Kigali

After a long plane ride and several airplane meals, I arrived in Kigali this afternoon at 2pm Rwandan time, 8am EST. It was a 26 hour trip in total, but looking at a map I realized that flying through Ethiopia was definitely not the most direct route. ARC's logistics coordinator, a nice guy named Apollo from Uganda, picked me up from the airport. He could not believe that this is my first time in Africa and told me that I'd be learning a lot. 

Kigali appears to be a very nice city. It is very green with a lot of colorful flowers, plants and trees everywhere. Looking out in every direction you can hills. The main roads are paved. Driving from the airport to my hotel, there seemed to be a fair amount of automobile traffic but also a lot people on foot- women with bags and packages, men walking in pairs and small groups and kids in uniforms.

We dropped my luggage off at the hotel and immediately went to ARC's central headquarters in Kigali, which was only about a 10 minute drive. I there met the country director, the senior program coordinator and the finance director. They gave me a quick briefing about how ARC functions in Rwanda. Two surprises were that they gave me a cell phone to use while I'm here as well as portable modem that I'll be able to access the internet with. I have to say, I'm very thankful for the modem as I wasn't expecting internet to be that available to me.

I ate pizza and drank Rwandan beer for dinner and hope to be asleep by 830 because I am beat and am meeting again at the main office tomorrow at 8am. I'll be in Kigali until Friday afternoon when I go to my site in Byumba which is about 1 hour's drive north of here. So far so good, but I think Apollo is right- I'll be learning a lot!

This is the view from right outside my hotel.

Here I come!

I left for Rwanda this morning. I'm in DC waiting for my flight to Ethiopia and if all goes as planned I'll be in Rwanda tomorrow!

Here are a couple of articles that explain Rwanda's history and present if you're curious. I've also listed an article about Dr. Durant.


Rwanda: How the Genocide Happened- BBC News Africa


16 Years After the Genocide, Rwanda Continues Forward- NYTimes.com

Dr. Thomas S. Durant

You're going where?

That's definitely a question that I've gotten a few times recently. I was fortunate enough to be selected for a fellowship that was awarded through MGH to work internationally. Thomas Durant was a Mass General physician who dedicated his career to serving refugee populations and victims of complex humanitarian disasters. Dr. Durant passed away in 2001 and in his memory and legacy, the fellowship has now sent more than 10 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to the field. Through mentorship and guidance from experienced MGH staff, I've selected to work with the American Refugee Committee in their camps which serve 50,000 Congolese refugees in Rwanda.

The reason there are refugees from the Congo in Rwanda is kind of a tricky story. You probably know of Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were murdered in a period of 100 days. For reasons that go back in Rwanda's recent history dating back to colonization, many members of one ethnic group, the Hutus, attempted to ethnically cleanse Rwanda of men, women and children from the other ethnic group, the Tutsis. Moderate Hutus were also targeted. After the genocide, many Hutus fled to the eastern portion of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of these refugees have since been repatriated to Rwanda where Hutus and Tutsis again live alongside one another. Some Hutu extremists, however, remained and are part of a Hutu militia that fights a Tutsi rebel group in the eastern Congo. This situation has made it unsafe for Congolese Tutsis to remain in their country and they have sought refuge in Rwanda. So those are the refugees that make up the camps that I'll be working in.


The ARC has asked me to help with education of community health workers and capacity building. Although I have worked internationally on short term trips a few times before, this will be my first time in Africa and my first time doing this kind of work. I expect to learn a lot!