The Unexpected Joy Never Ends

Right now I'm sitting in the Kigali airport awaiting my first flight on my way to Greece!!! To say I'm excited is an understatement.  But I'll get to tell you all about one I actually go.

Today before heading to the airport I visited my counterpart Etienne and his family at his house in Kigali.  First, when I say Kigali I don't mean that he live in the middle of the city he and his family live in one of the surrounding neighborhoods that if you didn't know the city was there you would just think you were in a typical Rwandan village.  I personally love it.  I took a small van taxi from the bus park up the hill where I met his beautiful daughter Bellies (I love her name so much) and we walked together to there house.  They were so welcoming as always, made me a delicious lunch and we visited for a couple hours.  The typical Rwandan visit.
I had met his wife and children before a couple times and I absolutely love them.  His wife is so sweet, motherly, and always has the cutest dresses!  His two daughters are adorable.  The oldest is quieter but carries herself like the oldest child typically does.  The middle daughter has a wild side to her, in the best way, and I can't wait to see her as she grows up.  And his son, the baby, is all wide eyed and adorable and definitely the baby of the family.  They are adorable and watching him with all of his kids I wish he didn't have to travel so far for work, even though I don't know what I would do without him.
I also got to meet one of Etienne's sisters.  She's 28 and has her bachelor's in biomedical technology.  So impressive.  She was really talkative which I always appreciate.  She went on to tell me how it was Etienne who encouraged her to continue her secondary school and then university studies even after they faced some difficulty at home.  She talked about how she wanted to get a really good job in order to help out her other siblings.  And she talked about how great it is to watch Etienne and his wife making sure their children get good a good education and make that a priority.
Now basically since I met Etienne and started working with him I've been in aw of him.  HE works harder than anyone I know, he is so open minded to all the ideas I bring in, he's always attending trainings and works really hard to bring the information he learns back to the health center or the community, and he's the most positive person ever!  He works far from home, works days, nights, is in charge of so many services at the health center I've lost count and he never complains, never is grumpy or jaded, it's amazing.  So, even after I already have this amazing view of him from working so much with him, I now hear the amazing things his sister is saying and I can't even comprehend how lucky I am to have met him and be welcomed into his life.

Throughout these two years I'm constantly in aw of the people I'm surrounded by.  When I was in the small taxi heading out towards the airport I just couldn't help but feeling my heart full of joy, love, and inspiration.  I don't leave that often like this but the few times I have, including today, I just think about ow hare it is going to be to say goodbye to these amazing people and this amazing country.  I wish the world was a little smaller and I could get back and forth between all of my loved ones easier.  But, I know that in these last 3 months I plan to soak up every minute of it because I've learned in the past that it's completely true, "you don't know what you have until it's gone."  but in this case I know what I have and it's incredible. <3 p="">

Global Food Security Summit - Refreshed and Motivated

As you may or may not know last week I was stateside in DC.  I was asked to attend Peace Corps' Global Food Security Summit along with my colleague Modeste to represent Peace Corps Rwanda.  To say it was an amazing opportunity would be and understatement.  This was a 5 day conference that focused on the issue of Food Security work done by Peace Corps.  We looked back at history of Food Security work and looked ahead into the future and discussed the direction in which we saw Peace Corps' role in working towards ensuring food security in our respective countries.

When I talk about "Food Security" I'm talking about the ability for people to acquire and utilize food to provide proper nourishment to their families.  Since the main source of both food and income in developing countries, especially those where PC is located, is agriculture a lot of our conversations were focused on the issues surrounding agriculture like climate change, biodiversity, and production, to name a few.  The other side of food security is the nutrition aspect.  We really dove into the numbers of malnourished and stunted children all over the world and tried to look at the causes and what strategies will be effective in the working towards a more nourished world.  Food Security is such a dynamic and complex issue and I'll admit this whole week I've been going through my pages and pages of notes trying to summarize and completely wrap my mind around everything that I learned.  Just know that that is still in the works.
Over the course of 5 days I was able to talk with Peace Corps staff and volunteers from many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  We talked about our successes, our challenges, and collaborated on strategies that we could then bring back to our own posts.  I felt like just another staff member talking with Country Directors, Program Managers, future Third Year Volunteers and giving my experiences, listening, and contributing with my thoughts and opinions.  I gained so much insight from each individual I talked with,  I have so many ideas to present to our staff here in Rwanda, I have new lenses to look at the issues surrounding food security in my own site, and I have a new found confidence that over the past 21 months I have worked hard in the right direction.  I haven't just spent these past months wandering around the country side of Rwanda.  I've implemented meaningful projects, developed lasting relationships, and acquired so many skills that I know I will use in my future career endeavors.
Finally, not only did I get to collaborate with the amazing Peace Corps staff members all working towards similar goals in regards to food security and nutrition, but I also got to listen to talks from representatives of large development agencies such as USAID, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the U.S. African Development Foundation.  Not surprisingly, the majority of the guest speakers were actually Returned PCVs.  They talked about how food security issues are looked at from a more macro viewpoint, they discussed how new or potentially new policies and budget changes will indeed affect the work that not only Peace Corps but other agencies do.  I got an insight into the administrative side of Peace Corps and how it is connected to different Government Agencies, where different funding comes from, and how unique the work that we do is.  Like I said earlier, I'm still digesting a lot of what was talked about but stay tuned for some more focused posts in the next few months.  I promise to bring more awareness to you all so you can actually see that what the U.S. does truly affects so many people around the world whether we like it or not.

So not only was this past week collaborative and eye opening, I did get to enjoy the perks of being back home (kinda).  Even though I was in the other Washington I had the opportunity to relax a the end of the day, indulge in somethings I hadn't been able to in a while and clear my head after a few rough weeks.  I wish I could say that everyday of service I have the same motivation and happiness I show off here.  But let's be honest that's not how life works anywhere.  So after some rainy weeks, and with the winding down of projects I was hitting a bit of a low point.  So, being able to go on some long runs that didn't involve mountains, lift some actual weight in a GYM, drink my coffee while walking around outside and catch up with a couple friends was just what the doctor ordered.
Being back, I've found new motivation.  I never thought I'd be able to day that I only have 4 months left but that's the reality!  I'm focusing my energy on finishing strong.  I want to make sure my projects get wrapped up in a way that they can continue them even after I leave.  I also have everything I learned at the conference that I will be presenting to our programming team and my hope is to start the conversation about how food security fits into the work we are already doing and how to improve upon that.  I also feel refreshed and ready to take on these, and of course the hurdle which is figuring out my life after Peace Corps, with a clear head and a positive outlook.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on the "what's next" but that's it for now.  Take care!