Well, it has been a while. When I first sat down to write this, I reflected on my last post and noticed the time stamp: October 29. Whoops. So buckle up, this will be a long one.

My least favorite day of the year, Halloween, came and went without a hitch and suddenly I was into November. This meant three things: the conference in Kigali, Thanksgiving, and the halfway point in my fellowship. On the 17th of every month I find it extremely difficult to believe how long I have been here. Time moves incredibly differently here than in the US. Despite the relaxed pace of life, the weeks and months have blurred smoothly in my mind. Days can be slow if the students are in school and the clinic doesn’t have many patients but the time is flying by. I am sure that much of this can be attributed to the differences in seasons.

Living in Massachusetts, I am familiar with four distinct seasons and have associated those with certain days and gatherings. Easter is normally a bit brisk, and sometimes wet. Fourth of July is HOT, the weather on Thanksgiving changes yearly, and Christmas is cold and, sometimes, snowy. Here, there are two seasons: dry and rainy. Although we are currently in rainy season, the temperature is warm compared to what I am used to this time of the year. I love the climate here (sorry to everyone at home bombarded with two feet of snow), but it has made it difficult for me to keep track of time. Time, to a certain extent, has gotten away from me here: I have four months remaining in my fellowship and I am grappling with all of the things I want to do before April, both professionally and personally.

The professional experience that I had been most looking forward to since early on in my fellowship was the Women Leaders in Global Health Conference (WLGHC) held in Kigali, Rwanda. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. On Thursday, November 7th, I travelled on an overnight bus to Kigali, Rwanda with one of Engeye’s lovely lab technicians, Hanifah, who attended the conference with me. After a sleepless night complete with a three-hour stop at the border, we arrived in Kigali mid-morning on Friday. From the moment we reached Kigali, I couldn’t help but notice the visible and audible differences between Rwanda and Uganda. For one, Kigali is the cleanest city that I have ever been to. Not just in Africa, but globally. I had friends tell me that Kigali was clean but I never thought it would be spotless.

Given the recent history of Rwanda, (https://www.history.com/topics/africa/rwandan-genocide) I don’t think I really knew what to expect. Only 25 years ago, Rwanda was a nation in turmoil. Now, it is thriving. The infrastructure and organization of the city is amazing and public officials have made incredible strides in improving the health and equity of women. Throughout the city, the main form of transportation is boda, or moto in Kinyarwanda. Bodas in Kigali are – and I can’t emphasize this enough – so much safer than in Uganda. There, it is illegal to have more than two people on the boda, the driver and a single passenger. Oh, and both are required to wear helmets (what a concept!). In Uganda, anything goes on a boda, literally. I recommend you check out a comical post by 2018-2019 Minerva Fellow Matt Liquori, that perfectly illustrates what I am talking about (https://mattliquoricom.wordpress.com/2019/04/01/the-boda-boda/). Thursday, on our way home from outreach, we passed a boda carrying six, yes six, people. One of them was a small child, but still!

Two incredibly safe boda rides later, we arrived at our hostel, washed up, and explored the city. For me, the highlight of our whirlwind tour was the Genocide Memorial Museum. This beautifully done, thought provoking exhibition detailed the realities of Rwanda’s recent history. If you ever find yourself in the Kigali area, this is a must-see. Not only did it highlight Rwanda’s national history, but those of “forgotten genocides” as well. I was a bit surprised and horrified at the fact that these were never a part of my high school curriculum. I suppose we were too concerned learning about the American Revolution for the 6th year in a row (thanks AP US History) to focus on the global atrocities that took place in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bangladesh, to name a few.

The afternoon was somber but gave me a much greater understanding of and appreciation for the dramatic changes that Rwanda has made, particularly concerning the rights of women and underrepresented groups. With my excitement for the conference at an all-time high, I went to bed embarrassingly early, exhausted after the travel of the night before. A 20-minute walk from our hostel, the Kigali Conference Center stands in the middle of downtown. Its a funky looking building. Shaped like a beehive, I personally think it is pretty ugly during the daytime, but at night it is beautifully lit, making it much more appealing to the eye.

The conference itself had over 1,000 attendees, mostly women, traveling from 86 countries. Often times, when discussing issues in the global health of women, we don’t give the necessary players a seat at the table – WLGHC did. I heard from community health workers in Ethiopia and India on their work in rural regions, leaders in the field like Paul Farmer, and visionaries such as Camara Jones and Senait Fisseha. I attended panels on the effect of climate change on women in developing nations, the health of women living in conflict and crisis, and gender inequalities in access to health education, among four others. This conference only reassured that global health is my passion, particularly regarding the health equity of women. I left Rwanda empowered, with a new perception on health, some new LinkedIn connections, and some new pairs of earrings thanks to Abraham Konga.

We arrived back in Ddegeya around 4:00am on a Monday morning. Getting back into my routine, I nearly forgot that Thanksgiving was approaching. Thankfully, about two weeks before the big day, my friends asked if I was planning to have a Thanksgiving celebration. As someone with a “take it or leave it” opinion on turkey, I was thrilled to have the chance to eat something different on the traditionally turkey-filled day. So, I chose my Ugandan favorite, goat. I bought a goat, and it was a tasty goat. It arrived the Sunday before Thanksgiving on a boda and was incredibly loud and annoying for the five days leading up to “the end” despite having room to roam and being properly cared for. I wonder if it subconsciously knew what was coming.

All afternoon Thursday we worked on the…preparations (I’ll spare you the photos – my Mom was horrified). After hours of work and cooking, the Thanksgiving dinner turned into a Thanksgiving party of 25, complete with goat, chips, cabbage, two crates of beer, soda, music, and dancing. The celebration continued until midnight, marking the best Ugandan Thanksgiving I could have possibly asked for. I can’t thank my Ugandan family enough for all of the work they put in to make sure that my Thanksgiving was everything that I could have asked for.

I will admit that Thanksgiving was the day that I was most worried about when I started my fellowship. There’s something special about family and generosity that comes out and I was nervous that I would feel isolated or lonely since it is an American celebrated holiday. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Now, as I look toward Christmas, I know I will miss my family and our traditions, but I am so excited to experience it in a new light.

Leading up to Christmas and during the month of January, our Scholars are home from school. In the past, Minerva Fellows have done awesome workshops and innovation camps with the students to promote entrepreneurship and career building. With little knowledge of entrepreneurial endeavors but the mind of a sociologist, I chose to take my program a different route. I am calling it “Social Problems and Computer Literacy.” During the next month and a half, I will aim to provide Scholars with an opportunity to think critically about the social problems faced in Ddegeya and implement community-level solutions through research, innovation, and evaluation. Regarding computer literacy, the students will be introduced to valuable computer skills that will assist them in their projects such as internet research, identification of reliable sources, and use of programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Currently, we have access to one laptop – mine. Although we can make it work for the next month and a half, it is my hope that moving forward, the Scholars will have access to laptops or tablets to allow for more individualized learning and practice. Technology is the future of education and business and I believe that access to these resources will provide our Scholars with the confidence to move forward in the world, powerfully. If you or anyone you know purchased a new laptop or tablet this Black Friday or Cyber Monday, I ask that you please consider donating the old device to this cause. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me via email or Facebook for details and logistics!!

I have a feeling that the last four months of my fellowship are going to pass even more quickly than the first five. I have friends, I have a routine, I have goals, and I want to make the most of it all. In January, February, and March, we will be hosting visiting medical teams for two weeks each. Although I am so excited to see some familiar faces, I am wishing I had more time. So far, Uganda has taught me a lot about myself. I have learned an incredible amount in the clinic, had the opportunity to see three deliveries (if I know one thing for sure, I will not become an OBGYN), and realized that I can live very comfortably in a much different setting that I am used to, with the cold showers as an exception. There’s nothing quite like having to listen to the “Walk Like a Badass” playlist on Spotify in order to muster up the courage to get in the shower at 6:30 in the morning.

Until next time,

I promise it won’t be another month and a half (sorry Michelle!)