our boat ride by stopping in the middle of the lake and watching the sunset. It was my first time seeing the sunset in its full glory so I was in awe of its beauty. We ended our day by eating at the restaurant in the hotel we stayed at. I ordered a hamburger with vegetables but ended up getting sauteed vegetables in between two buns. I was sad to not see meat on my burger! I decided to not ask the kitchen to make a new one since waiting time is a lot slower than that in America. Overall, the weekend was great. I was able to see everyone and was able to experience Lake Kivu and all of its glory!

We're on a boat aaand...it's going (not so) fast aaaand! (Anyone recognize the song?)

Super posed pic on Napoleon Island. FYI: Don't wear flip flops when trying to hike up a nearly vertical slope.

Watching the sunset on Lake Kivu.

Last Days in Kigali & First Days in Byumba

Hello internet! I am back. I apologize for not posting recently! These past couple of days have been very hectic for me. Last week was the final week where we will all see each other until the end of July. I wanted to spend my time talking to them before we all parted ways. We also had a very busy schedule the week as well. On Thursday, we had our final hospital lab. My partner and I started off with looking at the Doppler probes used to monitor fetal heart rate. I had to smear gel on the probe in order to get an accurate reading. I related to expecting mothers for a bit when they complain about how cold the gel was! I got very excited when I was able to hear my heartbeat. We weren’t able to fix the probes because we would have ended up destroying the casing. My partner and I decided to help another group with an infant incubator. We were told that the fan was not working so we decided to open up the incubator. Upon opening, we found a dead rat inside! We quickly took it out and cleaned out the fan. After cleaning out the fan, it was time for our lunch break. Everyone went to Meze Fresh, which is the Chipotle of Rwanda. It is to die for! After lunch, we headed back to the hospital. My partner and I ended up fixing a wheelchair and a patient bed. We were so happy to be able to fix so many pieces of equipment in one day.

Me trying to find my heartbeat with the Doppler probe...The gel was really cold!

Petek and I not practicing safety precautions on the wheelchair we made!

Catching some rays on the fixed patient bed.

Selfies with the rat hiding in the infant incubator.

For our last Kinyarwanda class on Friday, our teacher, Francis, took all of us out to a local market so we can bargain in Kinyarwanda. We put our skills to the test. I was able to buy 2 mangoes for 600 francs (less than $1 USD) with my roommate! We were very excited! We ended up giving the mangoes to our homestay family as a little thank you gift. They all were very happy to know that we bought the fruit in Kinyarwanda! We ended up sharing the fruit after dinner. The mangoes were the best mangoes I’ve ever eaten. They were a sweet way to end the week!

On Saturday, it was Umuganda, which is a community service day that happens once a month in Rwanda. My homestay dad took my roommates and me to the neighborhood behind IPRC to see an administrative building being built. He told us that there was no government funding for the building and it is all community service. I was surprised to see so many people from the neighborhood coming together to help with the construction work. After Umuganda, the group met up to go to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village to teach the students there how to build an optical heart rate monitor. At the village, there were over 1,000 students, all coming from rough backgrounds. The village was originally built for kids who are “vulnerable.” Originally, this was meant for children who suffered from the genocide. Now, it is open to children who need the most help ranging from financial issues to domestic problems. When I went there I was so amazed by all the students there. They were all so driven and such fast learners. My partner and I taught them how to solder that day. After 10 minutes, they were all experts! The students I worked with also talked to me about how they all wanted to be engineers. They further explained how they wanted to “be the change” and become empowered women in a male-dominated field. They also talked about how they wanted to help Rwanda grow by serving the community. It was very refreshing to see these students being motivated to work hard. It made me want to work harder so I can be a better role model for them. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for such bright individuals!

With the students from Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village and a BMET student from IPRC.

Sunday was our final day in Kigali. Before moving out, I gifted the homestay kids some toys to play with. My two roommates also gifted them candy and games as well. Both of the girls were so happy to get the presents! One of my roommates gifted the father a towel with “Texas” embroidered into it. After taking many pictures, we made our way to the Incubation Center, where we would all be sent off to our cities. It was a very bittersweet moment for me. I was excited to go off to Byumba to finally fix medical equipment but also very sad to know that everyone will be separated. However, I know that we will all see each other over the weekends! After all of our goodbye hugs, Petek and I were off to Byumba!

Our first day of work was a little bit rough. Petek did not feel too well and I wasn’t feeling like my peppy self. We also were not able to fix any equipment on the first day. We left the hospital feeling bummed out. After our first day, we searched up a bunch of manuals and emailed plenty of manufacturing companies to help us out. Tuesday was a lot better for us. We had a big breakfast and walked into the hospital feeling more motivated. We quickly sat down to look at the oxygen concentrators and infant warmer that stumped us yesterday. We also picked up a broken microscope from the laboratory. By the end of the day, we were able to fix the infant warmer and locate the problem with the microscope and the oxygen concentrator. Both of us felt so accomplished! The feeling of finally fixing equipment makes me feel so excited for what else I can do.

Thumbs up for our first fix! :)

The beautiful Byumba sunset.

A Thousand Hills to Heaven

This Monday started the week off right. Besides trying out J Lynn’s, a hidden café that sells bagels, one of my VCU professors, Dr. Jamison, came to visit another VCU student, Megan, and me. After talking for a bit during our one hour lunch break, we quickly made arrangements to meet up again for dinner. Megan, Katie (our roommate), and I made our way to Heaven, a local restaurant ran by an American couple, to meet with Dr. Jamison. We sat down in the charming little restaurant and had a great dinner. Alongside our beef fillets and Japanese plum sorbets, we exchanged great conversations about our experiences in Rwanda. I wanted to share a few topics that we talked about.

1. Changing genocide ideology

When I first brought up the topic of going to Rwanda to my family, they all were in shock. “YOU, out of all people, want to go to RWANDA? Did you not hear about the genocide that happened there?” Before coming here, I do admit that I’ve been quite spoiled. It’s inevitable when you were born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC. I’ve also heard of the genocide and yes, I did watch the infamous Hotel Rwanda before coming here. However, with an open mind, I convinced them by telling them how eager I was to go and how much I wanted to help improve health care. I’ll be honest and say that I was a bit nervous coming to a different country alone. Like many others, I wondered how the genocide had affected the country as well. Indeed, I was scared for any crimes that may happen when I got here. However, after being here for three weeks, a lot of my initial perspectives have changed. Living with the locals have made me realize how much stronger Rwanda has become post-genocide. For example, there is the Reconciliation and Unity Village. At the village, each house has a prosecutor, survivor, and refugee living there in order to spread forgiveness and create harmony amongst those affected by the genocide. Dr. Jamison also talked about how a man confessed to a woman that he had killed her entire family. The woman forgave him. It’s amazing to see how much effort is being put into forgiving and trying to rebuilding the country. There are also many signs around Kigali that say “Fighting genocide ideology.” Rwanda has definitely grown stronger after the genocide. Everyone I’ve met has been so friendly and welcoming. I hope that more people will be able to visit Rwanda and see how peaceful this place is.

2. Expanding horizons

During our dinner, Dr. Jamison talked about the hotel having a broken AC. He continued saying: “I can’t believe I was that guy who would complain about having no AC!” It made me think about my own experiences. The first night here, I took my first cold shower. I remember biting my lip as I held the showerhead above my head. After spending three weeks here, I’m happy enough to even have running water now! I’ve gotten used to taking cold showers and actually started to enjoy them. I don’t really mind not having AC either since the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. The temperature is highest mid-80s and drops to mid-60s at night. Also, there is low humidity every day! It’s definitely a nice change from the hot and humid weather in DC. If I could take anything back home, it’d be the weather. I’ve assimilated nicely into this new culture and I am happy. I’ve noticed that I don’t really use my electronics that much either, unless I’m contacted family and friends. One of the many things I’ve learned here is to live simply. I realized that I don’t need fancy electronics or constant internet access to keep myself happy.

3. Where’s the trash???

Ever since I got here, I’ve been constantly amused by how little trash, let alone trashcans, there is on the street. There are these gutters that can be up to 5 feet deep on the side of every road to probably catch the water during the rainy season. Since it’s the dry season right now, there’s nothing there. There will be an occasional lady in there sweeping the dirt away though. I also learned that plastic bags are outlawed in Rwanda. I think about what will happen if America decided to outlaw plastic bags…I’m pretty sure the roads will be even more littered than it already is! I don’t even know where all the trash at my homestay goes to. I know that they burn their trash…but where does it get stored in the meantime? If anyone can answer my question, please let me know. J

Dr. Jamison, Megan, Me, and Katie enjoying our dessert at Heaven.

This week's adventures!

This week started off a bit shaky for me. On Sunday, I woke up in a cold sweat and with a huge pain in my stomach. I believe it was due to eating in the jeep during the safari. There was dirt flying all over the place so there was no way for me to fully clean my hands. The bacteria on my hands must have upset my stomach. I spent the day in shivers but I tried my best to power through it. I decided to go into mu mugyi (“town” in Kinyarwandan) with two other girls to buy fabric. We entered into a few fabric stores until I found the perfect one. I chose a lavender and dark purple/burgundy colored fabric and decided to make it into some cool harem pants and a maxi skirt. After class on Monday, five other girls and I went to the tailor in another town. We got measured and was told to come back in one week. I'm very excited to see how my pieces turn out! I will post a picture of them as soon as I get them. :)

On Tuesday, the same girls decided to go into town again to explore the shops around the street where the tailor was. However, we all became impatient waiting for the bus and decided to go into mu mugyi again. Some bought groceries at the nearby super market. One of my roommates and I were both starving and suggested to stop by Bourbon Coffee. We both ordered iced caramel macchiatos. I also ordered some meatballs...which were delicious. The coffee and the food was so on point! We then made our way back to our homestay where we played a few rounds of "Hide and Seek" with the children and house maid. It was very funny because my second roommate was called "Creepy" by one of the children because she hid very well! We then ate dinner and got ready to go to bed.

On Wednesday, one of the students and I went to a cafe after class called Inzovu African Village. There were many pieces of artwork on display from paintings to handmade pouches. After enjoying some iced coffee and a juicy burger (that I thought was better than the burger at Bourbon Coffee), we purchased a few gifts for our friends and family there. My friend and I felt as if we hit the jackpot for souvenirs because the items for sale were beautiful, but cheap!

Delicious food from Inzovu African Village

Thursday was our weekly hospital lab. Half of the group went back to Kubagabaga Hospital to finish fixing some pieces equipment from last week whereas the other half that I was with went to C.H.U.K., another local hospital. This hospital was a teaching hospital where students are trained to become health professionals. We first took a tour of the technician working area. I noticed that there was a lot of broken equipment laying around. According to the head technician, most of the pieces haven't been touched for a very long time. However, this hospital had better funding than Kubagabaga so getting any extra equipment/pieces was easy. The hospital was also more organized when it came to keeping records of repairs. After the tour, we started fixing equipment. One group looked at a patient monitor whereas my group looked at a suction machine. Although we found the problem for the suction machine, we weren’t able to find a replacement part.

Chucking up the deuces with Grace at C.H.U.K.

Seflies at our hospital lab

Friday consisted of class and preparing for my weekend trip with half the group. On Saturday, we went to Nyungwe Forest National Park to do the canopy walk! It was beautiful up there. We trekked for about 30 minutes before we got to the shaky bridge. On the bridge we saw a beautiful landscape of the rain forest. Although I slipped and got mud all over myself, the views made it all up.

Holding onto dear life at the canopy walk

Beautiful view from our guest house over the weekend

On top of the world with Bre!

Safari, so good

The second week in Kigali has come to an end! Time really has flown by this week. This is probably due to getting into routine with everything here. I believe that it’s safe to say that I’ve become accustomed to living here. I’m also enjoying the food a lot more!

This past Thursday, we had our first hospital practical lab. We visited a local hospital in Kigali and helped fix its equipment. Many groups looked at oxygen concentrators whereas my partner and I checked out an infant warmer. I had a lot of fun troubleshooting the equipment because I was able to use my knowledge to fix equipment that is crucial to patient lives. Besides fixing equipment, our group was able to take a tour of the hospital as well. The layout of the hospital was very different to that in America. The hospital was an open space which almost resembles a hotel resort. The pace of work is also a lot slower. I remember seeing patients waiting over an hour for their appointment. Visiting the hospital really helped me envision where I will be working and what I’ll be doing in the second month.

Cleaning out a filter from the O2 concentrator

Speaking of the second month, we also found out which cities all of us will be going to. My partner and I will be heading to Byumba, a small town located approximately an hour and a half away from Kigali. I’m very excited to see what is in store for us! Truthfully, I am a little sad to know that our group will be parting ways for the second month. I hope to be able to see everyone over weekends! J

On Saturday, the majority of us went on a safari trip at Akagera National Park. We departed from IPRC around 5 AM to get to the park. We arrived to the park around 8 AM and began our safari. Our group was split into two jeeps. Our driver raised the roof so we can get better views of the animals as well! We saw giraffes, water bucks, hippos, and plenty of giraffes. I hoped to see lions but it was already too late in the day to see them since they are the most active early in the morning. Although the ride was very rocky and a moth flew into my mouth, I had a lot of fun spending time with everyone. One tip I’d suggest for those going on this safari is to ride in the first jeep! I was in the second jeep so all the dust and dirt from the first one would fly towards us. I definitely would recommend this trip!

Up close and personal with the zebras

Safari selfie :)