I've been planning this trip since before my last trip in July. Thinking back, I guess I really did put a lot of time and thought into it, and yet when the time came, I panicked a little because I just wasn't sure I was ready. I have these moments occasionally now....I wonder what the hell I was thinking undertaking all of this?!? Who do I think I am anyway? And then I remember....I'm just an ordinary gal on an extraordinary adventure: my muzungu journey. I don't know why I've been put on this path, but I do know that I'm supposed to be here, ill-equipped or not. I also know that I will continue this journey wherever it leads because I have faith that it's all going to work out, and well, because it's pretty incredible!
So, on Wednesday, March 21st we set out for Rwanda to train Rwandan birth attendants in the Helping Babies Breathe program (HBB). Besides me, there was Sara, one of our nurse practitioners from KU and her mother, Pam, who is also a nurse. My daughter, Cait, was also along. I recruited her to be our photographer because you can't very well teach AND take pictures! The rest of our group, also from KU, were Laiecha, Kaitlin, and Jennifer.
Our journey started off okay....the first leg was from KC to DC where we boarded our flight to Brussels. I had worked Monday night and stayed up all day Tuesday running last minute errands and repacking for about the 37th time, so I was pretty exhausted leaving KC and was able to sleep most of the flight to Brussels. We had a pretty good layover in Brussels, all going well until we were told we would have to get new boarding passes. Not really a problem, right? Until they couldn't find us in the system.....We had purchased our tickets before the merger between Continental and United was final. OOPS! Apparently not everything transferred over all nice and smooth! Thanks to a very kind and patient agent in Brussels, we were finally taken care of and on our way to Kigali.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful.....well, except for a couple of screaming children on the flight! We even arrived in Kigali with all our luggage and made it through customs without incident. We were missing a few learner manuals for the HBB program--apparently customs neglected to completely zip the bag they were in and they fell out. We were able to retrieve some from the carousel as they went around.
Yvan from Eos Visions met us at the airport...you might remember him, he was the guide Lindsay and I had in July. The big surprise for me was that we had a BUS! What a hoot! AND it had a sign in the window that said "One Good Deed"......still makes me giggle.
We got to the hotel, had some dinner and went to bed. The hotel was okay....no ac, but it was pretty cool so didn't seem to matter. At that point, I didn't really care because I was ready for bed. Cait and I had a bit of a delay while we hunted down and smacked the moth that insisted on fluttering around our heads while we tried to go to sleep, but finally we got to bed.
Friday morning we all met for breakfast out on the balcony and took a group photo before heading out for the day.
Cait and I set out with Helaina from Eos Visions to attend some meetings while the others went on the Kigali city tour and visited a couple of genocide memorials. But first we got a picture with our BUS! He-he!
I didn't know what to expect from the meetings Helaina had scheduled. The most important one, with Dr. Ngabo from the Ministry of Health, had been cancelled--by him....again. Sigh. I don't know why he has to be such a difficult man to work with. I have no idea what we did or didn't do that pissed him off, but he has been very unpleasant to deal with! Anyway, our first meeting was at the U.S. embassy--insert little happy dance--I've been trying to get inside the embassy for four years now!!! You'd think an American wouldn't have such a hard time gaining access, but....
The meeting at the embassy was with USAID (United States Agency for International Development). Michael thought they might be helpful with the Ministry. God knows we could use all the help we could get. Turns out he was right. They were quite helpful in giving us ideas for approaching the MOH (Ministry of Health) in a way that would present us as an asset to them in the HBB trainings. They had learned the ins and outs of this system, and luckily for us, they were willing to share their knowledge! Unfortunately we couldn't get photos with them....cameras are not allowed in the embassy, along with cell phones, computers, and iPads. You aren't missing anything, though. Inside, the embassy looks like any other office building. Pretty anti-climatic for my four year wait!
Our next meeting was with people from an NGO called Lux Dev. Turns out they are up for renewal so didn't have much to offer us in the way of help (ie grants or funding), but they, too, were a wealth of information. They apparently had had their share of hardships with Dr. Ngabo and gave us some good advice. We also talked with a pediatrician in their group who was very helpful to me in gaining insight into the needs of the country in terms of health workers and lack of training. She was very glad to hear that we were interested in teaching other neonatal topics besides HBB. No camera restrictions here, so we got a photo:
Feeling a little giddy with our success in our first two meetings, I told Helaina we should just drop in on Dr. Ngabo. You know, just plant yourself on his doorstep....get in his face....make him send us away in person, not over the phone or by email! I like Helaina....she has a lot of spunk! So, we trekked on over to the MOH--actually we took a cab....not the motorbike kind, but a car, and hiked up the four (actually five because their first floor is actually 0) flights of stairs and presented ourselves to the receptionist. Apparently there was no red flag warning with our pictures on it because she went to see if Dr. Ngabo would meet with us. Remember "Somebody" I always talk about? Well, Somebody was smiling on us that day because Dr. Ngabo agreed to see us! Don't get excited....he didn't exactly give us a warm welcome. We sat in silence for about 5-7 minutes while he played with his cell phone and ignored us. Finally he got around to asking us what we wanted. I told him we had come to start the trainings in the HBB program as discussed in July with Dr. Binagwaho, the Minister. He got a little pissy and asked where we were training. I told him KHI and the district hospital in Gisenyi. He really didn't care about KHI--not under the MOH's jurisdiction because it's education. BUT, whoa nellie! Who told us we could train at Gisenyi?!? God love Helaina! She said, "Well, it was on the list of sites slated to be first for trainings that your assistant gave me. Since Sherri already had a relationship with them from previous trips here, we decided to go there." Hmph!
Dr. Ngabo wasn't ready to be nice just yet. He asked what we expected him to do, there was no money in the budget for training kits so how did I expect to train without them or to get them on such short notice? HA! I said, "I brought six kits with me this time." HA!HA! Still not conceding.....he wanted to know what we would do about future trainings and I told him it was my understanding that the Minister had said he should plan for 20 kits to begin with in the next budget. Oh.....well, there was that, wasn't there? More silence followed, and you know me, I can't stand silence so I HAD to fill it! I handed him an envelope containing the letter from the Council of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN) endorsing my trainings of the HBB program along with their offer to be of any assistance in the future in all things neonatal. Checkmate!
Suddenly Dr. Ngabo saw a reason to have me around--this letter might give him a few brownie points with Dr. Binagwaho! He said we could proceed at Gisenyi. I, being grateful (no, really, I was!), told him that we would like future guidance from the MOH about where the next trainings should be done (OMG! Was that a slight smile I saw?!?) Then.....be still my heart.....he said we could draw up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the MOH!!!! Helaina was wide-eyed, I was dumbfounded, and Cait didn't get any pictures! Probably for the best since we all looked a little shell-shocked. This little impromptu meeting couldn't have gone any better! AND.....God love Helaina.....she invited him to join us for dinner at Republica that night! Still makes me laugh! He said maybe, but of course we were fairly certain he would be a no show....and he was, but he at least called to tell us, AND Helaina said he actually said "Sorry"!!!
whew! Wears me out just remembering it! Dear God that was an ordeal! You know me, there's gotta be a lesson in there somewhere....I'm still puzzling that one out!
Buoyed by our little success, we went off to meet the rest of the group for lunch at a place Yvan introduced Lindsay and I to in July....Afrika Bite. Traditional Rwandan food that is actually quite yummy!
After lunch we had some free time so we put it to good use.....shopping! Dinner was at Republica, a restaurant on the side of a mountain that overlooks the city of Kigali--breathtaking view at night to see the city all lit up! Good times! Favorite moment? Sara was being pelted by moths. She had a coat on and suddenly said, "Get it OFF!" We looked at her and asked what. She said, "There's a moth on my back." We couldn't figure out how she could possibly feel a moth through her jacket, but sure enough, there was a moth on her back! She said she felt it hit when it dive-bombed her! Poor Sara! :) Otherwise a good ending to an incredible day!
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