April in Zambia...and....Paris!!!!! May back in Rwanda, again. And Stateside in June.

April was Lusaka, Zambia for my team retreat. And then Paris for a meeting with WHO and CDC.

Paris was wonderful even though it was busy with meetings and work.

May was back to Rwanda to kick off our mentoring the MOH-TRAC-Plus team.

And June found me home again to meet my new niece! Apparently all my sister needs to go into labor is my getting on a plane. Both Jake and Anna were born while I was flying somewhere in the world.

So welcome Anna Grace!!!!!



All up to date now. I'm home for another week and then on to Tanzania. See you for crabs and birthday fun for M, Morag, and Lynne on Friday.

Love,

k.

Stuck in Entebbe

On my way back from Rwanda, Brussels Airlines had a bit of engine trouble so I got stuck in Entebbe, Uganda...for 3 days. Now I love Uganda, and I'm not going to complain about 3 days on the shore at Lake Victoria. But when you are ready to go home you are ready to go home.

This is the theme music I have now chosen to play on a loop every time I get stuck . This one's for, well...my nephew, my niece, you guys...some others







It was still quite pretty...

But swim at your own risk. As you can see, there are lifeguards available, but...





They had wood stacked for bonfires all over the beach, which would have been lovely had it not been 110 degrees right on the equator!



But cool shells and such kept me occupied while I got my annual March sunburn.

February must mean Rwanda...again.

Hey Luci and M,

So as you know, February and March found me back in Rwanda. This time out in the west. We are supporting the sites in Nyamasheke District right on Lake Kivu bordering Eastern Congo.

There was an earthquake, a big one; 6.0 or so, right before I got there and the aftershocks were indeed interesting. Not being there for the real thing, I found the tremors the weeks I was there plenty to get the idea.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of damage. Western Rwanda gets fairly chilly at night up in the hills, even in their summer time. People, and the hospital, were living and operating out of tents.







The IHV house, aka "Chez Marik" since she has been our only full time team member living in Rwanda is nicely situated overlooking the lake. It was a great place to unwind after full days in the clinics and hospitals. That's Bucavu, Congo off to the left. My visit there is another story...no pictures from that one but walking across the border and making my way through town to meet up with Marik where she was reviewing a hospital was....interesting.



And this is the town of Kemembe were we are based out there.





And that was pretty much it till March. When I came home for a week before heading back to Zambia.

Home for Christmas

So then it was home in time for my first tree in my new house. Dakota was an excellent help with decorating....





And down to VA for Christmas with the nephew, and family of course!




Back in time for Jake's 2nd Birthday!!



And then on the road again...

On to the next clinic...still December

Rwanda is very small, but it takes hours to get from place to place because you have to drive switch back after switch back to get over and around the mountains...land of 1000 hills is very accurate. So a little bit of tarmac...



And then back to those great dirt roads...and kids going to fetch water.



Got lucky with a windless day. This is the new reservoir a Chinese group built to irrigate rice fields.






Back through the banana fields...



and home...



Just kidding, we were in a guest house...buckets outside by 6 am for the hot water to bathe. At least I wasn't sharing the room with 20 racing spiders this time! :)

World AIDS Day 2007

I had the honor of being at Bungwe for World AIDS Day on December 1st. This was my first AIDS Day outside of the US, and it was amazing. No candle light vigil, no sad stories. I think every patient from the clinic and their family, and most of the village came to celebrate life. There was dancing, and singing, and educational skits. I don't have the words for how moving the whole experience was and how humbled I felt to be working with these people hopefully supporting their lives in some small way.

This is the children's support group. They all had new school uniforms made just for the celebration.





There were so many people it was amazing.



This is the support group that is making traditional baskets from world food program sacks for sale in fair trade. If anyone wants one let me know! All the money goes back to the support group for income generation projects.



Just spectacular to have been a part of this special day.

November and December

So it was back to Rwanda in November and December. Out in the field collecting data for the patient level outcomes process.




Typical road shot, lots of people walking. We passed a big market day on the way to one of the clinics and stopped to get some fruit for our final destination.



Rwanda is one of my favorite places for pure scenery value. Being so densely populated, very little land goes unused. So here is a quick shot of hill after hill of terrace farms.



Did I mention we work in really rural sites? I took this walking through the village that surrounds Bungwe clinic just after the rain. The is the mist the gorillas love so much.



And then down into the village.

Getting this up to date....

Hey Luci and M,

So I've had pretty poor bandwidth while traveling since October, and since I'm off for a few days (yeah!); I thought I'd try and catch up the postings....

Here's where I've been more or less since October.



Happy reading and viewing,

K.