Site Placement

Sorry for really building the anticipation on this one. I fully intended to divulge all the details last week. First things first, I am convinced that I have the very best site in Rwanda. I’ve been so blessed/spoiled, depending on which way you want to look at it. I am placed an hour outside of the capital. Kigali is the mecca of all things wonderful. Although it is quite intimidating as a city, it also contains the airport, fabulous restaurants, many other lovely volunteers to visit and the Peace Corps office – where all my mail arrives at and free internet came be obtained. …although an hour makes a world of difference. My small village has no electricity or running water. My office is located inside a hospital – which is run off generators. The village is essentially made up of hospital staff and school children. There is a hospital, a health center, a secondary boarding school that houses about 900 students!, a public secondary school, a vocational school and a couple primary schools. I’m convinced that if the children wanted to revolt and take power they could overthrow the whole town.

There is already a current health volunteer in my village, Edison. I get to expand on the connections he’s made and the projects that have already begun. My work can be divided into three categories: working with local cooperatives, working on random projects within the hospital, teaching English. The secondary school has an English club that they are very excited about. There are also hospital staff members that are interested in learning English.

I will explain cooperatives in a later post but first let me expand on the health care system. There is a hierarchy to the medical attention you can receive. Every umudugudu (neighborhood) has a community health worker who volunteers for the position. They are responsible for educating their community about vaccines, best hygiene practices, new health policies, etc. Then there are clinics. Health clinics can be as small as three rooms, staffed by one nurse. The next level up is a health center. You must start at the lowest level and be referred up if necessary. Patients do not automatically enter a hospital. They have to be referred from a health center. As you move up the ladder there are less and less. Each district generally has one hospital. If the district hospital can not support your needs, you will be referred to the national hospital in Kigali.

My hospital happens to employ one of the very few mental health nurses in the country. What are the chances! I will be able to see patients with her and do educational sessions at health centers. Posttraumatic stress disorder afflicts a huge percentage of the population. I’m excited to learn more and help out where I can. Counseling is not widely accepted here. It will be interesting to see where structure and services can be offered and if I can covertly set up support groups ☺ If anyone has resources they like to send or email, please do. Knowledge is power after all.

Getting back to the plain facts about my site – I will have a house! I was staying at the hospital guesthouse during my visit but toured my future house. It has four bedrooms, which is a little ridiculous for a single person. The bedrooms are about the size of a laundry room or half bath. I have a kitchen area and a living room. I swear there is a vaulted ceiling so you’ll just have to take my word for it. The backyard will have an outdoor kitchen for my wood or charcoal stove, a showering room, my latrine and a stone path. I have a front gate and a porch and a tiny front yard. In case you can’t tell, I’m excited! My water source is ridiculously close to my house, another blessing. They are currently wiring my house. Some rich people choose to have a generator at their house. I won’t be one of these people. Although I did hear the rumor that electricity is supposed to be coming in August. I’m not holding my breath, but I did witness the electrical towers being build along the road from Kigali. At the very least I will live for two months with no power. I’ll be very curious to see how the village life changes once people have electricity. Will a nightlife be created? Or will everyone just go to bed when the sun sets anyway? Most of the hospital staff commutes from Kigali anyhow. They don’t understand why anyone would choose to live in the village when a metropolis is so close. Edison had to explain what ‘being one with the community’ means.

This is a random side note but I just wanted to mention the one in a million places you find Michigan State alumni. We had a few returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) visit us yesterday. Two were a married couple who had served in Ghana a few years ago. She now works for the State Department through the US Embassy in Kigali. He works for USAID in Agriculture. And they just happened to be MSU alum. It was wonderful to find more Michiganders in Rwanda. Go Green!