Rwanda |
Summer Institute |
The Summer Institutes are held every year in 3 countries: Nicaragua, Tanzania and Rwanda for 9 weeks. Two RIT students have participated in the Summer Institute in Rwanda, in different years. Interesting fact: the year our second student went to Rwanda (2014) was the 20th anniversary of the genocide in the country. Lots of progress had been made but there was still a long way to go.
Preparation
The Summer Institutes are 9 weeks long. This means preparation for hospital work is done in the country. For the Rwanda program, prep classes are taught for the first month in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and include culture, language and troubleshooting lessons. Kinyarwandan is the native language of Rwanda and is most common, along with French, even though English became the national language in 2010. Students had 4 days of 4 hours of Kinyarwandan lessons and 4 hours of French lessons. The afternoons were spent learning the technical skills needed in the hospital.
Working in the Hospitals
Students started in a teaching hospital with arguably nice facilities but lots of broken equipment just waiting to be fixed. Students also had the opportunity to work in a military hospital which was a EWH Center of Excellence, which meant it had to meet certain standards. These early days were spent giving students the practical experience of troubleshooting and fixing devices before they went into new hospitals.
Rwanda's doctors have to complete their residency outside of Rwanda. This led to a push to develop infrastructure to train doctors within the country. Rwanda has about 12 million people and only 600 doctors. That is a 1:2000 doctor patient ratio!
After training in Kigali for 4 weeks, the students were sent out in small groups to new hospitals, villages and host families throughout the country for the remainder of the trip. Some of the hospitals were in very rural areas. They faced new struggles from not knowing anyone to travel to the city to buy a 9V battery.
One of the big struggles was facing the problem you could not fix. In the developing country, there are plenty of those problems which are so simple in the United States but impossibly hard when you do not have the resources.
Rwanda's doctors have to complete their residency outside of Rwanda. This led to a push to develop infrastructure to train doctors within the country. Rwanda has about 12 million people and only 600 doctors. That is a 1:2000 doctor patient ratio!
After training in Kigali for 4 weeks, the students were sent out in small groups to new hospitals, villages and host families throughout the country for the remainder of the trip. Some of the hospitals were in very rural areas. They faced new struggles from not knowing anyone to travel to the city to buy a 9V battery.
One of the big struggles was facing the problem you could not fix. In the developing country, there are plenty of those problems which are so simple in the United States but impossibly hard when you do not have the resources.
Equipment
- Dentistry chair
- Suction machine
- Patient monitor
- Oxygen concentrator
- Fetal monitor
- Delivery chair
- Documentation: Equipment replacement plan
- Otoscope
Social Interactions
During the first part of their trip, students were living in small groups with host families on the campus of the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC). While the students were not in class, being on campus gave them the opportunity to play, and lose, some games of basketball with the students at IPRC. They also got played some futbol (soccer), which was a local favorite.
Other Experiences
Muganda, reconciliation in English, is a big deal in Rwanda, especially after the 1994 genocide. Since then, the last Saturday of every month is dedicated to muganda and coming together to complete a task to benefit the community. Students got the opportunity to take part in the village project of constructing homes which led to some of them getting down and dirty in the mud pits to help make bricks.
One of the day trips planned by EWH was to the Millenium Village in Rwanda of Mayange. Prior to going, most of the students did not know much about the Millenium Village program. The goal of the program was to achieve certain education, health, gender equality and environmental sustainability within 10 years of its initiation. Since the start of the initiative in 2006, Mayange has built several schools, improved their local health clinic and established multiple cooperatives.
One of the day trips planned by EWH was to the Millenium Village in Rwanda of Mayange. Prior to going, most of the students did not know much about the Millenium Village program. The goal of the program was to achieve certain education, health, gender equality and environmental sustainability within 10 years of its initiation. Since the start of the initiative in 2006, Mayange has built several schools, improved their local health clinic and established multiple cooperatives.
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Laura Alderfer
Laura Alderfer