June 24, 2019

Monday: Today was our first day in the hospital and our first full day in our house! We woke up in the morning around 6:45 to get to Ruhengeri Hospital at 8am. The walk to the hospital is around a 18-25 minute walk depending on how fast we walk. However, today was a harder walk as we had to carry our toolkit and we were wearing our business casual attire. The walk is generally pretty nice, and we pass a lot of fun places and our favorite coffee shop Crema. We arrived at the maintenance area and got introduced to Boaz, the head of maintenance at Ruhengeri. The original BMET Jean Claude, is on leave as he is working with the UN for a year. Boaz took us on a tour of the hospital, we met the director of the hospital and got acquainted with the huge campus. Lots of the hospitals in Africa are many different buildings, one for each department, with green areas in the middle and Ruhengeri is no different. I love the different feel from the American hospitals which can be very depressing and cold, as the greenery and sunlight while walking around the hospital campus is refreshing. Our tour was over and we started to work on the inventory. EWH requires us to take inventory the first few days/week at the hospital to get familiar with the departments and equipment that the hospital has. This is also good information to use to base a “need report” off of, as if a hospital has lots of equipment that is usable but not being used, then less equipment could be sent and in return sent somewhere else. At noon we took about an hour and a half break for lunch and ate at the hospital canteen. It was a classic Rwandan buffet, and was relatively cheap. The rest of the day was spent doing inventory in the maintenance workshop and we got really worn out as we stayed in the same room all day writing down serial numbers of dusty equipment, rip. At 4pm we got off of work and headed to town to go to the market. We went to a “super market” and got some essentials such as toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent, Nutella, Blue Band (butter kinda), milk and some other things. Then we ventured off to the isoko (market) where the vendors are selling fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, eggs, clothes, shoes, soap and anything you can imagine. We got some potatoes, eggs, green peppers, onions, avocados, cooking oil, and rice. Best local experience I have had in my 5 weeks that I’ve been here and I can’t wait to go back and explore. We took a taxi home, sat down and rested for a little bit. Once we felt better rested I made some tea and then we stepped into the kitchen and made some dinner!! Our first family dinner, it was so fun! I made some eggs with green peppers, onions, and avocado which was yummy and simple. Alodie made some chips and Amanda made some popcorn. A really good balance of all the different food groups for sure! After dinner we cleaned up and headed to bed as we have a super early morning tomorrow.

June 25, 2019

Tuesday: Today was an incredible day as I feel like I am starting to get used to being in Musanze and less sad I’m not in Kigali. I woke up at 5:40am as we needed to be at the hospital at 7:15 for our staff meeting. I made myself a good breakfast of some tea, and a sweet roll with Nutella and bananas! We have so much fruit in our house (bananas, passion fruit, and tree tomatoes) so I have had lots of that! We got walking to the hospital and made it right on time to the meeting, but Africa time… and it didn’t start till around like 7:45. They did a quick sermon/prayer and then went through different things going on in the hospital. 98% of it was in Kinyarwanda so it was hard to stay awake during it honestly. They introduced us as students from the USA, wohoo represent, and we said hi and explained why we are here. The meeting concluded and we got to work on inventory for the rest of the day. Today was better for inventory as we went to some of the different departments and it was much more slow paced. Inventory was also nice because Boaz walked around with us to introduce us to the department heads and staff and show us where the equipment all was. Boaz is super knowledgeable and I really enjoy him. He doesn’t know much English so we are all trying super hard to communicate but it has already gotten better in one day so I’m excited to see our relationship begin to grow. For lunch Amanda and I went to Crema and got some bagel sandwiches and coffee to combat our early wake up call. We sat outside and it was really nice and a peaceful lunch. The day finished off with more inventory and will probably do that for the rest of the week. After work we tried to find this bakery to get a loaf of bread, we went to the wrong place and ended up in a back of a restaurant but ended up getting some bread that looks good so I consider it a win. Alodie and Amanda were tired and went home but I continued to walk home and explore. I found a few small markets around our house and a water jug place which we desperately need #hydrate! I wasn’t really feeling like cooking tonight, but Alodie made us a meal so I am very thankful for that. While she was cooking I washed my business casual clothes from Monday that got pretty dirty, and the rinse water was gross so I hope they are clean! We ate dinner, then I made some tea and called a few people. After calling some of my family, I showered, read and went to bed.

June 26, 2019

Wednesday: Today started off pretty laggy as I was incredibly tired for some reason. When I got out of bed I had realized that I had gotten quite a few mosquito bites which was not fun. I made myself some avocado bread and got ready for the day. Today at work consisted of more inventory, but one of the departments that we visited was the neonatal department and the NICU which was an experience in itself. The babies in the NICU were the smallest I had ever seen, and they were desperately grasping on for life. My heart and prayers went out to all the mothers at Ruhengeri and around the world that are dealing with their child in the NICU. The babies all had bandaids/tape either on their bellies or forehead with their information because the hospitals don’t have a medical bracelet system from what I have seen. For lunch Amanda and I went to a restaurant in the town called Isange BF. It was surprisingly such large portions (we ordered a chicken leg and veggies) and also got a soup and rice with our meal. I then needed to try to exchange my money as I was running out of cash but was having a hard time finding a forex bureau and/or bank that exchanged money so I resorted in using the ATM. And of course the first ATM I used didn’t work but I got it on the second the one I visited. I will definitely be exchanging when I go back to Kigali two weekends from now. After lunch, Rachel our coordinator came and visited us at the hospital. She walked around with us while we did inventory which was a good relief and fun time. We all went home, including Rachel and hung out for a little bit before dinner. While Rachel is here she gets to take us out to dinner, whoop, so we decided to go to a restaurant called Migano’s and man was it good! I got some lemon ginger tea to start, then got a fish dish that consisted of tilapia with lemon garlic and simmered in a coconut and tomato kind of sauce. The meal came with 2 sides and I got egg fried rice, and parsley potatoes! The most refreshing thing I have had in awhile. We also got to have dessert so we opted for the ice cream sundae with cappuccino, chocolate and vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed the cappuccino and chocolate the best as the vanilla had a strong taste of strawberry and was a little but off putting. Overall, great night and good talks with Rachel.

June 27, 2019

Thursday: Today was an incredible day for us in so many different ways! The morning started a little bit early, but we wanted to take Rachel to our favorite coffee shop, Crema, before work. At Crema I ordered granola and yogurt for breakfast and a cortado to drink, again the best thing I have had in awhile. The granola to yogurt ratio was impeccable and it was nice to feel like I had been eating some what healthy. And the cortado was served in this adorable mug that looked like one from a specialty market, so cute. We got to work and Amanda typed up the rest of our inventory from Wednesday. Boaz still wasn’t there yet so we started brainstorming secondary project ideas for our hospital. We decided on two different ideas that we really like, and have solid plans for them so we are so excited to put them in action in the next few weeks. For those of you who don’t know, our main task in Musanze is to repair medical equipment but we also have a secondary project to fulfill. Our project has a budget of $100 per person and can consist of anything that can benefit the hospital or community in some way. We decided that the pediatric ward was looking a little sad and that we wanted to add a few different play options for the kids that are there. Once Boaz came to the office we decided to stop inventory and open some equipment. We started working on an infant warmer which had a broken control board. The control board was an easy fix, however once we fixed it the heating element would turn off on its own after about 5 minutes. This is not good as the infant warmer needs to stay at a constant temperature for a long period of time to control the babies temperature. We kept trying different solutions to fix the problem and we haven’t figured it out yet. There is a piece that if it wiggles will turn the device back on so we are going to clean and reseed it tomorrow morning and hopefully that will work. For lunch today we found another self serve buffet with a good variety of food and also cheap. Then Amanda and I went to the bus station to try and figure out our weekend trip, we somewhat succeeded but will see tomorrow. Then I found a store with fun wind breakers and caved and bought one for myself. Definitely did not need it but I bargained well so it was too hard to walk away. We went back to work on the infant warmer then went home and showered. We needed gas and some avocados for dinner tonight and our nice security guard went and got it for us! So kind Jean Paul! We all took a rest before getting to cook dinner. For dinner I made Amanda and I some eggs with peppers, onions, and avocado with a side of some avocado toast, we love a good avoca! I made some tea to accompany my dinner, it was incredible. I will be a tea fiend when I get back, sorry friends and family. After dinner, I went straight to bed as it has been such an exhausting and draining week, but so beeping grateful for the week I have had. It has been so different. From the change of pace, scenery, encounters, relationships, and responsibilities, I have learned so much about who I am as a person and how I can adapt to the sudden shift of lifestyle for the second time. I am so pumped as tomorrow is FRIYAY, and we are leaving work right after lunch because we are traveling this weekend. Amanda and I are going to meet up and stay with some of our friends in Butare, go to the canopy walk then go to Kigali and stay in an AirBnB for the weekend. Monday is Independence Day in Rwanda so none of us are going to work Monday so we are most likely going to stay in Kigali till Monday morning! It will be a nice, refreshing weekend as we will get to see a majority of our friends and be in a familiar area once again.

June 28, 2019

Friday: Friday morning was a little rough for the Musanze house as both Amanda and I had very upset stomachs. Our BMET Boaz decided that we shouldn’t come into to work as we were going to leave at noon anyway. This gave us an opportunity to rest and start to feel better before the weekend. After taking some medicine and another 2 hour nap, I felt ready to conquer the day. We went to Crema for lunch and I got a chocolate and banana smoothie so yum! After Crema we went to the bus station and hopped on a bus to Kigali and then a bus from Kigali to Butare. The bus station situation was very interesting to learn how to do but it was super easy, and the workers at the bus stop were super helpful. Our bus to Kigali was interesting as we were the last ones on the bus so we had the “private jet” seat which is the one that folds down in the middle. Not comfortable at all, but it wasn’t horrible for only a 2 hour drive. The bus to Butare was a lot better as we got food at the Kigali bus station, exchanged money, and got good seats on the bus. We made it into Butare after a long day of travel at about 8:30pm and met with our friends staying there, Kali and Kaylee. We went to a bar/resto place (usually just a typical Rwandan buffet) and got some food as we were super hungry. The rest of our friends came into Butare at about 9:30pm and they met up with us at the resto. It was INCREDIBLE to see so many of the people I had spent the last month with, even though we hadn’t even been gone a week from each other a reunion was much needed. We went back to the hotel and went into one room and talked until the wee hours of the night.

June 29, 2019

Saturday: There were 10 of us in Butare for the day but 6 of us got up at 6am to go to the canopy walk in Nyungwe National Park, which is about a 2 hour drive from Butare. Before we headed out we got breakfast at the hotel which was so nice as I had not had African Tea, or an Rwandan omelette in awhile! We got in the car and drove toward the park. It was a very scenic drive and going into the park you could see chimps every few minutes on the side of the road! When we got to the front desk they informed us the canopy walk was closed due to construction, sad! But we went on a different hike, which was honestly probably better than the canopy walk and cheaper. We started our hike and it was very peaceful, with the sound of the birds chirping, the wind rustling the leaves and a slight drizzle; it was one of my favorite walks. After our hike, we went to a guest house that was right outside the park for lunch. We were stoked as the restaurant was at the top of the hill and had astonishing views of the surrounding villages. I got some citron fanta, and pasta and ended the meal very satisfied. THEN, the waiter came by with a nice juice for all of us that was incredible enough that we got the recipe to make back at home. Picture below, credit of Gabriella Smith!! After lunch, we rushed back to the hotel, packed and headed back to the bus stop as we decided to rent an airBNB in Kigali for the night. Our bus to Kigali was the best bus we had been on, our hearts are now pledged to Horizon Bus Company! We reached Kigali, got to our mini mansion and INCREDIBLE. The pictures on the website did not do the house justice. For dinner we just had snacks and some sambuusa and chapatti, which tided us over. For the night we just hung out in the mansion and had so much fun!

June 30, 2019

Sunday: In the morning we all gradually woke up, and all ended up congregating on the balcony and having some good conversations to tea and bread. We departed the house at around 11:30 to go to lunch at the rooftop Camellia which had an incredible view. That has been a common theme of this weekend. After lunch we went to the cinema and saw Toy Story 4, almost made me cry. So wholesome and pure! After the movie, Laura and I went back to our original home stay in Kigali. It was so nice getting to see Marina and Macheta and have dinner with them! Then we went to karaoke and ended off the night in bed!