A Weekend in Paradise

Well this has been a great weekend in mini America (or as close as I’ll get in the next 2 years). We have been staying at a very nice hotel for 3 nights to have a health conference with all the organizations Peace Corps health group will be working with while in Rwanda. We are staying in a hotel with individual huts with a roommate. But we have hot showers and flushing toilets. It has a swimming pool and what’s even more amazing is that we were actually told there would be a pool and to bring our swim suits. The pool felt so amazing I have been swimming every day at every chance we get. (So about 3 times because there has not been a lot of down time until now). Many people left for their site visits this afternoon. Me and about 10 others leave tomorrow so we get to spend an extra night in this exquisite hotel with free wireless. This is why I have been able to upload pictures to my blog and to facebook. Our first day when we arrived in Kigali in February it did not seem like such a big, amazing city before. It was not a big deal, a city in Africa nothing like even the smaller cities in America. Now after spending only a month in the semirural city of nyanza, Kigali is this huge luxurious city in which we get seasoned food and can hear cars driving by at night. Definitely a different perspective. Also the first traffic lights I have seen in a month was when we drove back into Kigali. I never even noticed they were missing until I saw them and thought it was strange seeing them.
The point of the health conference was to learn about the organization we would be working with and see all the other organizations that others are working with. It was great getting to meet my counterpart and supervisors this weekend. I also got to learn a little bit about my organization. They work with rural communities to help make sustainable living for underprivileged families. They work with farmers to raise crops like corn and flour and fruits. They sell a famous health porridge around Africa called Sosoma which I got to even sample and it’s like a runny oatmeal without the oats. The company also helps craftsman to make, sell and market wood projects such as doors and beds and cabinets. I am the very first volunteer this organization has ever had. My role as of now is still a little unclear but I know I will be working in the community with the farmers and working in the office doing business plans and organizational things. I will be living about 45 minutes from Kigali in the district of Muhanga which is much bigger than Nyanza but only slightly smaller than Kigali. I will share about what i am doing here once I have gotten to see my site and spent time in my community and with my organization.
Thank You all for reading!