Out-takes

Dear Folks:

This is the last posting-we decided to treat ourselves tonight and stay at the Serena Hotel where we can wake up to a wonderful breakfast and spend the day relaxing. It sounds decadent but really it is so neccesary to decompress before long flight.

For the last post thought it would be nice to put some memorable moments up. Last night we hosted Paulin and his family with his lovely kids and we played dressup with the OR greens that we had stored at the apartment.

We played hide and seek, and had crayons. There were squeals of laughter, and Paulin layed down on the floor while the kids tried to resuscitate him!!

Louise has been trying to take pictures of bicycles and so here is the

ultimate shot of chickens-some alive, some dead. It is incredible how important bikes are for survival-used for transporting everything from bananas to water. Some towns you cannot get married unless you own your own bicycle and of course pay the parents of the bride with a ceremonial cow.

Then there is Theogene our wonderful driver-we spent many special moments with him, including Louise changing out of her wet pants in his back seat, as he covered his eyes in the front seat-(very shy). These white women have no modesty.

As you can see we have been hugging people and have been embraced in return. We have been so enriched by this experience. We will be coming back as better people. having gained much more than given by our stay in Rwanda.

Love Jennifer, Louise and Lynn

We well see you soon. I think we have all learned a lot about many important things in life, the meaning of family, and supporting each other.

winding up

Well we are in to the last few days of our stay. The traditional going away dinner occurred last night which also coincided with the welcoming of 3 new residents into the program-Gaston, Eustache, and Benjamin.

Speaches were made including a speach given by Jennifer in Kinya Rwandan which Theogene our driver helped me prepare. The sentiment was right -although the words were very scrambled.

Lynn and Louise had a very good meeting with the CHUK pain management committee and are preparing for their grand finale-on Thursday which is a pain symposium, for nurses and doctors, where Perpetua and the hospital pharmacisit will participate.

Monday-was the last teaching day, and I gave the residents their exam which they did fairly well on-. Now it is just a matter of filling out their evaluations and marking the exam.

We have confirmed out tickets home

Perhaps there will be one more blog to come. I think the three of us are ready to come home-.

See you soon

Love Jennifer, Louise and Lynn

Heaven exists in a corner of Rwanda

Dear Folks

I am sure there are many heavens, but for sure one of them exists in the corner of Rwanda where we spent the week end.

Our wonderful Rwandan friend Theogene has been our chauffeur, guide, mentor and support . Our bumpy and adventure filled ride through Akagera park is over but the sights and sounds of Africa can't be erased. We saw impala, zebra , giraffe, water bucks, buffalo, baboons, wart hogs, topi, and were very fortunate to see elephants . The plain teemed with wildlife , and the trees were filled with too many species of birds to remember.

Then we got the flat tire...........and the skies opened..Technically you aren't supposed to exit the car because of the animals ,but they ignored us long enough for Theogene, our guide Tito, and a bus driver who happened along to replace the tire, then we resumed our trek on a deeply rutted, soggy road blocked by trees uprooted by elephants. There is a solitary male elephant( Mutare-which means chief) the guide was praying we would avoid. (He is known for charging the cars. )That wish came true . The elephants we saw ignored us completely. No one was insulted.

The hotel was a sanctuary......with comfortable clean rooms , a BATHTUB!!!! , and a lovely out door eating area where the night sounds were magical. The very early morning was filled with mystical , haunting calls, and a haze over the lake left the divisions between land, water and sky unclear. I think we have been so busy that the opportunity to stop , savour and wonder is a gift , and one we used to full advantage .

We had a very charming and engaging waiter at dinner and breakfast who delighted in teaching us Kinyarwndan , and took great care of us as his welcome guests. This is the Rwandan way, and we could take some important lessons from their attention to people around them , their politeness and respect. We may be strangers in a foreign land but care is always given to ensure we are made welcome. In fact whenever we thank someone they say" YOU are welcome "in the most heartwarming way , with the emphasis on'YOU".

I stepped out onto my balcony at around 630 AM to savour the view, when I looked up into the face of a very large and curious male baboon, hanging like an African gargoyle off the roof of our room.Rapid re entry . That's when the lizard ran over my foot!

We booked a boat to see hippos , crocodiles and birds. The sky was looking ominously dark in the distance so we went back for our rain gear. If we thought we had a deluge on Saturday , this was Armageddon. The sky turned completely black , the wind whipped up big waves and the sky opened. Remember this is the place for hippos and crocodiles! We were soaked to the skin, our faces stung by the horizontal rain, with thunder and lightening surrounding the boat. Our guide thought he could outrun the storm in his little metal boat . ( Oh what fools we mortals be!)

Then it stopped just as suddenly as it started, after turning the red dirt road out of the park into a river. Enough drama for one day ......we thought. The drunk looking motor bike with 2 helmetless idiots weaving along the road in front of us ploughed face first into the back of a truck ahead of them , and fell over. Both men stood up ( thankfully) looking dazed, blaming the truck driver for braking too quickly! Jennifer , still soaking wet in the front seat had been watching with growing dread in anticipation of what was coming. Yes, she has the gift of prophecy . Who knew?

Anyway folks, we are firming up our final days' agendas, writing our reports and will spend next week end travelling again. Enjoy the photos .

From Jennifer, Louise and me......see you all soon.

Fun time at the Credo Hotel and Multimodal Wake UP Management

Hi to everyone!

We are in Butare again , with 80 degree temps, sunny sky and plenty of activity, Our driver Joseph and the hotel staff welcomed us back as if we were long lost friends. Hotel Credo, ( Jennifer writes)- is a special hotel-possibly 0.5 stars, with one very frightened black rodent cowering in a corner after Lynn let out an amazing cry when encountering it in a hallway-I now carry my umbrella as a weapon. A notice in the bathroom reads as follows: Notice: Credo Hotel Management would like to remind its esteemed guests that it is strictly forbidden to use towels to clean shoes or dirty legs. Musungo ( a white person) have been known to have seizures in the bathroom due to the flickering neon light. However the goat brochettes are excellent! We have 2 towels for three people as one is stuffed under the door as a bunger for rat invasion as well as mosquitos. Louise has chosen to sleep with Lynn-(I am upset-Jennifer again).

However now that I see Louise wearing her nasal expanders to prevent snoring I am somewhat mollified by this. (again Jennifer)) Terry you lucky man you.

Patients and staff at the hospital stop to extend their hands , ask our names introduce themselves and find words of welcome in a mix of French, English and Kinyanrwandan .

Our work has included teaching pain assessment to surgical nurses and a dinner journal club for the residents hosted by Jennifer pool side at the Credo Hotel.

The residents are very engaged, working hard on English, supportive of each other , interesting and varied backgrounds.

Our message of multi modal pain therapy has an interesting echo in the Butare style of wake up call .At 4 AM the adjacent mosque calls believers to prayer on a PA system, repeated at 5 AM for stragglers. Not to be outdone the now wide awake rooster starts his unrelenting serenade, then the cell phone alarm sounds at 630..to the strains of the Mission Impossible scheme . By the time our coffee receptors are saturated we have been awake for hours.

We say good bye to Butare tomorrow afternoon and will head for Akagera game reserve on Saturday. By Monday Louise, Jennifer and I are all heading separate ways with community hospice, hospital based teaching and committees, OR and preparing for a public lecture. We are into the home stretch and see you all soon.

Love Lynn, Louise and Jennifer

Journal Club By Candlelight

Dear Folks-true to schedule the power went out in the midst of journal club tonight at our apartment-and so a romantic tone was set to a lively evening of discussion of morphine usage. The residents came over after work, snacked and then got down to some serious discussion about the barriers that exist in treating pain in Rwanda. Bona calls himself MORPHINE MAN, and Christian was wearing a t-shirt that said Jesus. On top of that we are going to a restaurant next week called Heaven for our farewell dinner.

As a very touching finale to the evening speeches were made paying tribute to Justin-who all agreed has been an amazing teacher. Justin responded in with a heartfelt tribute to the residents, who work incredibly hard under very difficult conditions with little in the way of supplies and supervision.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Butare again-a 2 and a half hour drive from Kigali-and Lynn will be writing the next blog-regarding one of her pet beefs-which we will be experiencing at 0500 and 0600 in the Credo Hotel.

Take care folks

Love

J

I am handing over to Lynn-who has a particular beef to get off her chest-

So on to Lynn

Nyungwe Forrest

Once again I have been coerced into writing the weekender blog. This time I am locked in the car on the way back from Nyungwe National Park. I have promised that this blog would not be used embarrass anyone. For instance, I could write about how on a crisp Saturday morning on our way to take a tour of a local tea factory Jennifer announced to everyone that it was she and not the hotel staff that had cleaned all the monkey poo out of the bathroom that morning.

I could also tell you about how Louise thought it was a good idea to exit her room holding a banana in front of her with a troup of monkeys waiting outside the door. And then tell you that she was surprised when one came and grabbed it out of her hand.

I could describe the sound of the laughter emanating from the backseat as three grown women spent the ride over from the tea factory to our canopy walk swapping stories about male genitalia and muskrats. I could tell you all these things but I am much too mature to give into such childish whims. I could spin tales about the origins and myth of WHITE Jennifer and her reputation amongst various kitchen staff throughout Rwanda. I could try to relate the beauty of the Shepherd’s song and the African magic contained within that made each Inyambo cow pee in succession followed by Louise, Jennifer and myself.

Lastly, I could tell you about the four hour waterfall hike whose final two hours were uphill and the legend of the white tourist who was left behind never to be seen again. They say that amidst the rush of the waterfall you can still hear her crying “Ou est l’acenseur?” I could talk about all these things…. But I won’t. Instead I will tell you about the wonderful hotel we stayed in, the amazing traditional Rwandan dinners served within and beauty of both the canopy walk and the majestic rainforest.
Addendum: I also won’t tell you about the time I could not stop giggling after taking the picture of a monkey who was perched outside Lynn and Louise’s room staring intensely (very intensely mind you!) with the brightest, bluest scrotum I have every seen.

Love Justin

Its not all work!!

Dear folks-in case you thought all we did was work-we hate to inform you that the end of the day in Kigali we can often be seen poolside at the Serena Hotel. We have all joined the spa for 200.00 per month, which is god's gift to help us unwind and clean the grime off after a days work. They also offer amazing massages very cheaply. It really helps rid ourselves of any tensions, and Justin is exercising regularly and has an amazing 6 pack. He has lost at least 10 lbs on this trip due to early morning workouts!!

Of course everywhere we go we have been dogged by power outages-so Louise who always carries her handy headlight saved the day when we were in black out mode in the change rooms-here she is looking like Darth VADER- with headlight and towel.

We are having a lovely time staying in Nyungwe-already have seen monkeys jumping through the trees as we drive through this huge rain forrest. Justin will blog on this tomorrow-the plans for the weekend are a canopy hike and a walk to a waterfall.

Will let you know what animals we come across.

Love to all

J