Friday, April 13, 2007
Home Base
Ok, so it hasn't been all work. I managed to get home long enough to find a home! Brick, great neighborhood, Dakota loves it. She uses more rooms than I do.
Yes it is still this empty, but who really needs furniture?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Muraho from Rwanda
Hey Luci,
I finally have Internet connection so I thought I would drop you and Emily a brief hello.
I feel like I have been all over this country since arriving. I started by flying to the west, right on the border with Congo to review new clinics we will be assisting this year. I drove back, what took 30 minutes by air was 6 hours by road. It was a beautiful drive, but this country is so juxtaposed. The tension is very close to the surface. I stopped at a memorial for
the genocide on the way back, I was not as prepared as I had thought. I'm sending you some pictures, the one of the little girl standing on the wall was taken right next to school that had been turned into the memorial. I was standing in a room full of bodies and could hear the laughter of children playing just outside. It was truly affecting, chilling really.
You can also see happier things, one of the villages I was working in right before the rains come, the landscape, some kids who followed me everywhere and got into trouble with their teacher when they were going to be late for class, and one of me with the clinic team I was working with.
I then went to the north near the Ugandan border where we have two clinics. It was a lot of work but lovely. The country is the most densely populated in all of Africa, and you can feel that and see that as you make your way through. There are people everywhere, even in remote villages, and every square inch is cultivated. They call Rwanda the land of 1000 hills and it is true, everything is on the side of a mountain.
I have learned some Kirwandan which goes over big with the kids because it makes them laugh to see a white person (mzungu) speak their language, and the adults like it and try and teach me more or think I am fluent and launch into long conversations during which I smile and nod, smile and nod and try and explain that I don't understand.
As hard as this country is to be in, the trials are going on right now as to whether the french participated, and every other day there seems to be a gacaca (village trial of genocidiers), I fall more and more in love with this continent. The people, the way of life...I really could live here I think.
Well, I have some work to do while I have connection with the outside world. But I wanted you both to know I was thinking of you. I can't wait to be here with you both someday!
Love,
Kik
I finally have Internet connection so I thought I would drop you and Emily a brief hello.
I feel like I have been all over this country since arriving. I started by flying to the west, right on the border with Congo to review new clinics we will be assisting this year. I drove back, what took 30 minutes by air was 6 hours by road. It was a beautiful drive, but this country is so juxtaposed. The tension is very close to the surface. I stopped at a memorial for
the genocide on the way back, I was not as prepared as I had thought. I'm sending you some pictures, the one of the little girl standing on the wall was taken right next to school that had been turned into the memorial. I was standing in a room full of bodies and could hear the laughter of children playing just outside. It was truly affecting, chilling really.You can also see happier things, one of the villages I was working in right before the rains come, the landscape, some kids who followed me everywhere and got into trouble with their teacher when they were going to be late for class, and one of me with the clinic team I was working with.
I then went to the north near the Ugandan border where we have two clinics. It was a lot of work but lovely. The country is the most densely populated in all of Africa, and you can feel that and see that as you make your way through. There are people everywhere, even in remote villages, and every square inch is cultivated. They call Rwanda the land of 1000 hills and it is true, everything is on the side of a mountain.
I have learned some Kirwandan which goes over big with the kids because it makes them laugh to see a white person (mzungu) speak their language, and the adults like it and try and teach me more or think I am fluent and launch into long conversations during which I smile and nod, smile and nod and try and explain that I don't understand.
As hard as this country is to be in, the trials are going on right now as to whether the french participated, and every other day there seems to be a gacaca (village trial of genocidiers), I fall more and more in love with this continent. The people, the way of life...I really could live here I think.
Well, I have some work to do while I have connection with the outside world. But I wanted you both to know I was thinking of you. I can't wait to be here with you both someday!
Love,
Kik
Random
So, looking through pictures and e-mails and my journal. This blog is going to be very disordered for a bit until I catch up with present day. The work stuff is easiest to do first I think so next is the e-mail that kicked off this crazy idea of documenting my travels on this blog.
Getting Started
Ok, so the 2nd post was not quite as imminent as I first expected. Best laid plans and all of that. Mostly, I'm not quite sure where to begin. A little history maybe...before embarking on my current career I had only left the United States for three other destinations. First one was Italy, all the way back when I was 16 to study, and then not again until my very late 20's (ok, maybe I was 30) did I venture to Canada. A couple of trips to Montreal (one Montreal trip was just to go back to the best restaurant I've ever eaten at, Restaurant YoYo http://www.restoyoyo.com/) was it for my travel experience. Then, finally, back to Europe for an amazing trip to Paris. Always best to see it with a native. I absolutely fell in love with traveling, and Paris of course.
And then it started, really started. In the past 2 1/2 years I have been to the following places, a couple of times; Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Well, there and a lot of airports in Europe. Luci and Emily get these long rambling e-mails from me and they thought I should put them up on a blog (which they had to explain to me was short for a web log, nifty). Since they will probably be the only two people to ever read this, outside of my immediate family I'd think, these posts will probably be a series of letters to them. So here we go ladies, in no particular order of importance or relevance I will begin posting...
And then it started, really started. In the past 2 1/2 years I have been to the following places, a couple of times; Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Well, there and a lot of airports in Europe. Luci and Emily get these long rambling e-mails from me and they thought I should put them up on a blog (which they had to explain to me was short for a web log, nifty). Since they will probably be the only two people to ever read this, outside of my immediate family I'd think, these posts will probably be a series of letters to them. So here we go ladies, in no particular order of importance or relevance I will begin posting...
Not just another small woodland creature
No, this is not a picture of me. But it is one of the pretty cool things I've gotten to see recently. This beautiful teenager was not waving hello. We were right in the middle of his kitchen. After moving down river a bit he was content to show off. I had no idea elephants washed their food before they ate it, but sure enough he would pull out large clumps of grass and then run it back and forth through the water before putting it in his mouth.
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