The New Year :)

I hear for Rwandans that New Years is bigger then Christmas... not super sure if this is true :/ I stayed in my village while everyone else went to Kigali!!! I hear most people just drink and party and stuff like that. So I am ok with not integrating and experiencing that part of the culture.

However, it was a fantastic New Year!!! Jackson came and surprised me in my village for the first time!! We watched a movie and tried to stay awake... but I didn't... I fell asleep. Jackson just laughed!!

Sorry this is short... but not alot happened :) hahahaha

My Thoughts on Malaria

The joys of a developing world! There are lots of problems all around the world. And lots of ideas from creative minded people to find solutions! However, in the process of finding the right solution sometimes people have to continue to suffer :/

I would like to add that these are my personal thought s and experiences. This has no reflection of Peace Corps protocols or other American views on the subject.

A big problem in Rwanda used to be malaria. We hear about a random case or two in America during the mosquito season but imagine it being a normal everyday thing you, your friends and family suffer from and maybe even die from. You might have noticed I said, “used to be” a problem, that’s because the Rwandan government has done an excellent job in trying to end malaria in Rwanda!

A few years back the Rwandan government sent out a protocol that every two members in a household should be issued a mosquito net to sleep under. You might think that sounds super easy and an awesome way to save you and your family’s lives. However, this is still difficult for Rwandans to understand. It has lowered the mortality rate in a huge way for those that have understood and practice it on a regular basis. And slowly it is getting better! But many Rwandans have a few hold ups as to why they don’t practice this simple protocol.

1-They don’t understand that everyone in the household means everyone!! Not just the children or even just the baby but everyone. That includes the house help and parents!

2-They might find excuses like it’s too hot, it’s itchy, it touches me and keeps me awake, it smells funny, the chemicals are bad for me and this list could go on and on and on. I sleep under a net every night and have no problems at all!!

3-They get malaria all the time and don’t see a problem because they have not died. But if a mosquito bites a person with malaria and then bites a baby the baby has a much higher risk of not living from the malaria like the grown adult.

4-They clear the bushes around their house so they don’t need to sleep under the net. Just as an FYI, bushes have nothing to do with mosquitoes or malaria. Clear the standing water and that will help but not solve the problem.

5-They have nets over the windows so no mosquitoes can get in. That’s great! It will lower the risk while you are awake and in your home. But it’s not 100%.

6-They don’t hear any when they are going to sleep. The anopheles mosquito, that caries malaria, does not make any sound and only comes out in the dark. You never know they are there till it’s too late.

In general, human beings are really good at finding excuses! I do it on a daily basis for lots of things :/ Silly, but true!! Trying to work on it J

Rwanda is close to extinguishing malaria!! Super exciting!! I will continue to educate my fellow humans living on the earth and pray that they will try to use a simple life saving tool like a mosquito net!!

 Those are some of my random thoughts!! I hope you enjoyed!!

Christmas!!

First Christmas without my family... pretty strange :/ but thanks to Ariel and Jackson I was not alone the whole day!!

I was staying in Kigali at the Austin's house again while they were gone visiting America!! It was the kindest thing they have done to let me stay while they were not there!!!

Ariel and I stayed there for a couple days and enjoyed cooking American tasting food and swimming :)

Christmas day we slept in till pretty late and then woke up and watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas!! Half way through we got the ice cream and brownies left over from the night before and enjoyed them while watching the movie!! We played cards for a while and finally got hungry!! We made egg, avocado, cucumber, tomato sandwiches :) So delicious!!!

After eating way too much I fell asleep again and Ariel cleaned up the kitchen!!! Not sure how I slept through that... but it was amazingly kind of her to help!!!

Eventually Ariel had to leave to hangout with her counterparts family... I was sad and not sure what I would do the rest of the day :/ but I knew she needed to go and figured I would come up with something to do!!

I ended up watching a few movies and listening to music and just relaxing!! It was actually super great!! And then around 7 or 8 that night Jackson showed up!!!

I guess I have not talked about Jackson much... Sorry!!!

Jackson is my boyfriend :) He is Rwandan and just came back from serving his mission in South Africa! I have had lots of friends return from missions and I knew how hard it was readjusting to regular life... sooooo I tried to hangout with him anytime I was in Kigali!! It didn't take long and he asked me to be his girlfriend!!

I guess for those that dont know more details I will just share a little more about Jackson and our relationships!!!

The very first time I met Jackson was at a welcome back celebration party thing with all three branches combined!! I introduced myself and realized he spoke great English :) Then after the party I was helping clean the church to get ready for Sunday and Jackson joined in!! He even offered to carry buckets of water that I was already carrying!!! No other Rwandan man had ever offered to help me do anything... so I immediately thought Jackson was a gentlemen!!! After cleaning the church we were talking and he offered to walk me home... Say what?? Its at least a 30 minute walk in the other direction then he was going... I told him no but he said he would anyway!!! Hahahaha we talked and laughed the whole time!! It was amazing to have an instant friend!!! Plus he was not like all the other Rwandan men that expect me to marry them after I say hi :/ so I enjoyed his company very much!!!

We talked casually at church and then didnt talk again till the following Sunday. He asked for my number and we hung out a couple times and the day we went to his village he asked me to be his girlfriend!! I of course said yes :)

He is seriously the sweetest guy and I am so happy to have a friend like this in Rwanda!!!

We hung out over Christmas and talked more over that couple weeks since I had time to be in Kigali!! I think thats all for now!!

Thanksgiving!!!

One of the best Thanksgivings I have had in a while!! I got to take off early from my village and head to Kigali Thursday morning. I got to the Austins house around 10am and spent almost the whole day in the kitchen washing dishes, peeling apples and carrots and smelling delicious food :) Sis. Austin was the best and I cant thank her enough for letting me help!!

It was great to relax in a nice home doing things that felt normal to me! I love Rwanda and the culture but its not my culture so it was good to have a little break and feel like I belonged for a day!!

That evening there were some other Americans that the Austins invited over for dinner and they were awesome!! Two of the ladies were RPCVs and it was fun to compare little stories and experiences :) It was great to sit around a huge table, speaking English, sharing awesome American tasting food!!

After dinner I helped wash more dishes (I'm learning the Austin's kitchen pretty well!!) and then slept like a rock!! The following day I didn't have plans but was able to sleep in and hangout at the Austin's house all day!!! Andrew (the 9 year old) had some kind of stomach probably and we spent the whole day watching movies, playing cards and trying to get him to eat!! haha... it was a fantastic waste of a day :)

Saturday was a bit more normal because I went to the church and taught English and then a couple piano lessons!!! Then Sunday was playing piano and helping in Primary!!!

The Austin's are seriously the best people and so kind to open their home to me!! They are always willing to have me and help me in any way they can!! I feel like part of the family now :)

Sorry there are not pictures from this weekend... I had my hands full with doing dishes ;)

Two Weeks In Kibuye :)

Got to spend two weeks in Kibuye!!! Super fun and super beautiful!! Rwanda is a great palce :)

The first week was spent at the Bethany Hotel for our PCV IST (Peace Corps Volunteer In Service Training). The hotel is right on the lake and everything was so beautiful!!

This was the first time all of my group was together since going to site a couple months ago and it was awesome to see everyone :) And it was fun to speak in English as fast as we wanted and to share stories from our different sites!! Many good laughs and lots of good food!!!

This is the 19 of us that are still going strong!! Good work fellow PCVs :)

This was a training so most of the time we were in a large classroom just listening and watching power point. We learned about all kinds of stuff like grants, secondary projects, the health structure in Rwanda and how we can work with it and so many more things!! We had a few hands on activities that were pretty fun... We pressed soy milk from soy beans and got to go on a boat ride to one of the islands out a little ways!! I guess the boat ride was not super relevant to my PC service... but it was a blast :)

The lake... seriously amazing!!

The view right out side my room!!

Making soy milk :)

Boat ride!!! The island was pretty fun!!

Just chilling!!!

We all had a great time and learned lots!!!

October :)

Does not seem like October already… Normally in America once you get to October everyone just starts talking about January!! People start going on vacation and leaving early from work for many various reasons and the Christmas music starts :) I love it but I know many of you don’t enjoy it to the same extent I do!!

To help me feel like it’s getting to the end of the year I have been listening to lots of Christmas music and attempting to bake :) No one here cares about the music because most everyone can’t understand it so it’s just the strange American listening to more strange music!! The baking however… This is pretty tricky being in Rwanda but I am finding ways!!! The first thing I did was visit the bakery in my village!!! It’s not a normal bakery that you might think of in America… but it’s a bakery none the less!!! They make 2 kinds of dough and 4ish designs of rolls from the dough!! They showed me how to use the big mixer and how they roll out the different kinds of breads and where they bake them!!  It was so fun and they want me to go back… so I probably will :)

Then I went home and made some banana bread!! O my lanta… it was so good!!! I loved lighting the oven and watching bunches of cockroaches come crawling out :/ hahaha but the bread was still delicious!!! I didn’t have all the normal ingredients so I made some up or left some out… but I’d say it was the best banana bread I’ve ever had!!!!!

Another morning this month I went and visited these girls that live with Catholic sisters. They learn to cook and make clothes and garden!!! They were playing basketball outside my office one day and started talking to me :) They invited me to visit them and we had so much fun!!! They have cows and chickens and turkeys and rabbits and the most amazing garden!!!! They don’t know much English at all so I offered to teach them and they got super excited!!!! They said they want me to come back next week and teach them… I will go and I hope they still want to learn :) Teaching English has become my new favorite hobby!!!! While I was there they showed me all around their garden and invited me to help them sometime!!! Then they showed me all the animals and wanted me to take pictures of them :) Then they showed me all their sewing machines!!!! They have like 20 of them and they all make clothes and other things!!!! The girls are right behind the bakery so I got to see those guys again which was awesome as well!!! It was a pretty good morning :)

My project is coming along and I am excited to finally be making progress on it!!! At the moment I am waiting to hear from my boss what she thinks and how she would like me to continue… but So far she has said only good things and I am excited to hear more!!!! Maybe I should explain a little about my project so it makes more sense!!!! I am designing, testing and training people in TIP’s Education Style!!! I have been researching teaching and learning styles and what works best. Then I have been observing many of the Health Centers to see what they currently do and try to learn why they do it that way and how they might be able to implement something new!!! It’s fun and I like all the traveling around and visiting with moms from this area of Rwanda!!! The best part is that they all bring their awesome, cute, little, sweet, adorable babies with them and I have been a little photo happy :) hahaha but I think the moms love seeing the white American want pictures of their baby!!

Ruli!!

Alright, I am living in Ruli for the next two years!! I thought I would tell you all a little about it :) It’s a beautiful little place that is basically only one road!! Hahaha and not a long section of it either :/ its one little top of a mountain in Gakenke District!!

The other night I learned when I am getting on a bus from Kigali to home… I have to say “Dashaka Kurja I Ruli Gakenke” or I end up in the wrong part of Gakenke which actually takes longer to get to… and then I still have to take a moto for about another hour to Ruli :/ I won’t make that mistake again :)

Well, anyways, my house is beautiful and pretty big by Rwandan standards!! I share my half of the house with another American (My supervisor Stephanie) but the other half is left for the landlords (That only visit occasionally on the weekends) and a girl named Brigit, who is Rwandan and pretty nice!! There is a guard that lives outside and he is super nice and does a good jab at guarding!!! He is not totally sure he likes me yet so I always try to talk with him and let him know I appreciate his work!! There is also the umucozi or house maid Betty that lives with her family but is at my house from 8ish AM to 8ish PM. She is great and I love practicing my Kinyarwanda with her as well as learn how to cook all the wonderful Rwandan dishes she is so good at making!!!!

The house is situated behind a Catholic church so basically every morning at 6am I get to hear all the villagers praying (Which actually means singing loudly!!). But it makes for nice, good people around the area of my house… so I don’t mind so much!!

To walk to my office for work every day I pass a nursery school :) The kids there are super cute and I just love them!! If they are not in lines to go into class then they all run out to the fence and stick their fists through so I can “Chance” or pound each one!! I love it and now I have started walking by when I know they will be out and not in class!!! Hahahaha the teachers have even started waving if they are outside when I walk by!!!

My office is in one of the buildings as part of the hospital but not actually in the hospital. It’s just one room with a couple couches and chairs… both made of wood with some foam cushions on them… not all that comfy for sitting in all day… but it works!! To use internet I go behind this building and sit on some back steps right by some giant water storage containers!! It’s nice because while I am sitting in this space there is only one small distant view for people to see the “umuzungu” or white person using her computer :) The rest of the Hospital staff has been super friendly and I am enjoying getting to know them!! Many of them speak a little English and I am working on starting up at least one English class to help them become more comfortable with using English!! It should be pretty great!!!!

I’m not sure how to say this… But Ruli has many orphans!! I think most of this is because of the war AKA Genocide… But it’s weird because there are basically lots of kids from 0-30 years old that are not sure how to treat an American girl… The little ones are running around the streets asking for shoes, balloons or money while the teenagers are asking for my phone number and the boys if I will sleep with them and the older ones try to impress me by taking me on walks and using as much English as they can muster!!!! It’s entertaining for sure :) but at the end of the day I am very grateful for a bedroom that locks and time to gather my thoughts and prepare for the next day!!!

Because of so many orphans there are many opportunities to have awesome conversations too like encouraging them to stay in school and helping girls gain nerve to say “no” and keep guys away till they are ready… and then using protective measures so they stay healthy and HIV free!!!!! After only being here for a short time and already experiencing these things I am really looking forward to the rest of my two years!!!!

To continue with Ruli as a village they have a nice little shop next to the hospital if I am in need of a snack and down in the center they have lots of boutiques with all kinds of things like fabric, soap, notebooks and toilet paper!! I like to visit them mostly to practice my Kinyarwanda and get my face out in the village as much as possible!!!! Last week I wanted to get a notebook but the closest shop only had graph paper, which is not great for writing if you are not used to it… so I started asking around and soon had a guide taking me to a bunch of shops. After some time I learned that there are no notebooks with only horizontal lines in them and went home without a notebook :/ but I had a great time talking with people :)

Well, that’s enough rambling for now!!! I can’t believe how the time is flying by :/ It seems like just yesterday I got here!!! But I also feel as though I have been here my entire life and this is my home :) hahaha Maybe I am just tired and need to sleep more… Then I will remember I am American and America is my home!!!

Talk to you all again soon!!!