Site Visit

10.19.19-10.25.19 

I spent this past week at my site in the Southern Province! I got to see my Health Center (HC), meet all of the staff, and see where I’ll be living. The main purpose of doing site visit is to become familiarized with where we’ll be working and living before we move in after we offically swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV). It’s important that we know when and where the markets are, what we can buy there, how to get to and from our site and Kigali, and see our homes so we know what we’ll need to buy to furnish it.  

In all honesty, had my first (and definitely not last) moment of “oh my god, I don’t think I can do this.” It was a rude awakening realizing how insufficient my Kinyarwanda is. I had a difficult time communicating with my Supervisor, Sister Athanasie, the HC staff, the mamma’s and their babies. I was overwhelmed knowing that this is where I’ll be working for the next two years and that I’ll have to lead educational sessions on nutrition, hygiene, and other health topics.

Fun and fast facts.

1. My HC was established before the genocide, making it one of the oldest in the country. 
2. It’s affiliated with the Catholic Church, so my supervisor is a Nun – Sister Athanasie. 
3. My HC serves 17 villages.

Location. Location. Location. 

I’m only a mile away from one of the bigger cities in the Southern Province, which means restaurants, a good market, stores, etc. At first I was a little bummed that I was in such an urban area, in fact, the volunteer I’m replacing says that my site is probably the closest one to a major city. After thinking about it, I’m quite relieved because it’ll make life a lot easier when I need to furnish my house, go grocery shopping, or want to get some Chinese food and ice cream (YES! There’s a Chinese Restaurant and an ice cream shop in town). I’m definitely excited to host my friends when they visit. 

Here are some pictures from my site. Enjoy!

My House. 

The Peace Corps (PC) and the HC work together to find housing for all of the volunteers. PC’s biggest concern is safety for all us, especially since I’m a woman living alone. They got a house that’s 200 meters away from the HC, is in a compound, and has an indoor bathroom (!!!!). Most homes in Rwanda have latrines, but they can unsafe to use at night so many Rwandans don’t even use them at night. I know my mom was very happy to hear all of this. Houses can vary dramatically across the country – some are very large, some are quite small, some have running water and electricity while others don’t. Mine is roughly the size of a hotel room (~300 square feet), has running water, and electricity. No complaints. 

Work. 

I spent my week working at my HC, getting a small introduction to my two years working there. The HC has a lot of different services/ departments: HIV/AIDS counseling, TB, immunizations, maternity ward, counseling, dentistry, primary care, laboratory testing, and of course maternal and childhood health services, such as nutrition, ante and postnatal care. 

Our Pre-Service Training (PST) has familiarized us with what to expect when working at the HC, but nothing can prepare you for seeing your first acutely malnourished child.

My counterpart, Cecile, is the nutritionist and was teaching me all about the services they offer moms and their children: the milk program, Fortified Blended Foods (FBF), immunizations, growth measurement, counseling sessions and so much more. We spent our week together taking weight, hight, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) measurements, distributing milk and FBF to expecting mothers and mothers with young children. Our Pre-Service Training (PST) has familiarized us with what to expect when working at the HC, but nothing can prepare you for seeing your first acutely-malnourished child. It’s often not a problem of getting enough food on the table, but having the right foods. When I flipped through the charts, I was stunned to see how many children were marked as “DIED” before their 2nd birthday.