Eyes on Inshuti

            I arrived in Rwanda on January 7^th, 2018 around 3pm after three excruciatingly long, exhausting, beautiful travel days due to “inclement weather,” i.e. the worst winter storm in the history of New York. I stepped off the plane and walked from the exiting steps of disembarking toward the bus waiting to take us approximately ten feet to the entrance of the airport. I was hugged by warm air and kissed by the sun upon my cheeks. I smiled and looked upward at the sky and my surroundings as my eyes fell upon vast green mountains and a huge urban city tinged reddish orange from the clay in the soil. I paid for my visa, exchanged some money, got a sim card for my phone, and hopped in a light blue taxi which would drop us at Discover Rwanda hostel.

            First impressions are crucial, and the ride to the hostel was an impeccable first impression of Rwanda. The roads were paved so our ride was smooth, I could smell the fresh air mixed with the oil and fuel from the surrounding urban life, buildings and architecture were all well designed and thought through in a meticulous way, I could even tell there had been significant thought put into the landscaping design of every place we passed. Motorcycles raced passed our taxi inches from my window as this form of transport is the most popular for the hilly terrain. I could tell there was already a huge difference between here and The Gambia. I know I should not compare but The Gambia is really my only other point of reference for travel in Sub-Saharan Africa, so naturally what I use to compare. Rwanda is clearly more developed in many areas and their vision for the future and their growth plan is incredible.

            When I arrived at the hostel I met many old “Inshuti” there. Inshuti means friends, so I find it very fitting it is the first word I learned in Kinyarwandan, the most common language spoken in Rwanda. If felt so good to reconnect with friends and finally be all together as a cohort. We spent the evening enjoying delicious food, discussing our travel woes, laughing, and sharing our excitement around being in Rwanda to learn about something we are all so passionate about: Design, partnering, management, and innovation with the hopes of completing our certificate in International Development and Social Change.  

            The following morning, Monday, we were picked up in a small shuttle bus, or for those of you who were in Peace Corps The Gambia, a coaster. Our luggage took up the entire back row and we had quite a cozy ride next to one another for the next two and a half hours up to Rwinkwavu, the village we would be spending the following two weeks. The scenery on our travels was breathtaking, my pictures, blog, and even memories can barely do it justice, sadly, you just had to be there. We arrived at the Partners in Health campus and quickly unpacked our things eager to jump into learning. For those of you who have no idea what I am doing here, here is a brief description of what I hope comes of my training (taken directly from the syllabus):

            The aim of DPMI is to explore how social change happens. In this certification

program, we will explore the role of social change in health education, behaviors, and outcomes

through a partnership with Partners in Health / Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB) in Rwinkwavu, Rwanda. DPMI blends classroom instruction, field visits, team-designed projects for a client organization (IMB), and readings to give program participants an in-depth understanding of the complexities of designing, delivering and monitoring projects that address the health, education and gender-related challenges faced by many developing countries. Master’s students and professionals work side-by-side to design innovative solutions that address local priorities identified by the internationally acclaimed organization, Partners in Health. Participants will gain skills in fostering participatory development, leading change, measuring progress, crafting social marketing campaigns, and communicating results with monitoring data.

During our first class in the afternoon Dr. Joel Mubiligi the Deputy Chief Medical Officer here gave an overview of Partners in Health or Inshuti Mu Buzima, again Inshuti comes up in another form for friends in health. Partners in Health is an international health care organization that is relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. They build local capacity and work closely with impoverished communities in twelve countries to deliver high quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. PIH launched in 2005 in Rwanda and now has 40 facilities since their launch date. He discussed how critical the work is they do, but the most important concept I took away from his speech was this, “In our work- We must do whatever it takes, never say “it’s not my job, or that’s not my fault.” This truly resonated with me because I believe, for a lot of us in this field, we feel so strongly about this philosophy, and it is why I do what I do.

We then picked our group topics. We were to rank our top choices from one to three so I ranked mine as follows because of my previous experience:

1.     Maternal Health

2.     Nutrition for Children Under 5

3.     Non-Communicable Diseases

I was put into my third-choice group, Non-Communicable Diseases with five other members. Our goal as a team is to create a product or campaign that is useable for Partners in Health surrounding our topic. I have already learned an immense amount regarding this topic and how to begin the process of designing a strategy. Tomorrow we will head out for field work and interview some families who are affected by NCDs to try and better understand the situation here in Rwanda.

I am so overwhelmed with a feeling of deep gratitude for having yet another opportunity to work hands-on in my dream career. The privilege I have to be working alongside my colleagues and trained professionals in my field cannot be overlooked at any point. I chose Eyes on Inshuti as my blog title for this entry because it is the first word I learned in the language of Rwanda, Inshuti have been such a huge part of my life, and each day I am here I am making new Inshuti, and I look forward to seeing how Inshuti will affect my life in the future. So a question I now pose to you as my reader is, what does Inshuti mean to you? I am trying to give you a taste of my experience, but also I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback as well. Please feel free to comment about what you would like to hear about, or know about Rwanda, and if you have any other specific questions for me regarding my work here I am happy to oblige.

Murakoze (Thank you)