The Dirty South: Rwanda Edition!

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This week we found out our site placements, so where we will be moving to after we are officially sworn in as volunteers at the end of August! I'll be living in the Southern Province near the Burundi border in the Gisagara district  in a sector called Gikonko. I'll be working at the Gikonko Health Center and my primary job assignment will be to create programs to teach children and pregnant mothers life skills. Additionally my assignment focuses on assisting the community with hygiene, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. I'll be living in a village called Rugarama.  I am less than 3 hours away from Kigali- a 2 hour bus ride to Butare and then about a 45 minute moto ride to my village from Butare. Butare is the closest big town to me. This is where I'll be going to get the foods/ supplies that I can't find in my sector. Rumor has it that Butare has the best (and 1 of only 2)  Chinese food and ice cream places in the country!



Although I was at first apprehensive about being in the South because it is a lot further away then most of our volunteer group, after hearing more about the district from a current volunteer in Gisagara I'm very excited about moving there. I'm especially glad that my job description is tailored to what I expressed interest in in terms of maternal and child health and youth development. I'm hoping that focusing on that area with my health center will also help me incorporate youth related groups and clubs as a possible secondary project in my community.

 From Wednesday-Saturday we visit our sites, where we get to explore our villages and health centers, get as much information we can about our future homes, and meet the current volunteers in our regions!

Until next time!

Vanessa

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 9, 2014 at 5:06 PM

    We miss you VDC! Its great to see all of the important and exciting work that are doing and will do!
    Take care,
    Perry

    ReplyDelete

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