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
We made it to Kibagabaga! Not much has changed at the hospital, but there is a lot of new construction everywhere else in Kigali. Rwanda is truly booming, which is great to see. As I was writing this, I saw a book on the coffee table called, “Assessing Girinka Programme”. Apparently there is a program … More Day 1 2020
When I was in Rwanda last year, I met a 24 year old Rwandan woman named Janviere. She had been a patient in a prior year’s mission and she speaks excellent English. On one of my last days there, she pulled me aside and told me that her 10 year old brother Trésor had lost … More Education for life
When I was in Rwanda in February 2019, I took a day trip to Akagera National Park for a safari. The park is a two hour drive from Kigali on the eastern border, near Tanzania. I adore this type of day trip, not only for what I saw within the park, but also for what … More Akagera Adventure
As Christmas nears, I begin drawing up the list of items that I will carry with me to Rwanda for my next mission. I am leaving on January 24, and this will be my fifth year working with IOWD. I can’t wait to see the sunshine, smell the lightly smoky air, and hear the joyful … More 2020 in Rwanda
Leah's Rwanda 