Vaccines!

The Peace Corps doctor's office in Kigali.

        Every Peace Corps volunteer is required to take vaccinations before and during their service.  Some have more than others, but I have been told that Peace Corps Rwanda volunteers receive the maximum amount of vaccinations.  Here is the list of vaccinations:

Before service

These vaccinations are required to be taken during the medical review process, which generally occurs three months to nine months before service:

Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis

Polio

Start of service

This vaccination is required to be taken upon arrival in Philadelphia, where all volunteers serving in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East meet prior to traveling to their country of service:

Yellow Fever

During service

These vaccinations are given by the in country doctors during their service in the Peace Corps.  Most of these vaccinations are given during the training period:

Flu vaccine

Hepatitis B #1

Hepatitis B #2

Hepatitis B #3

Hepatitis A #1

Hepatitis A #2

Rabies #1

Rabies #2

Rabies #3

Diphtheria and Tetanus

Meningococcal

Typhoid 

         For those counting, that is 15 vaccinations I took in a one year period.  The Peace Corps wants to make sure that you are protected as much as possible from diseases and infections due to the remote nature of our work.  In addition to the 15 vaccinations, I’m required to take a malaria prophylaxis every day (in the form of a pill) to avoid contracting malaria. 

Solar Panels

The breaker that protects the battery from the solar panel (above), the car battery, and the AC/DC converter.

The solar panel sits on the very top of the house. 

A typical Rwandan (and African) outlet I use to charge my electronics.

A store in Musanze that sells various sizes of solar panels.  They range from 20W to 150W output.

             Rwanda has an initiative with foreign companies to bring electricity to all Rwandans within the next two years.  A good portion of Rwanda has electricity, and many of the Peace Corps volunteers live in these villages with electricity.  However, several of the volunteers (including me) live in an area with no electricity.  So how do we charge phones and cut our hair?  Solar panels.

            There is a huge movement in Africa currently to supply solar panels to villages.  Several newspapers and magazines have run articles on this rural trend.  The reason is simple: it is the only direct way to get electricity in your village without having to wait years for the government to run power lines to your village.  People that have solar panels enjoy a business venture where they can run bars and restaurants, charging stations for phones and car batteries, and barber shops. 

            Only the church, one business in my village, and me have solar panels in a six mile radius.  So how does the solar panel work?  First, I have a 100 Watt solar panel installed in the top of my house.  This panel should face to the south to gain more electricity, but due to the constraints of my house it sits at the top laying flat.  The panel connects to a wire that runs to a charge regulator that protects the car battery from overcharging.  The battery is the stored electricity for the house.  If the battery is not charged, then there is no electricity.  The battery has a DC current, so the battery connects to an AC/DC converter which makes all of the electricity into an AC current.  All electricity in your house runs on an AC current, so we need to convert the power to AC in order to charge all your electrical components. 

            Now that I have an AC output, I need to wire the house for lights, switches, and outlets.  Once the house is wired, I flip a switch on the AC/DC converter and I have electricity.  However, electricity in Africa is 220V compared to 110V in America.  This can cause American electrical components to not work, or worse, overload and be permanently damaged.  In order to get American electrical components to charge, I have an Africa to America converter that connects to the African two cylinder prong outlet and change the voltage from 220 to 110. 

            This can be quite an operation and take a lot of time.  Here is a quick rundown on what it costs to get electricity to your house:

100W solar panel:                  $350

Car battery:                             $100

Regulator:                               $50

AC/DC converter:                 $50

Electrical wire:                       $25

Lights, switches, outlets:      $40

Installation of solar panel:   $40

Wiring the house:                  $60

Total:                                      $715

It’s expensive, but considering that I can now charge anything, not cook in the dark, and invite people over at night is more than worth the cost for two years. 

Rwandan Pets

            So you want an African pet?  Well, it’s as simple as going down the market and getting one, but not as simple as keeping one. 

            First off, Africans don’t have pets to have companionship or something to complain to with no backtalk.  Pets here have a purpose.  You want eggs?  Get a pet.  You want milk?  Get a pet.  You want to marry someone?  Get a pet.

GOATS

            Goats are probably the staple of the Rwandan pets.  They cost generally between $50 and $60.  If you want brochettes (meet on a stick, very popular in Rwanda) it is most likely goat meat.  If you go to any decent sized market on their market days, you can buy a goat or goat meat.  Also, goats are pretty low maintenance animals.  They’ll eat any greenery around the area.

SHEEP

            Sheep are popular, but not as common as goats.  They cost slightly less (around $40 for a good sized sheep) and are a little higher maintenance. 

CHICKENS

            Chickens are everywhere around here.  They are used from killing for meat (I’ve never met a Rwandan that didn’t know how to kill or gut a chicken), getting eggs, and taking care of nuisance insects in the area around the house.  They cost from a small chicken of $4 to a large one around $18.  Amazingly, chickens do not need to be tied up since they really never leave their home.  How this works is a completely mystery. 

ROOSTERS

            Roosters are somewhat common and you can see them roaming around a random road.  Roosters are used to come over the eggs and spray a scent that changes the eggs to chicks that will hatch.  Roosters generally cost about $15.

COWS

            Cows are the big animal around here.  They dominate everything from dowries to investments to food.  Cows start at a cost of $200 and can go up to $800 for a full sized female.  They can produce milk, manure for the fields, or better yet more cows.  Losing a cow can be catastrophic to a family. 

            If a man wants to get married, he will show his commitment (via a dowry) by giving a cow to the woman’s family.  There is a dowry ceremony that consists of the two families arguing how many cows and goats should be given up for the unmarried woman.  However, the generally accepted amount is one cow per woman. 

TURKEYS

            Turkeys are fairly common in the villages, but not as popular as chickens.  They can go from being unspectacular to massive.  Also, you can generally see a person walking a group of turkeys down the road to eat or be sold in a market.  Full grown turkeys generally cost around $15.

OTHER ANIMALS

            If you are wondering why Rwanda doesn’t have the same pets as America, there are some basic reasons.  Cats here are feral and the only people that keep cats are generally to ward off rodents.  However, some of our volunteers have cats as pets and love them being around the house.  Dogs have a much more macabre reason.  Dogs in Rwanda are generally feared and hated.  After the genocide, dogs were all over the roads eating the slain bodies.  Because of this, almost all dogs were killed in order to prevent them from being accustomated to humans.  They are making a comeback, especially in affluent families.  Unlike America, there is only one breed of dog that I have seen here in Rwanda.

Peace Corps Medical Kits

        Every Peace Corps volunteer is given a medical kit.  This medical kit stays at their site the entire time they are in the Peace Corps.  The purpose is to solve minor injuries and illnesses (or begin treatment of possible larger illnesses) without requiring volunteers to come receive medical treatment in Kigali every time.  This saves a lot of time and money for both the Peace Corps and the volunteer.  Here is what is in the kit:

Loperamide:  Used to control excessive diarrhea and cramps.  Used when a volunteer needs to travel on the bus.

Ciprofloxacin:  Taken when diarrhea is extreme and a doctor is concerned that the volunteer had dysentery.  This must be used in conjunction with major fluid intake. 

Sepasoothe:  These are sore throat lozenges for minor sore throat pain.

Miralac:  The tablets are taken for heartburn, stomach pain, and indigestion.

Diotame:  Used for nausea, upset stomachs, diarrhea, and heartburn. 

Aypanal:  A fever reducer and pain reliever. 

Diphen:  The pills provide relief for runny noses, sneezing, itching eyes, and general allergic reactions.

Cedaprin:  An ibuprofen that reduces fever and minor pains.

Swift:  Sinus decongestants for hay fever, colds, and nasal passage blockage.

Bismuth:  Pepto-Bismol tablets for upset stomachs, diarrhea, and heartburn. 

Sucrets:  Sore throat and cough formula lozenges. 

Rehydration Salts:  Mixed with one liter of drinking water, this is used for rehydration of volunteers during periods of severe diarrhea. 

Coartem:  Taken when volunteers feel that they have symptoms due to acute malaria.  This pill has significantly improved the recovery of people that are affected with malaria.  Prior to Coartem, recovery from malaria was much more extensive and difficult to administer.

There are other contents in the medical kit for various uses:

adhesive tape

malaria slide preparation kit

condoms

band-aids

gauze pads

anti-itch ointment

disposable thermometers

antiseptic

antibiotic ointment

floss

tick and insect repellent

anti-fungal cream

whistle

chap stick

tweezers

stool sample collection kit

iodine tablets for emergency drinking water

scissors

rubber gloves

    

           

My House

American Gothic revisited with my houseboy and chicken. 

The living room complete with a painted Rwandan flag.

Eating after English lessons with teachers from my school.

English lessons with some of the women from my village.

The dining room with a painted American flag. 

The study area where I keep all my work and books.

My bedroom.  The net above the bed is used at night to prevent me from insect bites (particularly mosquito bites).

The kitchen area.

Another view of the kitchen area.  The stainless steel item on the far right is my water filter. 

My shower area.  Just add a bucket of cold water.

Bathroom.  Due to this setup, I have forgotten how to flush a toilet. 

The courtyard where we keep our chickens protected.

Mama chicken with her baby chicks.

The baby chicks getting a drink of water before they go to bed.

Baby chick posing for her close up.

My two chickens that lay eggs everyday along with the rooster that wakes me up every morning.





            When you move to a village, you are given a handful of things including a primary assignment (job), a counterpart (someone who is supposed to help you adjust in your village), and a place to live. 

            By Peace Corps standards, my house is large and nice.  However, when I moved in the house was nothing but walls filled with half finished stucco and mud stained windows.  For the first two months, I sanded down the walls, painted the walls, cleaned the windows, brought in furniture, placed a solar panel on the top of the house and electrified the house, hung pictures and artifacts, and got a person to help me out with daily chores.

            The house has high ceilings which is ideal in the hot season when the house breathes well and doesn’t become a Turkish bath house.  Some of the volunteer houses have very low roofs and small rooms which make it almost unbearable to sleep in the hot season. 

            My newest addition to the house is two chickens that lay eggs every day.  My helper brought over his rooster (which loves to crow at about 5 am everyday).  Last week, I bought a mama chicken with her eight baby chicks.  For all the chickens and rooster, we built a chicken coup to hold the chickens and protect the chicks from hawks that would swoop down and take them when we are not at the house.  The chicks are great and growing fast. 

            My house has become a social center of activity.  I teach some of the local merchant women English, I have Kinyarwanda lessons twice a week, we watch movies with my neighbors every other week, and I invite my fellow teachers over every Wednesday for English lessons and lunch.  The house generally has a good amount of activity, including neighbors coming over to play traditional Rwandan games, look at magazines, or play darts.  It’s become a great place to host.

            My favorite parts are the American flag painted on one side of the wall along with the Rwandan flag painted on the other side, and my hammock that looks out over the valley from my porch.   Enjoy the pictures!

Hotel Rwanda

The front entrance as not seen in the film "Hotel Rwanda."

The now famous pool areas.

The bar where there is live music on Friday nights.

             The most famous building in Rwanda is the Hotel des Mille Collines, better known to Americans as Hotel Rwanda.  The hotel is located in the center of Kigali, complete with a nice bar, pool, restaurant, and conference rooms.  The recently renovated hotel is a popular place to stay now thanks in large part to the movie.

            Hotel des Mille Collines is famous for being a shelter for thousands of Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers during the 1994 genocide.  The hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, bribed Hutu militias with money and alcohol until the refugees were able to flee under the safety of the UN.  Due to his heroic actions, thousands of Rwandans were saved from certain death. 

            The hotel is famous because of the critically acclaimed film “Hotel Rwanda” starring Don Cheadle.  However, the film was shot in South Africa and the hotel in the movie is not the actual hotel.  The films “Shake Hands With the Devil” and “Sometimes In April,” both about the 1994 genocide, shot on location in Rwanda and show the actual Mille Collines.

            Mille Collines is French for “A Thousand Hills.”  The hotel derives its name from the common phrase used to describe Rwanda, the “land of a thousand hills” because Rwanda’s entire landscape is tropical mountains. 

Kigali Marathon



Me, Kayla, Heather, and Matt waiting at the Peace Corps office before the race.



The founder himself, JFK, and me at Stadio Amohoro before the run.



The entire Peace Corps run team at Stadio Amohoro before the race.



Running to the finish line.



           

            The annual Kigali marathon took place on Sunday, May 22.  The event had the best runners in Rwanda along with expats from all over the world participating.  It was great to see Greeks, Brazilians, Canadians, and Africans from several countries coming together to run the event.

            The event started and finished at Rwanda’s premier stadium, Amahoro Stadium.  The course wound through Kigali’s streets, including passing by the Peace Corps office where we had a few people cheering us on at the gate.  There were three events: half marathon, full marathon, and relay.  The relay consisted of teams having four people, with each person running a quarter marathon. 

            For the 50^th anniversary of the Peace Corps, our staff paid for 28 relay runners, 3 half marathon runners, and 1 full marathon runner.  The staff gave us t-shirts and a nice dinner the day before the marathon. 

            All in all, it was a great day, amazing weather, and a lot of fun.  It was great to see everyone and celebrate the 50^th year of Peace Corps.