We’re almost at the 2 week mark since arriving in Rwanda! Time has flown by so quickly because everyday has been packed with meetings, info sessions, Kinyarwanda language lessons, and socializing with the other 72 volunteers. The wonderful thing about this group is the combination of both Health (24 volunteers) and Education (49 volunteers) sectors, in previous years the sectors were trained separately. Before coming to Rwanda, we all met in Washington D.C. to have a brief, but intense orientation, initial introductions, and a reminder on what the Peace Corps is and what our responsibilities are. We all arrived in D.C. by Monday afternoon and we were on our way to the airport the next morning by 5am to officially embark on our journey.
It was a long day of traveling, a 13 hour flight to Ethiopia, 3 hour layover, and a 2 hour flight to Rwanda. It’s a strange feeling knowing I arrived to the country I’d call home for the next two years.
From the Kigali airport, we went to a hotel where we spent the next two days meeting the staff, having interviews, meetings, language lessons, and completing a lot of paperwork. It felt like every hour was packed with activities until we left for our training site last Saturday. We drove ~2 hours to Rwamagana in the Eastern Province, our next home for the next three months while we train before being officially inducted as Peace Corps Volunteers.
While we’re training, we live with host families who help us integrate into the Rwandan culture. They were waiting for us when we got to our training site. We were all anxiously awaiting our names to be called during the matching ceremony and to meet the family we’d call our own for the next three months. As each match was made, a roar of applause and cheers would erupt from everyone. It was pure joy. I remember my name being called and my host mom embracing me as she called me her daughter.
The entire purpose of living with a host family during our training is to learn the Rwandan culture – how to store food without a refrigerator, work around power outages and water shortages, hand wash laundry, clean the house, cook using a charcoal stove, and honestly just how to cook. There’s so much to learn! The next three months are filled with training sessions and language lessons. Everything in our program is intended to make us the most successful volunteers we can be when we go to our sites in only three months.
Reflecting on the past two weeks, I think they were the most unpredictable and uncertain. When I got to DC, I didn’t know who the other volunteers were, who we’d be meeting in the Kigali airport, what the next two days in Kigali would be like, if we’d get SIM cards, who our host families were, and so much more. In the end, everything was figured out and worrying didn’t help. One of the biggest things I’ve had to embrace was not knowing – not knowing what the plan is, where we were going, how we’re getting there, etc. I’ll figure it out as we go. As an American, we seek psychological comfort in knowing when/where/who/how/why. What would knowing have changed other than just to knowing what the plan is, where we’re going, who we’re meeting etc.?
On Wednesday, September 25, we had TWO very special guests. The US Ambassador of Rwanda, Peter Vrooman, AND the Peace Corps Director, Jody Olson, visited us!! Can you believe that? It’s no surprise that Jody’s the director; she spoke eloquently about her experience as a volunteer over 50 years ago and how the skills she cultivated, challenges she overcame, and lessons she learned have continued to help her after her service.
Rwandering around with Joanna 