Lesson number 182,406... Be careful when offering help, more than likely I'll have no idea what's coming!

So I’m finally a working girl again, although I would have to say that learning Kinyarwanda is kind of like working. During my first week on the job, the Rwanda Ministry of Health had a special event that worked to distribute vitamins and shots to mostly children throughout the sector. My sector has 30 umudugudus or villages. I spent the week about an hour truck ride away, although it was only 15 kilometers or so. About 15 of the health workers loaded into the bed of the pickup truck and thank fully I landed a spot inside. There’s some things that just seem easier in the familiarity of home. The site was really pretty and there’s a separate health post there that was just built.

I helped by recording the distribution as I am not actually supposed to distribute medicine as in fact, I am not a doctor. But it was so cool. The first day we distributed vitamins to over 150 children and the next two days, over 200 each, not including the group that went to the school next door which gave out over 500. One of the nurses that came with us also distributed Depo Provera shots to mothers who were interested as there is a huge push for family planning in Rwanda. (Depo Provera is a type of birth control you get once every three months). The final day of my first week was spent hanging out at the health center and then accidentally watching a woman give birth. It was horrifying (sorry Kaleigh)! I will spare you all details, but I was telling my co-workers after that now I’m not sure if I want to go through that and have children. They laughed as they thought I was joking. Not getting married or having children is relatively unappreciated in Rwanda, at least it thus appears so far.

The Above picture is taken in Nyungwe National Park.

As I brag about my future niece, I tell Rwandans her name and that she’s a girl and they are shocked that we know the sex already and they also find it really shocking that she already has a name. They don’t name children until a day to a week after the birth. Anyways, week two was spent doing impromptu job shadows throughout the health center. I figured I had to learn how everything works, although directly after our daily 7 AM meeting, I’m not the most functional, but especially in Kinyarwanda. This week I have helped and watched in HIV testing, family planning, the pharmacy, consultation, baby monitoring and maternity. I’ve also met with the community health workers and planned out some adventures for the following week. When I type all that out, it seems like I’ve done a lot more work than I actually thought I did.

After lunch every day, nothing seems to really happen. Especially the last couple days, it has been raining and things kind of stop when that happens. So after lunch, I’ve been hanging out and studying Kinyarwanda at the health center as well as joking with my co-workers and watching American movies on Rwandan television. I have resisted telling any of my co-workers my age as, I’m close to marrying age in Rwanda (and no I don’t want a Rwandan husband)! But, a lot of people my age also haven’t been to university or held many, if any jobs. So, I’m torn between maintaining professional credibility and not being married off without my knowledge (or with it). It’s become a good joke though because I tell people I’m a child and then after a while I tell them I’m an old woman, and we all laugh. I also joke that I already have two husbands in America, as I wear two rings. It’s nice to be able to communicate jokes again.

I spent my first weekend here by going for a walk/hike in the national park and it was so cool. As I walked along the road, I could hear the monkeys crashing through the trees next to me. Cool, yes. Scary, yes! I then found this trail leading off to the left and decided to explore. I shortly ran into a man who was out walking and chatted for a few minutes then headed in opposite directions. Shortly thereafter I came to a fork and decided to head uphill. To my surprise the man came running after me telling me to take his machete because there were animals along that trail. Needless to say I took the other trail and the man joined me showing me the way and a really nice loop that I can hike. There were monkeys every step of the way. At one point the jungle was ringing with monkey sounds. Fortunately I didn’t see any until we got back to the road, and he pointed some out to me. They were so big! I’m glad I saw them from afar. I have a lot of monkey fear to come to terms with over the next two years!

The above picture is of a village that my health center serves. The bright green on the hillside is tea and the yellow in the distance is wheat!

Today I had to go to Butare, the nearest city to do some banking. I went with Christine a PCV that’s really close to my site. Although, I had to take a twegerane or a squeeze bus, or a small bus that lots of people shove into. Unfortunately the only twegerane that leave my site go sometime between 6:30 and 8 in the morning, and I’m such a morning person. So I got up this morning at 5:45, rolled out of bed and walked down to the town center to wait for the bus. I took that to my nearest big town, where I waited for Christine and then we took a bigger, but still packed express bus to Butare. I went to the bank, the post office, the market, had ice cream and met up with a bunch of other volunteers in my training class. It was a good day, but tiring, as the only twegerane that returns to my town leaves between five and six in the evening. It’s a full day process, so I’m glad I hopefully won’t have to go back for a while.

This picture is along the road to the health post I worked at the first week. I love the wheat, it makes me think of home, I can't imagine driving a combine on these hillsides though!

In our closest big town though, we’ve found good American food, a nice hotel, cheap massages, and a potential night club, not to mention a really cool outdoor market. My site is pretty cold and every one casts a worrisome look my way when they say that. But I’ve finally learned the word for snow, and try to explain that we have that at my home in the states. My Kinyarwanda is very limited still, but I can have conversations and everyone is very patient. I joke that I can only speak and think in Kinyarwanda between 10 AM and 2 PM when I’m the least tired. But it’s relatively true. It’s so easy to space out when you need to work to understand what’s even being said. But I love that I learn something each day. I am so happy that I am here and it’s weird that I’m already three months in! How did that happen? I will be done and back home much quicker than any of us expect it to feel like! Crazy! I’ve got lots of work to do though, and a lot of that will be initially trying to figure out what work I need to do. And all that is in a brand new language! OY! Wish me luck! Much love.