Here There Be Monkeys

Howdy y'all!

I am sorry to inform you guys that this is probably my next-to-last blog post. I’m also trying to type this while watching The Office¹, so we’ll see how this goes.

Since my last post, Richard and I have accomplished a lot of good work at our hospitals. We spent the first weekend in Butare, and I spent this past weekend in Muhanga. Also, we had the opportunity to visit the Murambi Genocide Memorial with a friend we made in Butare.

Hospital Work

Working in hospitals has been incredibly rewarding. I am continually surprised by the amount of knowledge I have acquired over the past month in regards to hands-on problem solving. I have developed a strong sense of confidence in my ability to handle myself independently, and I certainly feel prepared for the upcoming semesters of college back at Texas A&M². Truly, the experience I have gained this past month has been life-changing, and I would not trade it for anything.

Since my last blog post, Richard and I have been tying up loose ends with hospital equipment. As I mentioned before, training hospital staff has become an important task – and it’s one that we have been busy with during the past days. Early this month, we managed to return three infant incubators to operable condition. Initially, we were excited to have fixed several important pieces of equipment, but we quickly realized that none of the incubators had ever been used. The hospital had been unable to use them ever since they were donated. However, Richard and I were recently able to meet with a neonatal nurse and train her on the usage of the machines. Finally wheeling the incubators into the NICU, hooking them up, and seeing them used was super exciting and inspiring.

Richard: warming babies and warming hearts since ’16.

Moving forward into our final week, Richard and I will be focusing on our secondary project at our hospitals. Basically, we have recognized a need for the reorganization of the BMET workshops at our hospitals. There are tools and machines piled up around the rooms; everything is hard to find and this can hinder the ability of our BMETs. Richard and I plan to clean up the offices and install a new desk and new shelves in Kabutare. Hopefully, we can improve our BMETs’ work environments so they can be more efficient after we leave.

Side note: last Friday, the maintenance worker at our hospital – Joseph – took us into town to speak with woodworkers for our secondary project. Afterwards, he invited us to check out his house. He showed us around for a bit, and then showed us his work-out area! He had a barbell welded together out of a pole and some flywheels, and it was held up by two wooden posts. When in Rwanda, do as the Rwandans do… right? A short³ work-out followed.

Do I even lift? No. In fact, I’m pretty sure

 I started sweating when I touched the bar.

I am very excited for our last week of work, and I look forward to updating y’all on our final progress.

UPDATE: Since I’m slow at typing this blog, the last week of work started before I published this post. On Monday, we fixed an electronic scale for the pediatric department! Last week, I took apart the bottom of the scale and realized that the transformer jack was very rusty. Using a multimeter, we were able to measure the voltage output from the jack, and it was considerably low. Thankfully, our star OTGC, Maddy, was able to find us a replacement jack in Kigali. I was able to solder the new transformer jack into place, and now the scale works like a charm⁴.

The old transformer jack. It may or may not have 

been this melted before I un-soldered it.

I am weigh too excited about this fix. 

Sorry, I’ll try to scale the puns back a bit.

Murambi

This was one of the most impactful experiences of my time in Rwanda. I cannot describe this visit appropriately with words; all that follows is a concise summary of the memorial. If you ever spend time in Rwanda, you need to see this – and if not, I urge you to learn as much as you can about the genocide.

The Murambi Genocide Memorial is situated atop a tall hill surrounded by breathtaking landscape. It is the site of a half-built secondary school which was under construction during the Rwandan genocide. The Tutsi people were told that they would be safe from violence here, and as a result, thousands of Rwandans flocked to the top of the hill. However, the organization of this “safe haven” was such that there was no escape. That is, the school was visible from any surrounding area; no one could flee without attracting attention. After the citizens arrived, water was cut off and no food was available so they would be too weak to resist. At this site on April 21^st, 1994, over 50,000 Rwandans were murdered. There were 34 survivors.

At the memorial, we were able to walk through and read about the genocide on the walls. After we finished, the guide showed us the site of several mass graves. Lastly, we visited approximately 20 “classrooms” which were full of genocide victims. Their bodies were preserved in lime, and each victim’s final facial expression was still intact.

One of the rooms was full of children. Gazing over the small bodies, I could hear kids laughing and playing from the bottom of the hill on which I stood. The juxtaposition of life and death was a brutal reminder of what was lost, yet I could not help but be inspired by the perseverance and the progress of the Rwandan people. Often, this scene replays in my mind.

“Remember the bad times as you struggle to build a better world.” (Fr. Modeste Mungwarareba – Murambi survivor)

The beautiful landscape which surrounds Murambi.

The main building (right) atop the hill. Much of 

Murambi remains perpetually under construction.

Butare Weekend

Two weekends ago, starting on the 15^th, our friends came and visited me and Richard in Butare. We had a great weekend which involved some great restaurants, hiking a mountain, and chilling at the local pool!

On Friday, we saw monkeys!!! An entire pack of monkeys came through and visited our hotel, Mere De Verbe. I have evidence – I know y’all are just here for the pictures anyway…

Hard to believe these guys recorded the

classic “I’m a Believer” back in 1967…⁵

Monkeying around. I h-ape that pun.
I'm driving myself bananas.

Saturday morning, we decided to climb Mt. Huye. It isn’t a huge mountain, but we had no idea where to begin our hike. We ended up wandering through a nearby village until someone guided us to the base of the mountain. The only thing is – our guides were a bunch of children. I don’t know how this happened; it was one of the stranger experiences of my life, but we ended up with a small mob of small kids leading us by the time we reached the peak.

For real though, we started off with about three followers. We kept running into more children just chilling in the forest. Everyone proceeded to follow us all the way to the peak. ~in sandals!!~⁶

It was a fantastic hike. I even got to hammock again.

I posted this on Instagram. Go like it.

Muhanga Weekend

This past weekend, I traveled northward for Savannah’s birthday. Nine of us showed up, and it was a great time. Why was it a great time? Because food. So much food.

Seriously, all we did was eat. It was awesome⁷.

Saturday morning, we woke up and planned. Then, we spent a few hours at the market and various shops buying ingredients. We took a quick break when we got back to the house – we watched The Office, of course – and then we got cooking. The results are as follows:

“Why is Bryan so tall?”

See those vegetables? I sautéed those. Call me Master Chef.

Also, Grace made some deep-fried banana balls and they were possibly the greatest things I have ever eaten⁸.

Until (one more) Next Time

Thanks for reading again! I’m extremely excited to see what I can accomplish during my final week in Rwanda, and I know that I will never forget my time here. Expect one more post – this time, from America!!! As always, feel free to message me if you want to talk more. And regarding Spades, I think the ongoing game died out. Oh well, Sav and I won :]

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

-Bryan

¹Grace recently helped me “find” seasons 5-7 on my computer. She's great.

²Ask me about this again during mid-terms.

³Okay, I did two reps. It was just for the picture. No gainz.

⁴I’ve gained 2 pounds since arriving in Rwanda. Don’t be surprised – have you seen how much I talk about the food here?

⁵Hopefully y’all get this one… if not, at least my mom will.

⁶This is my version of double-italics. It’s, like, super emphasized.

⁷See footnote 4.

⁸I will be making these in college. Roomates – y’all are welcome.

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.

Butare-mazing

Howdy!

These have been an eventful past couple of days. I’ve been adjusting to life in Butare so I haven’t had much time to blog. Also, I couldn’t blog without some funny picture material… here we go!

But first, it's Butare. Boo tar ray. The title makes sense.

Muhima Hospital

Last Thursday, I was among a small group of EWH students who visited this hospital in Kigali. This was the smallest hospital we visited, and it did not own much equipment. That being said, we were shown the maintenance workshop (a shed) and the several pieces of broken equipment it contained. There were several lights, patient monitors, and a lot of infant incubators.

The maintenance office. Everyone prefers the outdoors here anyway...

Story time:

Our workstation was located right beside the morgue. While we were working, a car pulled up to the morgue and bodies were moved from the building into the vehicle. I noticed that several very small caskets were among the transported. I presume these caskets held babies, and witnessing this was a morbid reminder that healthcare in developing countries is not at all what most of us are used to in America. I do not know if the incubators we were working on could have helped, but nevertheless, the importance of a technician’s work in Rwanda is more significant than I could have imagined.

On a lighter note, our group was able to fix multiple incubators, Richard and I fixed a couple lights and a suction machine, and Savannah and Grace found a dead (very dead) rat!!

Richard and I with our friend, Joseph.
What you can't see is the other side of this light. It's 90% tape.

I'm trying to look like I've done this before.

If you look closely, you'll find our late rodent friend.
Not Jeff. Look closer.

Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village

On Saturday, our EWH team volunteered at this village by building heart rate monitors with the kids. This village was home to some of the “most vulnerable” youth in Rwanda, and the atmosphere it creates is quite incredible. I encourage you to read more about it here: asyv.org

The students were extremely kind and enthusiastic, and many of them became my Facebook friends :]

Obligatory "make a stranger Gig 'Em" picture

Moving

Again! Much farther this time, though. This past weekend marked the end of our first month and the end of classes. To kick off the second month, all of the participants were paired off and sent to various cities around Rwanda. Richard and I were sent to the great town of Butare. If you're reading this Claudine, I'd like to thank you and your family again for being amazing hosts during my first month.

My roommates, host family, and I - minus Augustin.
Miss y'all already!

Butare is a much calmer town than Kigali. It contains the University of Rwanda, and is thus very similar to a “college town” back in America. The people are young, the restaurants are amazing, and everything is much cheaper. I am eating better than I ever could have imagined, and I love the town so far! In fact, just today I ate a hot dog and drank a mocha latte. What is ethnic food?

We are staying in Mere De Verbe Catholic Center. It is a really nice place (running water for showers¹, soft beds, and free breakfast)! The breakfasts are amazing; usually we have bread, coffee, milk, omelets, and a plate of passionfruit and oranges. If you didn’t know, I like food.

Kibilizi Hospital

During our month in Butare, Richard and I will be working in hospitals every weekday. We were lucky enough to be assigned to two different hospitals: Kibilizi (M, T, TH) and Kabutare (W, F).

Kibilizi is a small hospital with some amazing staff. The biomedical equipment technician (BMET) is named Vincent, and he helps us out every day. I will introduce our other new friends as necessary. We’ve only worked at Kibilizi for three days, but Richard and I have already managed to repair:

·         Infant Incubators (x3)

·         Ultrasound

·         Anesthesia Ventilator

·         Dental Chair (so many issues)

Side note – if anyone² wants to know about my equipment repairs in more technical detail, just let me know! I would be more than happy to share.

Kibilizi Hospital.
I have 34 of these pictures on my phone from trying to catch
the flag while it was blowing in the wind. Appreciate it.

Kibilizi Ambulance.
Safaris? Saving lives? Get you a vehicle that can do both.

Emile (“eh meal”) is the anesthetist at Kibilizi whom³ Richard and I met while repairing his ventilator. He speaks very good English, and he was very excited to work with us. In fact, we exchanged contact information, and he has invited to come watch his surgeries⁴ whenever we are working.

Working Anesthesia Ventilator.
The Crocs were for sanitation. Also manliness.

Now for the dental chair. Diana is the dentist. She’s great. Her dental chair is not great. When Richard and I arrived on Day 1, the issues were numerous:

·         The chair movement controls were broken – Diana was unable to properly position her patients while she was working.

·         The chair’s sink did not work – when the appropriate buttons were pressed, no water flowed out of the sink spout.

·         The suction tools did not suck⁵ – the suction motor never turned on.

·         The compressed air was not strong enough – self explanatory.

·         The light was covered with a very thick layer of dirt – this probably doesn’t deserve to make the list of issues, but I wanted 5 bullet points.

I am happy to report that Richard and I are awesome and we fixed everything. Whoop. The repairs were as follows:

·         We found that the connection was ripped out of the motor. We re-soldered the wires back into a plug and tied it in place so it would not be torn out.

·         We reprogrammed the chair buttons (this took extensive instruction-manual-reading)

·         We found more wires ripped from a circuit board. These didn’t require soldering though.

·         We tightened an internal connection between a tube and the chair instruments.

·         We… cleaned it.

Diana is very happy.

Vincent and I.
Ironic how a dental chair can make you
want to pull your teeth out.

While Richard and I have had a successful week, there is much more to accomplish in this hospital. The constant line of patients (aka people who benefit from our work) outside Diana’s office is extremely rewarding and motivation for us to continue our efforts.

Kabutare Hospital

Compared to Kibilizi, Kabutare is much bigger and has much more medical equipment. Richard and I have only worked here for a day, but the opportunities are numerous. The BMET at Kabutare is John, and he remembers the EWH participants from last year (shout-out to OTGC Maddy) which is nice. John is really cool, and he loves to take pictures with us. We spent most of our day touring the hospital, but we still had time to fix an oxygen concentrator and a surgical lamp!

John and I.
This picture made the blog because it makes my arm
look big and like I have muscles.

An interesting note about this hospital: almost everyone speaks French??? Thankfully, Richard is the best ever and can speak French pretty well. I mostly sit around while Richard handles all the translating, but my hand-gesture communication is becoming stellar.

Not much else to say here, except that I am excited about the opportunities at Kabutare, and y’all should expect updates on all the equipment we repair!

An Inspirational Note

Toward the end of my stay in Kigali, I became acquainted with the guard who would open the campus gate for me in the morning. His name is Gallican. He spoke English pretty well, and would wait for my roommates and I to walk through the gate so he could talk to us for a while. When he found out we were leaving, he was sad. One of the last conversations I had with Gallican involved him telling me about his life. He explained to me that “life is not good for a young person suffering from poverty” whom⁶ he identified as. I wrote down this next quote on my phone as I was walking away:

“I stay here from morning until evening because I am patient. I have patience and I wait because I have a job and an objective to complete.”

I’ve noticed that the African work ethic is very strong, and I think this quote is evidence of that and applicable to my own life. So, stay in school kids. Set goals for yourself and stay patient and determined until you succeed⁷.

Spades Update

Refer to the last blog post if you don’t know what this is…

G&P - 2378

B&S - 3015

Told y’all a comeback was in the makin’.

Peter, Gaby, Sav, and I - the Spades Squad.
Gaby and Savannah have to read my blog now
because I included a picture of them.

The Last Paragraph

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted! I am doing well, and this trip is more incredible that I could’ve hoped. As always, feel free to message me over the internet. Friday, Monday, and Tuesday are actually all public holidays here in Rwanda, so I plan to travel this weekend! Undoubtedly, I’ll have more adventures and equipment repairs to update y’all on next week. ‘Till next time!

“By definition, Faith is not talking or thinking about or even celebrating god’s truth. It is the process of adapting your behavior, your decisions, and ultimately, your whole lifestyle so that it accords with what god has asked you to do – without needing to see the evidence that it will all work out in the end.” – my friend Kelly’s bible study⁸

-Bryan

¹Also, it’s a precisely-measured -680 degrees Celsius.

²Future employers? Please? I have a nice resume?

³Yes, that is the correct usage of “whom.”

⁴Mom, I’ll use gloves even though I don’t touch anything…

⁵So they did suck… because they didn’t… they sucked by not sucking. But now they do suck.

⁶I’m much less confident on this one.

⁷Insert Shia Lebouf’s “Just Do It.”

⁸Not the best MLA-citation, but y’all should ask Kelly for more information!

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.

Blue Sky Safaris The Eye Can See

Howdy, y'all.

I apologize for not posting anything for the past 10 days or so! I was pretty busy this weekend due to reasons I will explain in this post...

School

... is great! I attended class as usual last Monday and Tuesday. Learning Kinyarwanda is pretty difficult, but I know enough conversational words to accomplish various simple tasks. A few examples:

• Mwaramutse* (good morning)
• Amakuru? (how's it going?)
• Bangahe? (how much is it? - referring to money)
• Mu mugi (into town - used for buses)
• Ndagerageza kwiga ikinyarwanda** (I am trying to learn Kinyarwanda)
• Ndi umuzungo*** (I am a white person)
• Ikinyenzi (cockroach)

As you can see, I have the important bases covered.

I may not be able to speak other languages, but I can take a great Snapchat

inka = cow | inkoko = chicken
(some class days are slower than others)

Something new we started last week in language class was.... another language! As of last Wednesday, we now have French class from 10-12 directly following Kinyarwanda. Thankfully, French class only happens on Wednesdays and Fridays. Je suis mauvais en français****.

Aside from language class, technical lecture/lab is going very well! We have built an LED flashlight, a variable power supply, and an ECG tester. Also, no explosions!! Additionally, we had our first hospital visit last Thursday. We toured the Kibagabaga Hospital near Kigali. This hospital was significantly different from anything I've seen. The hospital was very flat, spread-out, and open to the environment. Luckily, the weather is amazing here, so the cool, sunny days are undoubtedly good for the patients' well-being. After spending the first half of the day touring, we were introduced to the maintenance department where we spent a few hours working on broken oxygen concentrators. The most notable thing about medical equipment maintenance is that there is a severe lack of spare parts. Many groups of students found that, although they knew how to fix a specific piece of equipment, the hospital did not possess the appropriate parts. Thus, much of the equipment remains in disrepair.

Outside of Class

During the week, we usually have a lot of free time. We spend the time going out to eat, singing karaoke (!!!) exploring the city, chasing some cows which wandered through campus, and - lately - playing very competitive rounds of a card game called Spades.

At restaurants, I can expect to receive far more attention than back home. For example, a group of us went to a food court downtown. Immediately after arriving, we were literally swarmed by waiters, each begging us to order food from his restaurant. I've never felt so special :]

Spoiler alert: Peter and Jeff ordered from
the waiter wearing a red shirt.

Also, church is still awesome! Sunday, we went back to Christian Life Assembly where we visited the first weekend. The message was about focusing on what you have, rather than what you have lost. You should always seek to do the most good with what you have.

The Safari

So, I got to check off "African safari" from my bucket list. Saturday morning at 5AM, we were picked up by a couple of jeeps and driven to Akagera National Park. Y'all know what a safari is, so there's not much for me to explain here. Unfortunately, neither pictures nor words could ever capture this experience. It was truly one of the coolest and most beautiful things I have ever done. 

Nevertheless, I've included some pictures. I must fill my quota of funny captions.

Peter and I realize the importance of packing a safari hat
specifically for a safari.

I posted this on Instagram. Go like it.

The lack of puns was giraffing me crazy.

Look how much my "gig" has improved.

I am secretly a photographer for National Geographic.

This one was, in fact, black with white stripes.

Flat tire. Not sure what the giant log was for. By the
looks of it, our driver (and repairman) doesn't know either.

PB&J lunch squad ft. Gaby (left) and Savannah

Hungry Hungry Hippos
"One once chased me up a tree." - James, our driver

The Move

Why was I busy on Sunday? I'm glad you asked. Much to my surprise, my home-stay family moved to a different house on Sunday. Apparently, construction was going to require the demolition of their old house. Thus, I spent much of Sunday packing up my stuff and staying out of the way. Unfortunately, I stayed too out of the way because around 6PM I was headed home from town when I realized that I had no idea where home was...

Upon finding the new house several hours later, I was excited to find out that the house is much bigger and generally nicer! The downside: it's a thirty minute walk from campus. The upside: the cockroaches made the move with us :] Also, my home-stay family is great and has been more than willing to help us out with directions; they even offer to drive us to class.

In Memoriam Ikinyenzi #477

That's All Folks

Stay tuned for more updates! I have another hospital visit tomorrow, and I will be going on a volcano hike this weekend!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

-Bryan

*This literally translates to "I am glad you survived the night." I find it very interesting how culture shapes the language here.
**Pronunciation tip for Kinyarwanda: add random "g" sounds whenever you see a "w." That's what I do.
***People call me umuzungo on the streets all the time. It's not meant to be offensive though; it has a connotation of importance. At least, that's what our teacher tells us...
****"I'm bad at French." - courtesy of Google Translate