Coming Home

We're both relaxing in the Brussels airport right now so we decided to do a joint blog about our experiences.

Drew:
This past month was one of the fastest months I've ever experienced. It started out overwhelming and a little scary, but it ended as an amazing experience that I'm so thankful to have been able to do. All three of the settings I worked in were wonderful, and I feel that I learned a ton every day I went to work. Actually, I think one of the biggest things I gained from this experience was confidence. Every resident goes through periods of worry about whether he or she will be ready to practice on their own when they finish. Of course, I am not immune to this problem. When I first was thrown into the work at the hospital, I almost freaked out. I didn't speak the language, I didn't know the diseases, the uses of the medications were a little different, and I had never really worked without supervision. The first few days, and several periodic instances afterward, were frustrating. I was told I would have a "what have I gotten myself into?" moment, and that prediction was correct. However, now that I've completed my month, I think that I did a pretty good job given the limited resources we had. I think I was able to help a bunch of children and families, and I even think I did a little education to some of the health care workers in Rwanda. I'll give a big thank you to my dad and Dr. Elliott for helping me with some infectious disease questions. In the end, I was able to practice pediatrics in an unfamiliar environment, and I felt that first feeling of wanting to be on my own and do things the way I thought they should be done. It was a wonderful feeling of independence, and it makes me even more excited about finishing residency and joining a practice next year.

I also greatly enjoyed working with families and communities that did not have many resources. I've enjoyed this in Tucson, working in a clinic where many families have less money. I've wanted to find a spot in Nashville that works with similar patients, but this experience just confirms my desire. I hope that wherever I end up next year, I will be able to feel this same sense of purpose that I'm feeling right now.

As far as non-medical things go, I've absolutely loved meeting the Rwandan people and immersing myself in their culture a little. Looking back, we could have done so much more, but living in Kibungo has been wonderful. I was really sad when our bus pulled away from the town, and I wish I would have been able to communicate a little better in order to feel more a part of the community. I would definitely love to come back to Africa some day, and I hope that Rwanda can be on that itinerary. I'd love to see how far the country progresses over the next few years, and I hope that it can maintain it's inspiring example of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Now I go back to Tucson, getting ready to work two weeks of nights. I think it will be a little easier adjusting due to the time zone differences, but it's still going to take some time. I hear that reverse culture shock can sometimes be worse than the initial shock of traveling to a foreign land, and I hope that I'm prepared to rejoin the community back in Tucson. It's going to be weird having reliable water, water pressure, and electricity, but I can't wait to enjoy it again. I'm also really looking forward to some food variety, although our diet of potatoes, rice, and beans was quite delicious at times. We'll have to keep making melange with brochettes occasionally.


Emily:
As we sit here in the Brussels airport, it feels like it was just yesterday when we were here waiting to get on a plane to Africa. I remember feeling so excited and extremely nervous all at the same time. Before we had even arrived, I was having the "what have we gotten ourselves into?" moment Drew described above. When we finally landed in Kigali and met our hosts, the nervousness started to subside, as we learned how to navigate the city and met the kind and generous people of Rwanda. Everywhere we went, people wanted to ask questions, practice their English, or just make sure we were on the right bus at the right time. I soon felt safe and secure in this new place and began to settle in.

Over the course of the month, we definitely had our ups and downs, especially as we struggled through the language barriers, but overall the experience was amazing. Like Drew, I look forward to coming back to Africa and Rwanda one day and learning more about the culture and seeing the progress. Yesterday, as we were leaving Kibungo, Drew asked me what my favorite part of the trip was. My initial reaction was my daily interactions with the kids at the orphanage, but as I think more about it, I think it is something more. My favorite thing about our month was seeing a community of people taking care of each other. At the orphanage, people visited the children of deceased neighbors, and the teachers working there had so much love for the children. On the garden projects I helped with, neighbors came together to help prepare the ground and plant. Even for us, when we were in town (despite the stares and calls of "muzungu"), people were ready to help us find the right store or bus, or let us practice our broken kinyarwanda, trying to understand.

The other day, I accompanied Tom to an English class he was teaching for adults in town, and I ended up "teaching" the Beginners section with Teo (Theophile). Many of the students were nervous to speak English in front of me, or hesitant to talk to me...unsure of this new American teacher. Towards the middle of the lesson, Teo stopped talking about objects around the house, and askd the students to cast aside their fears. He talked about how new things (like speaking English) and new people (like me) can be scary sometimes, but we have to cast our fears aside and embrace the new experiences. He went on to say that he had only met me a couple weeks ago, but had made a new friend, and embraced me in a hug. He described to the students that only by facing our fears can we become better humans that are able to accept and join the world around us and beyond us. Many of the students began nodding and started to participate a little more for the rest of the lesson. His mini-lesson struck me as the perfect summary of my experience over the past month. I was fearful and anxious at times, but I had to throw these fears aside in order to embrace new experiences and new friends. It was a beautiful way to encourage the students, and I was thankful he had put it into words for them. The class will be blessed to have such a teacher for their beginner lessons, and I am blessed to have had such an experience.