site – Rwandering around with Joanna

My Site and Home

See where I’m living in Rwanda!

Happy New Year!!

We are a few days away from being a full month at site and I’m starting to settle into my new home and community in Huye. I figured that you are all very curious to know more about what my life is like here.

First thing’s first, I’m really lucky to be placed where I am. My site is very urban compared to other sites. The market next to my Health Center is open everyday. Some volunteers have markets open only every Thursday and Sunday, which can be anywhere from a 10-90 minute walk or a 20-45 minute bus/moto ride away. I also live in the “downtown” area of my village, which has small stores (boutiques) for snacks, toilet paper, and random things that all Rwandan boutiques seem to have.

The main road that my house, heath center, market, and stores are on.

Furthermore, I live ~3 miles from the third largest city in the country, Butare. The walk is also very flat, which is very lucky since we’re in the land of a 1,000 hills. The market in Butare has EVERYTHING – clothes, home appliances, restaurants, etc. It also helps that Butare is a “college” town, so there are a lot of coffee shops, bars, and even clubs in the area. I was initially really disappointed that my site was so urban and I’d be missing out on the “proper” Peace Corps experience of being in a very rural and isolated area. However, the volunteer who I am replacing asked me something that I haven’t forgotten, ‘why make life harder than it already is by being in an isolated site?’ He was right. Life here is difficult as it is, why would I want to make it more difficult for myself by having a market only twice a week, difficult to get to, and has a limited variety of food? One of my closest friends (emotionally, not geographically) told me that her market is only twice a week, open from 5-6:30p, and almost always has only potatoes and rarely anything else. That sounds really difficult to endure for two years. Having a big market nearby has definitely made life easier for me and made turning my new home into a home.

You’ll see this beautiful view when you walk through the gates of my compound.

This is the front of my house! It’s a cute and small space in the corner of the compound. I have two other families in the compound, which makes it feel very safe!

Unlike other health volunteers, I don’t live on the Health Center property. I live ~500 feet down the road from the Health Center in a compound with two other families. My house feels very safe and I actually share a wall with the lab tech and her family! Peace Corps is very strict about where they house volunteers since safety is very important (I know my parents very relieved to hear this).

There is a lot of variation in the types of houses for us in Rwanda. Some homes are quite large, with multiple spacious rooms, while others are quite small. Since my site is very urban, I have an appropriately sized house. It’s small, maybe 500 ft^2. It’s the size of a perfect square, divided in half into two rooms – one is the living room and kitchen (photo below) and the other is my bedroom. I also have a small indoor bathroom, which is very lucky. I currently don’t have running water, but I have electricity in one room (sometimes).

I took this photo the first day I moved in. In this photo, going from left to right, is a table and chair my HC lent me, a gas stove, water filter, my mattress and all of my stuff – clothes, gear, food etc.

The photo above shows the saddest state my house has been in. It was so bare, but now I have a carpet, another table, and a bed frame. For nearly a month I did everything on the floor – slept, ate, cooked. It has been a slow and steady process. On Christmas Eve, my bed frame came and today I got another table and a shelf to put all my clothes on. I’ll be sure to send a housing update once things become more complete. In all honesty, I’m just happy to have furniture! More and more things are moving off the floor!!

My First Two Weeks at Site and X-mas

Time is a strange thing. It’s been only 14 days at site, but it feels like it’s been both forever and only a few days.

I will say, however, I feel like I’m slowly becoming more accustomed and adjusted to life here, despite my multiple “power crying” sessions and breakdowns. Between site installation and now, I thought about going home, convincing myself that I signed up to do something that I wasn’t capable of. I seriously thought about it, but I have stubbornness issues so it’ll have to take a lot more than just feeling uncomfortable for me to go home. On the bright side, things could only go up, and up they have gone.

I talked to a carpenter earlier last week about getting a couch, tables, shelves, and a bed frame made! Not having furniture and essentially living on the floor is incredibly humbling. I’m over exaggerating, the health center is letting me borrow one chair while I wait for furniture, but I have to move it from room to room if I want to sit! I’m absolutely looking forward to the day when I can come “home” and it feels like home. Little by little, I’m getting the things that make a home – plates, a carpet, a broom – and getting more comfortable exploring my local market where I can get fruits, vegetables, toilet paper (we all need it), and everything in between. The best part is that the mammas at the market are always so happy to see me! It honestly makes my day when my mammas ask me how I’m doing or throw in an extra mango when I buy produce from them. It’s in these small, seemingly insignificant, relationships where I find the most encouragement to continue being here.

I definitely had to put myself in uncomfortable situations, such as going to the market alone, to become more comfortable where I am. Nothing here will “just happen,” you have to make it happen. I know that sounds cliche and overused, but it’s a cliche for a reason. I truly think I’ve made it this far, even though it’s only been 14 days, because of my friends, my co-workers, and my mammas that continue to make this feel more “do-able” and less overwhelming.

Everything is getting better, it’s a Christmas miracle! I’m half joking, but my friends and I got together to celebrate the holidays and it was so nice to hear that everyone is facing similar challenges – loneliness, unfurnished homes, and feeling overwhelmed, to name a few.

Also, be sure to check out my Rose. Bud. Thorn. page for check-ins!

We celebrated our very hot and sunny X-mas poolside!

Our X-mas group! Our friend hosted since 1) she inherited furniture from a previous volunteer while a chunk of us are still living on the floor, 2) she has a bigger house, and 3) her mom sent here a small Christmas Tree!

The End of the Beginning

The Ambassador is on the left and all of us are cheering because we just finished our oath and became official Peace Corps Volunteers.

Just like that, Pre-Service Training (PST) is over and we’re all officially Peace Corps Volunteers! On Tuesday we swore-in and took our oaths at the US Embassy in Kigali. We were joined by our supervisors, the Ambassador, the Country Director, and Peace Corps Staff. It was a huge celebration that concluded our training and initiated our service. It’s the end of the beginning.

I think my favorite part was seeing everyone’s outfits we made for the special event. It’s very common for people to pick fabrics from the market and bring them to a tailor with a specific design in mind, making the outfit a complete reflection of the individual. I chose to wear a “power suit” for the event and, oh man, I felt powerful.

Our Health 11 group photo! I’m one of the taller ones, so find me in the back row.

The entire day was bitter sweet. It’s hard to believe that our three months of training went by so quickly and the following morning we all left to our sites. For most of us, this was our last time seeing each other for the next three to six months. As I’m writing this entry, I’m sitting alone at my site. I was installed a few days ago and it feels like night and day compared to PST.

This entire moment of discomfort is meant to be just that, a moment. I don’t know how or when, but one day I’ll be ready to fully embrace my new life here, even if I’m resisting it now.

During PST I was constantly surrounded by 70 volunteers, our teachers, PC staff, my host family, and I rarely had any free time to myself. However at site, it’s just me, I’m all alone, and I have too much time. The closest volunteers are either a 1.5 hour walk or a 50 minute walk and a 30 minute bus ride away. I feel alone and unprepared. I don’t have any furniture, my mattress is on the floor, and I eat on the ground out of my sauce pan because I don’t have any plates. I wish moving into a new place was as easy at it is in the States where I could go to a Costco, Target, or CVS to get food and the necessities, but my old life doesn’t fit me anymore. This entire moment of discomfort is meant to be just that, a moment. I don’t know how or when, but one day I’ll be ready to fully embrace my new life here, even if I’m resisting it now.

When I decided to make a blog about my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I made a promise to myself and to anyone reading to show all the good parts and the bad parts. I don’t want social media to show a warped version of my experience where it’s only ups and highs and no downs and lows. I want to be real, raw, and vulnerable with you.

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.

My HC was established before the genocide, making it one of the oldest in the country.
It’s affiliated with the Catholic Church, so my supervisor is a Nun – Sister Athanasie.
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 HC is in the photo – can you spot our green house?

The building on the left is our maternity ward and the right is the laboratory.

The entrance to the HC is on the left and the village center/downtown is on the right.

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.