I have now completed my fifth month in Rwanda working for HRH (Human Resources for Health) with the support of a large grant from the Clinton Foundation. I am here with approximately 70 other nurses, physicians, and pharmacists from the U.S. helping to improve the education at all nursing schools and medical schools in the country.
In November, I was able to do some teaching. My students were first-year nursing students here at our nursing school and our topics were English Language Skills and Communication. When students here learn English, they learn the heavily accented British version. The second or third day of class, one brave young man told me he couldn’t understand my English (American) and that I had a funny accent.
It had never occurred to me that someone could not understand my English. I shot back at the student, “and I cannot understand your funny accent either!” We each had an “aha” moment. I also did a lot of singing with the students. It was a good way for them to learn some more English vocabulary as well as a way to relax the class. I taught them English songs (everything from “I had a dog named BINGO” to Queen’s “We are the Champions”). They taught me songs in Kinyarwanda, the indigenous language of Rwanda. The last few days of class, they organized and burst into song the moment I walked into the classroom.
Fortunately, I have also had some opportunities for travel. In November, I went with two guides and seven other HRH workers to the Nyangwe National Park in Southwest Rwanda. The rainforest there is one of the largest and oldest old-growth forests in Africa. When I was inside among the trees and giant ferns, I thought of Jurassic Park. There were several species of birds and monkeys found nowhere else in the world. One day I had just finished some writing when I looked up to see myself surrounded by baboons. I knew not to make any sharp movements. I just sat and watched them eat grass, from babies to oldsters.
Last week I went to Uganda. Our destination was Queen Elizabeth National Park. The second day we did a game drive. Our guide, Kirenga, drove the Land Rover over some pretty treacherous roads to spot animals. We saw several varieties of antelope, some water buffalo, a warthog and a tiny, very-far-away elephant. In the afternoon we were taken to a boat that cruised along the shoreline of Lake Bunyonyi. There we saw approximately 80-100 hippos in small groups bathing and submerging themselves except for eyes and ears. There were more water buffalo, and, yes, elephants.
We saw quite a show among one group of elephants. One was quite determined to show that he was the boss. He was not satisfied until he had chased all the other elephants up the hill away from the water. Then he went back down to the shore in full “trumpet” mode and sounded off.
Oak Park resident Carrol Smith, Ph.D., R.N., is advisor to the director of the Byumba School of Nursing and Midwifery in Byumba, Rwanda. She had been providing periodic reports from her assignment in Africa.
