Two-Thirds Through

[Insert cheesy greeting]

I hope y'all are doing well! I’ve traveled a lot since my last blog post – three holidays happened during six workdays, so my friends and I took advantage of the free time. Two weekends ago (July 2nd), we bused out to Kibuye where Peter and his partner, Brian, are living. During the few workdays, Richard and I dominated hospital equipment (as usual). This past weekend, I took a very exciting bus trip out to Kamembe where Jeff, his partner Josh, Anastasia, and Miles are living.

EXCITING TEASER: This post contains many monkeys and a particularly perturbed chicken.

Kibuye

Well, this actually started in Butare.

Butare

Friday, July 1^st, was Rwandan Independence Day¹. So, Gaby, Jenny, and Savannah traveled down to Butare on Thursday night to break up their trips to Kibuye between two days. Friday morning, we explored a little bit of Butare, ate stellar ice cream, and saw some monkeys!

 

Look, I don't know Kinyarwanda that well - but I do
know Texas food, and none of those words are "BBQ".

Being a New Yorker, Richard was the only one not
included in the above picture. Here's proof he exists.

This wouldn't be a good blog post without
Sav scaring away a random animal.

Friday evening, we set off for Kibuye.

Kibuye (actually this time)

This town is right on the edge of Lake Kivu. It is beautiful.

This was supposed to be a picture of the Loch Ness
Monster, but she went under just before I took it. Trust me.

This was a pretty simple trip, honestly. Lake, views, busting a fat chill. 

Saturday was beach day.

I don't have much to say about this pic... I'll just wave.

Sunday was boat day. We hired a guide to take us out on his boat for the day; he drove us around to a couple different islands. On these islands, we were able to hike around and enjoy the views.

More importantly, I had the opportunity to climb a tree and jump from its branches into the lake. Amazing, bucket-list-worthy experience. 12/10; would recommend.

This was before I did an unintentional back-flop.
You can tell because I'm still smiling.

After the long weekend, I headed back to Butare on Tuesday morning. As it turned out, Wednesday would be a public holiday as well. How many of y’all had a two-day workweek?

Back to Saving Equipment

This past Thursday and Friday, Richard and I managed to fix several more pieces of equipment. At Kibilizi, we finally finished setting up three infant incubators which have never been used. Additionally, we were tasked with the duty of figuring out how to use an ECG machine – its only issue was that no one in the hospital is trained on the machine. Richard and I were able to use the ECG; we hooked up the electrodes and confirmed that it recorded an accurate heart rate. However, further staff training will be required if the machine is to be used clinically.

How To Be Stared At In Rwanda:

1. do literally anything as a foreigner

2. not wearing a shirt awards x30 multiplier

At Kabutare, we worked on a couple more infant incubators. Whenever I visit the neonatology department, it is common for me to observe multiple babies being cared for within the same incubator or infant warmer. This overcrowding is especially common in the developing world because of a lack of working supplies coupled with high rates of premature birth. Thus, working on neonatology equipment has been my favorite job so far – the impact that Richard and I are able to make is obvious. We set up a never-been-used incubator, and we were also able to identify a burned-out heating source in different incubator. Richard and I will hopefully be able to add the second incubator to our “fixed” list, pending a replacement part.

Regarding certain equipment, I have realized that my efforts in the hospitals must extend beyond repair. Sometimes, donated equipment cannot be used because it needs to be calibrated or programmed first. Often, the instructions for these tasks are in English, and the hospital staff doesn’t have the time to figure out how to read them. Richard and I have encountered this dilemma with a particular model of infant incubator. We have since realized that even after equipment set-up, Richard and I are responsible for training the nurses on how to use the equipment. This has been a rewarding experience as well; the nurses are always very eager to learn how to use new devices.

Luckily, infant incubators don't require
 us to take off our shirts. Yet.

On Monday, Richard and I hit the ground running. At Kabutare, we were able to fix/reprogram the only ultrasound machine in the hospital. After our magic touch, the machine is now able to estimate gestational age of the fetus based on specific measurements. The doctor whom we met, Sad, was very happy². He took some pictures with us.

The fetus on the ultrasound screen actually
does not belong to any of us... believe it or not.

Kamembe

This weekend, I decided to visit Lake Kivu again – in a different town. Kamembe is also a very laidback town; my friends and I visited some hot springs³ and spent time catching up with each other. We even made grilled cheese sandwiches!!! Getting there was another story... when was the last time your bus driver had to stop in the middle of the road for a pack of monkeys?

Am I in Africa? The answer is a resounding "yes".

Fun fact: my friends who live in Kamembe are the proud owners of a live chicken. It was the result of a grocery list misunderstanding… His name is Joey.

Sav probably would have scared Joey away,
but he was picked up and handed to her. 

What a fowl glare.^4,5,6,7

At the hot springs, I finally got to hammock! I’ve been carrying around my hammock everywhere I go in Africa, and it finally paid off.

I posted this on Instagram. Go like it.
(Also, shout-out to Gaby. She hung the hammock.)

Spades?

Well. We haven’t played Spades since my last post. Sorry to disappoint. But – on the bright side – my team is still winning :]

I’ll Be Back

That’s it for this one! Admittedly it was a shorter post, but I think it was a pretty relaxed week. As always, please feel free to message me if you want to talk more! I can’t wait to finish out this trip strong.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)⁸

-Bryan

¹ I messed up. I thought July 4^th was Rwandan Independence Day, but it’s actually Liberation Day. My Instagram caption is a lie.

² I cannot stop laughing over this sentence. You can’t make this stuff up.

³ Hot is an understatement. Pretty sure the water was actually boiling. In light of Pokémon Go – there were probably fire Pokémon here.

⁴ Alternate caption: “Don’t make me go Cluck Norris on you.”

⁵ Alternate caption: “You’re ruffling my feathers.”

⁶ Alternate caption: “This won’t fly.”

⁷ Alternate caption: “Please cock-a-doodle-don’t.”

⁸ Big shout-out to my brother, Aaron, for writing down a bunch of bible verses on index cards for me to keep in my wallet during my trip. Most of these verses have been ones that he wrote down for me.