I have been incredibly reluctant to write this blog post because it means that my time here in Rwanda is coming to an end. How does one go from being incredibly homesick to falling in love with the country within months? I am starting to feel homesick for Rwanda! Darn culture shock for being right!
With only one week left of work in the hospital, my partner and I have WAY to much to get done. It’s not going to be easy and we are absolutely going to have to put in extra hours of work, but it is going to be absolutely worth it. We FINALLY convinced the ICT people to remove their “storage’ (aka junk/piles of nothing important) from the new technician’s work room. This only took 3 weeks of cajoling and about four visits to the hospital director. Now we can start working on fixing up the workroom so that the technicians have a place to do their work. Our plan is to use much of the materials and scraps that are all around the hospital: old doors as the workbenches, old storage cabinets, and scrap wood into pegboards. I am seriously praying not only does our plan and budget get approved, but that we actually finish our project next week. We also have to work on our secondary projects and finish up the equipment we have been working on. Nothing like working under pressure.
For our secondary projects, Astride and I have though about hanging up more line for drying clothes. It seems that even though there is a washing and drying unit in the hospital, people within the different wards are always using the bushes and grass to dry uniforms, rags, and other such items. We figured that buying some line for them would be a great use of our budget, since a little goes a long way! We also want to get a bag or two of cement and fill a huge crack in one of the pathways right in the entrance of the hospital. Perhaps we will even add a wheel-chair ramp, but that is if budget and time allows for it.
Last weekend the gang and I went to Gisenyi on Saturday. We sat around at the beach of Lake Kivu and then walked for about an hour up and down the mountains to visit the natural hot springs. There were many children near the hot springs that took us all around the island. We treated them with candy afterwards : )
Today I did some laundry for the last time. I have been planning when I am going to wear what so I can donate most of my clothes CLEAN! I also need to wash my shoes up real good before I donate them. Not sure exactly when I am going to find the time to do that… There is an all girls orphanage right in Butare that I have already taken some items and am going to drop off the rest before I leave. I hope one day I come back to Rwanda and see girls wearing Montour and RIT shirts. Would be very cool.
I promise to write at the end of next week and update everyone on how much of our projects we were able to complete! Be home literally before you know it….
Xox
With only one week left of work in the hospital, my partner and I have WAY to much to get done. It’s not going to be easy and we are absolutely going to have to put in extra hours of work, but it is going to be absolutely worth it. We FINALLY convinced the ICT people to remove their “storage’ (aka junk/piles of nothing important) from the new technician’s work room. This only took 3 weeks of cajoling and about four visits to the hospital director. Now we can start working on fixing up the workroom so that the technicians have a place to do their work. Our plan is to use much of the materials and scraps that are all around the hospital: old doors as the workbenches, old storage cabinets, and scrap wood into pegboards. I am seriously praying not only does our plan and budget get approved, but that we actually finish our project next week. We also have to work on our secondary projects and finish up the equipment we have been working on. Nothing like working under pressure.
For our secondary projects, Astride and I have though about hanging up more line for drying clothes. It seems that even though there is a washing and drying unit in the hospital, people within the different wards are always using the bushes and grass to dry uniforms, rags, and other such items. We figured that buying some line for them would be a great use of our budget, since a little goes a long way! We also want to get a bag or two of cement and fill a huge crack in one of the pathways right in the entrance of the hospital. Perhaps we will even add a wheel-chair ramp, but that is if budget and time allows for it.
Last weekend the gang and I went to Gisenyi on Saturday. We sat around at the beach of Lake Kivu and then walked for about an hour up and down the mountains to visit the natural hot springs. There were many children near the hot springs that took us all around the island. We treated them with candy afterwards : )
Today I did some laundry for the last time. I have been planning when I am going to wear what so I can donate most of my clothes CLEAN! I also need to wash my shoes up real good before I donate them. Not sure exactly when I am going to find the time to do that… There is an all girls orphanage right in Butare that I have already taken some items and am going to drop off the rest before I leave. I hope one day I come back to Rwanda and see girls wearing Montour and RIT shirts. Would be very cool.
I promise to write at the end of next week and update everyone on how much of our projects we were able to complete! Be home literally before you know it….
Xox