Shaggy, Jackie Chan, & Arnold Schwarzenegger

Week 3 has so far been the best one yet! But as you can see from the title, I have discovered that I have my work cut out for me in some non-health related areas. Those are the names my co-worker gave me when asked his favorite artist and actors… Don’t worry though, I have a bunch of movies on my hard drive and I plan on organizing some MUCH NEEDED movie nights with all of my coworkers! Also, this particular coworker named Gad told me that he wants to listen to country music, so he has chance of being saved in that realm! (Obviously, I’m a bit biased, but this is my blog so it’s allowed.) The artists that I’ve heard the most over here are: Rihanna, Chris Brown, Backstreet Boys (shockingly), and a bunch of Rwandan artists. The best part though is that Gad says he likes American football AND, wait for it, is a self-proclaimed Giants fan!!! (Hmm I have no idea how either the music or football affiliation came about, but when I leave in two years it might be Luke Bryan and Victor Cruz they’re talking about instead of the other guys.) I actually joined a fantasy football league with some of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers over here (cough, which I’m winning!!!!!!), so I’ve been trying to follow as best I can (internet permitting)!! It’s one of the things I miss most right now!! L Actually, it might be a tie with all of the pumpkin drinks and foods I keep seeing on Instagram and know that I’m missing out on or just autumn in general… Can someone confirm or deny that there is such thing as pumpkin Oreos now?! Trapped in a perpetual summer/ spring over here!

One day when I had my scribbling out for fantasy football when I was some of my coworkers. After I tried to pass it off as part of my data collection, I decided to try and explain to them what it all meant (partly successful). These people I work with are bright though and after a few minutes time they were all oddly enough Giants fans! Why is it though that these Rwandan* coworkers of mine are able pick up the concept of American football quicker that than the concept of switching gloves in between patients to prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogens?!…. Arrghhh pet peeve!!!!!

((I didn’t realize until speaking with my Dad that when I say coworkers he is never sure whether I am referring to my fellow Peace Corps volunteers or the workers at my health center. So just to clarify, all of my coworkers at my health center are Rwandan and I don’t typically see other Peace Corps volunteers unless for regional meetings, so I am usually when I’m talking about my coworkers, they’re my Rwandan ones.))

So last week, they had me shadowing a different coworker each day, which was GREAT!! I told my titulaire that I wanted to switch it up, which I learned is what I am going to have to do in order to take charge of my learning and position within my health center. So on Monday, I assisted John with Pre-Natal Consultations. I took mothers’ weight and height and was there to offer input or suggestions on nutrition and/ or hygiene if needed. The next day was more exciting as I walked into a room of 55 mothers and screaming babies!!! Yup, you guessed it. VACCINATION DAY!! First, I helped Odile take the babies’ weight. This can be a very stressful process as the scale is suspended from the ceiling and each baby needs to be put into a harness then hung from the scale. The babies of course HATE this and make our jobs even easier (sarcasm) by bouncing around and kicking when they’re on the scale. It can be difficult at times to read their weight and even more difficult to have to read it quickly then respond in Kinyarwanda to the mother and Odile. Lots of pressure!

Next, to fill time while my coworkers were doing who knows what, I gave a nutrition lesson and one on hygiene too! This actually happens a lot when my coworkers just take off and leave me with one hundred eyes staring at me expectantly, so I have learned to always have a lesson or two prepared. This day, however, as I was reminding them how important it is to wash their hands before they breast feed I kept seeing women whip out their breasts RIGHT in front of me and feed their babies. I was getting so frustrated because there is a hand- washing station right on the health center premises, so for them to not wash their hands when there is a station available is disheartening. If they could not walk the few steps outside to do it, what’s to say they actually wash their hands when they leave the health center? So in the middle of giving my hygiene talk I grabbed my hand sanitizer from my bag and marched over to the front row of women telling them to put their hands out. With my personal- sized hand sanitizer I was actually able to give some to every woman in that room and my co-workers included. While this was just a short- term solution, I am definitely looking into long- term solutions to not only help these women with hygiene, but my community as a whole.

I also used some of this time to also conduct a group interview of these mothers about the research I am doing (my CNA). Hey, when else do I have an audience of that many people, trapped and with nothing else that they can do while they wait?! A trip to the health center is definitely a process for my community members- most arrive at 7:30 and don’t leave until 12pm, so I thought of it as helping them kill time! There really is no essence of time or need to rush here, which is DEFINITELY hard for me to adjust to!! Having worked in a variety of health facilities before, I miss the efficiency and speed of them all! It is like watching paint dry here in comparison!!

Next comes the dreaded vaccinations… I believe the children there this day were between the ages of 6 months and over 9 months (the older ones had to receive more so that was how we differentiated). I helped Gad distribute a variety of vaccinations: Polio, Rotavirus, Pneumonia, Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, and Tetanus. I only helped on the first two though because those were given orally. The rest were injections and I am not allowed to, nor would I ever want to give those!! It was hard because as much as the mothers try to help holding their babies’ mouths open, they squirm SO much and occasionally spit it right back up you!! I was lucky enough to have the Rotavirus spit right back all over my face…. The crying though really started when Gad injected them with the remaining vaccinations. HEADACHE central… Surprisingly though ONE BABY BOY (my new favorite) didn’t even bat an eye when he got the shots. It was actually quite amusing to be a spectator and see how long it takes the poor little baby to react (aka scrunch up their faces and WAIL!! Okay, maybe that sounds a little evil, but I was trying to make the best of the situation!) So Gad and I couldn’t help but laugh when that boy didn’t do anything!

Later that day, if I didn’t have enough activity in the morning, I was present when a couple received their results from an HIV blood test… I was not allowed in the room for confidentiality purposes, but Gad wanted me to be in the adjoining laboratory as a learning experience. Well, it turns out that the wife was HIV positive… My heart broke in half for them and the screams emanating from that room were devastating. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that anytime soon…

The next day, I was invited to attend a meeting for those individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The room was packed with people and having looked at some of my health center’s statistics, I knew that there were upwards of 200 people in this small community who were afflicted with this virus (not including children in that number). At this meeting, however, there were probably close to 50 people. I obviously had to give a talk, but was apprehensive about giving one this day. People always look at me with such expectancy and hope that I was not sure what hope I could truthfully give and did not want to disappoint them. I gave them my speal on why I was here and then looked around the room and told them that I wanted to help them. I explained that I could not cure the disease (which is what some people think—that we have the cure in America and aren’t sharing), but I told them I want to try and help them in other ways. Already there is an HIV Cooperative, which is actually why people were meeting today. They all partake in cultivating a section of land behind my health center and the proceeds from any of the crops go to them. I have only been here a month, but am definitely looking into other ways to make their lives maybe, if any, just a little bit better.

Another day of vaccinations last week, only this time it was for babies under 6 months. These guys were a piece of cake!

I’ve begun to appreciate Fridays here, not just because the weekend starts, but because the afternoons are dead at work. I ended up getting a nice pedicure and manicure from my coworker Odile!

Also, I really like how all of my coworkers lounge around in the grass next to my health center. It’s good bonding aside from work AND community integration (points for me!). Last Friday, my friend Divine remembered how I taught them how to play the card game Pig/ Spoons what have you when I had my site visit, so they begged me to teach it to everyone else! It was really funny playing with them and my male coworkers were in awe of my shuffling (they tried and failed miserably trying to replicate the bridge).

The weekend was one of the best for me! There was actual sun for a good 4 hours on Saturday, so I layed out for a bit. My neighbors Diane and Grace thought it was the strangest site to see me on a towel in direct sunlight. They both tried to explain to me that they liked my skin better the whiter it was and we all laughed when I said that I didn’t!

Later that day, my friend Odile told me that she would go on a run with me (I kept my expectations low, however, because I didn’t actually think that she would). BUT much to my surprise she shows up at my house in high knee socks, shoes three times to big for her, a huge jersey, and a beanie ready to take me on a run! I couldn’t have been happier!!! I had been hesitant to go on my first run, so it meant the world to me that we went! It was just a short run because poor Odile was getting so tired from the hills, but it was a RUN! AND now I’m fine to go by myself!! The stares weren’t as bad as I thought and the kids trying to chase me, well they couldn’t keep up, so let the training begin!!

And on Sunday, I went to a town nearby for a meeting with all of the volunteers in the east! FINALLY, OTHER AMERICANS!!! I had a lot of fun and two actual meals (you happy, Mom?), not to mention it was great seeing my fellows Health 6 girls and seeing how they were all doing at their sites too! To top of the weekend, I GOT THE REST OF MY FURNITURE!!! I was waiting for a little bedside table, a clothes hanging rack, and a cupboard- all delivered on a bicycle…. Poor guy!

Of course though, it couldn’t have gone as smoothly as I just wrote because this is Rwanda we’re talking about. So I get my cupboard, and it has glass windows, which are cracked and the drawers don’t completely close all the way… Oh, but do you want to know the best part? It has two sets of doors that swing open and are able to be locked, AKA they would need a key to open them.. Do you know where those keys were? Back at the furniture shop, of course… I didn’t get them until 4 days later, but DONE with this furniture mess!! Yeah, most of the stuff wobbles and drawers don’t close, but they get the job done! Now just need to get this curtain situation taken care of… AND find a new tutor thanks to my coworkers………

My titulaire found me one, whose was fluent in English and brought me Rwandan picture books the first day! The only problem was that she insisted on coming daily and to my surprise wanted no pay. Obviously the latter was fine by me, but the former was not. I typically use my afternoons to go out into the community to collect data, so I needed the time and I’m sorry I just really didn’t want to have Kinyarwanda lessons DAILY—the horror!! So, I mentioned this to some of my coworkers about having her cut back on hours and also may have told them that I felt as though she didn’t quite challenge me enough, that I knew more than she thought I knew. Well, apparently this got back to her, but was interpreted as I thought I knew more Kinyarwanda than she did and she quit. THANKS GUYS. Not what I meant, but now need a new tutor! Now accepting applications!

More pictures from the week:

On our walk to the market! This is my neighbor Grace!

The view from my kitchen table! 🙂