Leah's Rwanda

I’m here! So happy to be in a warm place with an amazing group of people. I was lucky enough to have a whole middle row to sleep on the first flight and 3 seats together on the second, but I am not good at sleeping on a plane. After we arrived and got settled, … More Day 1–the work begins

Long time, no see stranger! I’m thrilled to announce that I am heading back to Rwanda in January 2023 with International Organization for Women and Development. It’s been a long three years since I have been there and I am excited to start the process of preparing. When I was last in Rwanda in early … More Dusting off the blog and shopping (totes)

It is always hard to come home from vacation–there’s sadness that it’s over, bags to unpack, and maybe dread that you have to go back to work. I have a similar experience when I come back from Rwanda. Though it’s not a vacation, being in Rwanda is a different version of my usual life. Our … More Re-Entry

I made it home safely but wanted to share this last post. After shopping on Sunday morning, I went to visit my Rwandan friend Janviere’s family. To learn more about Janviere, click on this link. I was nervous about visiting as I had no idea what to expect. She lives with her mom and brother … More Sunday visiting

I am sitting in the airport in Amsterdam, halfway home. I haven’t blogged for the last few days so I will try to catch up on storytelling. I had a great day on Saturday at the coffee farm tour. I’ve never really considered the long journey required to make my favorite caffeine-filled beverage. From planting … More Heading home

I made it to Friday! Exhaustion has begun to set in, as usual, but I should be able to get a full night’s sleep tonight. It was a busy day at Kibagabaga. We continued to see new patients with fistula, as well as post-operative patients, patients who had surgery in prior years, and everything in … More Day 6 2020

Good news! Jimy did well with her surgery and is back to acting like a typical 14 year old. She had surgery yesterday morning and had not been out of bed at all when I went to see her this afternoon. She said she was too tired to get up and that she wanted to … More Day 4 2020

Today was a busy day, starting with more patient exams and ending with a bus packed full of our American team and the Rwandan medical students. I was certain the bus would either get stuck driving up the very steep hills or tip over because it was completely overfilled. Fortunately, neither happened and we arrived … More Day 2 2020