A Bunch of Dirty Soles

Muraho y'all,

During the past 5 days, I fixed a patient monitor, traveled hours across Rwanda's countryside in a bus, hiked a volcano, played cards on a Kigali rooftop, and tried authentic Italian pizza for the first time.

That was my thesis sentence for this blog post. My English teachers would be proud.

Hospital Visit #2

Last Thursday, our EWH team split in half to visit two different hospitals. My group had the privilege of introducing ourselves to the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK). Compared to the hospital I visited the previous week, CHUK was substantially larger and better equipped. Because CHUK is a teaching hospital, its budget works a little differently. When most of the public hospitals in Rwanda need spare parts for equipment, they have to send in a written request to the Ministry of Health. This process can take many months to accomplish, and the result is a lot of useless equipment sitting around in maintenance workshops, waiting for repair. On the other hand, CHUK receives its own budget specifically for medical equipment, so they can immediately order new parts as they are needed.

All this being said, the repairs we attempted here were a little different. Richard and I were able to take apart two broken patient monitors and swap out parts between them. We were able to get one of the monitors working, and then we were able to test the machine because CHUK owned an abundance of disposable ECG electrodes, blood pressure cuffs, temperature probes, etc. We were definitely thankful for the spare parts, but I do not expect the same experience in my hospital next month.

"Look like y'all are doing something." - Maddy

I knew life was slow-paced here, but...

Richard = "repair #394 successful"
Me = "OMG THE LIGHTS COME ON AND IT BEEPS"

The Weekend

You don't know mud.

This past weekend, a group of 9 of us traveled to Musanze, Rwanda. Musanze is a small town close to Volcanoes National Park, and it's about a 3-hour bus adventure from home. We left Friday evening and came back Sunday* afternoon, spending the nights in a Catholic Center hostel. Musanze is a really cool town with a bunch of delicious restaurants, and the hostel we stayed at was very nice (hot showers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

On Saturday, we hiked Mt. Bisoke. It is located near Musanze and actually straddles the Rwanda-Congo border, but the summit is in Rwanda. Initially, our tour guide assured us that our group could make the ascent in about 100 minutes.

What a funny guy.

Our ascent took at least 3.5 hours. The descent was at least 3 more. What went wrong, you may ask? Mud. Mud is the worst.

It rained the night before we hiked, and I kid you not when I say we were ankle deep in mud for the majority of our hike. Every step ran the risk of falling (and trust me, everyone fell - even our guides), and the path was extraordinarily steep. It was certainly the hardest hike I have ever attempted**. That being said, the summit was amazing, the guides were amazing, struggling with my friends was amazing, and therefore the hike was also amazing.

Picture time.

I posted this on Instagram. Go like it.

Take note of my shoes.

"This muzungu and his pictures..."

Aw look, we still had hope at this point.

Safari hat bros take the summit.

I like to pretend that's lava behind me.

First ones to the summit. From left: Peter, Savannah, Maddy
"I'm just going to throw these away..." - Peter, after the descent,
 regarding his pearly white socks which were no longer so pearly white

After the descent.
"I am trying to smile!" - Richard (far right)

Remember my shoes from earlier? This is after it rained***.

After our hike, we stumbled upon Alberto's Italian restaurant in Musanze where we ate some delicious pizza. We also talked to some very interesting people. If you ever find yourself in Musanze, I definitely recommend this place.

Spades

As I mentioned in my last blog post, a few friends and I have an ongoing (and viciously competitive) game of Spades. If you've never heard of it, check this out: https://www.pagat.com/boston/spades.html

I thought I'd update you guys on the score. Savannah and I are partners against Gaby and Peter. As of now, the score is:

G&P - 1621
B&S - 1191

Don't worry, guys. I can hear the comeback train choo-chooing in the distance.

'Till Next Time

I'm moving this weekend! Richard and I will be off to Butare to begin work in our hospital. Updates and pictures are sure to follow. Keep me in y'all's prayers****, and always feel free to message me over the internet!

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

-Bryan

*Sunday was Father's Day! Happy Father's Day Dad! (I called my dad on Sunday; I just wanted to give him another shout-out.)
**I have GoPro videos of the ascent and descent. If you think I'm exaggerating, ask to see them when I get back to America.
***Get the title yet?
****

I had to find a way to include this picture.