This is the middle of week 8 of 10! There are only 2 more weeks of training left, which is so crazy but exciting. Almost 2 weeks ago, I got to go visit my site which is located in the Northern Province of Rwanda. I traveled with my supervisor by bus to Kigali, the capital (~1 hour) and then we took another bus to the town she lives in which was another hour away. I stayed 2 nights with her family and already I have been told that I am now a part of their family and will be visiting many times once I get to site. The amount of family love I've felt here from my host family here at training and now the family of my supervisor is amazing and I am so lucky to have met some amazing people so far.
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| Where I will be living for the next 2 years! |
That Sunday evening we headed to the village where I will be living and the health center I will be working at. In order to reach my site from the town we had to take a moto all the way there. So, picture me with a big hiking back pack on the back of a smaller sizes motorcycle (basically a dirt bike) cruising through the mountains of Rwanda. The roads were not roads but dirt paths, and we crossed many questionable log bridges over creeks and rivers. I was white knuckling the back handle of the bike and all of my core muscles were flexed the whole ride which was 40 min to an hour. But finally I reached the place I will be living for the next two years.
I spent a whole week there going to staff meetings, meeting the local authorities, including the Police Chief and Executive Secretary of the Sector. A lot of my time was really just observing the area, the health center and making myself visible to the community for the first time. I am the first PC volunteer to be serving in this area so it's a pretty new thing for there to be an American there. I introduced myself to the waiting patients each day in Kinyarwanda and they loved the fact that I could speak even my minimal amount of the language. I loved my health center and my staff. The Center is only 1 year old and has so many visions for growth and improvement and these visions and ideas go right along with my role i.e. educating and engaging the community in the improvement of their health overall. I am so excited to go back and actually start integrating and getting to know my community and working on projects. Being there I felt like it was a perfect fit for me.
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| View from the top of a mini mountain on my moto ride! |
My absolute favorite part of the visit was the moto ride I took with one of the nurses through our whole encatchment area. I got to see all the villages we work with and 2 schools nearby. The area is completely surrounded by mountains and many of the people life up throughout the mountains. It is absolutely beautiful! I loved every inch of the area and I am excited to explore it even more up close and personal.
After site visit I went to our Northern Regional meeting and got to meet more PC volunteers in my region. It was a great day to just see one of the bigger towns nearby and relax with other PCVS. There is a national park with volcanoes and a lake nearby which will be great places to visit eventually. But I got to have pizza and more importantly REALLY GOOD COFFEE!!! (instant coffee just isn't the same...)
So overall I am so excited to go back to my site and the North, to the mountains, my health center, and being able to wear a jacket in the evening!
One more big thing I want to mention is our trip this past weekend to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The Genocide in Rwanda is probably the most commonly known event in Rwandan history which is unfortunate because there is so much more and happier things to know/learn about. But it is a very important and recent part of history that effects people we interact with everyday. The trip to this memorial was emotional and inspiring. I would encourage anyone who can to come and experience the country and that particular site because it really is a very impactful experience. I won't go into a lot of detail because I still do not feel as if I know enough to educate anyone. However my experience at the memorial after living here for almost 2 months, having a family here and friends here and working closely with people who were here during the Genocide definitely was completely different if I had gone within the first week I was here. I felt sympathy for each person but more importantly I was inspired by the strength the exhibit each and every day. A lot of comments or questions I got before leaving involved my safety and the genocide and the one thing I will say is that this country and the people here are constantly working together to strengthen the people who live here and their country as a whole and I feel very lucky to be living here for the next 2 years.
Thank you all for the support you all have given me it's so great knowing you all are enjoying my posts! I'm excited to share more especially once I get to my site and start working on projects! My swear in date in August 18th and then I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer!!!
Take care and I will post some Rwandan songs on the next blog (technology is hard for me sometimes) as requested....
Talk soon! =D
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| My Awesome Host Brother Kenny!! |
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