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