The arrival!
Excitement. Sadness. Uncertainty. Exhilaration. These emotions were fighting to take control on my last morning in Kigali. It was a tough fight. My host family has made an impact on the time I have spent in this unique country, and saying goodbye was not enjoyable. Thankfully, my host mother was generous enough to allow my roommates and I to plan one more stay at the house before we leave to America! So I am grateful that I will see them again!
I was also feeling a little blue when our group of 20 hardworking students was together for the last time before getting into our separate cars and traveling to our destinations. After saying our final goodbyes, Megan, Katie and I embarked on the next chapter of this incredible opportunity! As soon as I closed the car door behind me, I was swept with excitement!
Two hours from Kigali, our new home is one that took my breath away. We arrived in Ruhengeri, Musanze on Sunday afternoon and had the rest of the day to explore our new surroundings! One of the firs things noticed was the difference in the climate. Being in the northern part of the country, we are in a much cooler area. To be honest, I would have never though that Africa would have this type of weather. It is a nice change.
The second thing that I noticed about Musanze was the difference in size, compared to the large city we called home for a month. Comparing it to the capitol, it seems extremely small, however it really is a perfect size town in my opinion. Ruhengeri is easy to navigate because of a main road that practically touches all of the major shops, restaurants, and various other buildings. The traffic in Ruhengeri is also a lot less hectic than that of the big city, blending in nicely with the overall laid-back feel of the town. We usually travel by foot to each destination, which is usually about a 25 to 30-minuet walk from our AMAZING guesthouse.
I was also feeling a little blue when our group of 20 hardworking students was together for the last time before getting into our separate cars and traveling to our destinations. After saying our final goodbyes, Megan, Katie and I embarked on the next chapter of this incredible opportunity! As soon as I closed the car door behind me, I was swept with excitement!
Two hours from Kigali, our new home is one that took my breath away. We arrived in Ruhengeri, Musanze on Sunday afternoon and had the rest of the day to explore our new surroundings! One of the firs things noticed was the difference in the climate. Being in the northern part of the country, we are in a much cooler area. To be honest, I would have never though that Africa would have this type of weather. It is a nice change.
The second thing that I noticed about Musanze was the difference in size, compared to the large city we called home for a month. Comparing it to the capitol, it seems extremely small, however it really is a perfect size town in my opinion. Ruhengeri is easy to navigate because of a main road that practically touches all of the major shops, restaurants, and various other buildings. The traffic in Ruhengeri is also a lot less hectic than that of the big city, blending in nicely with the overall laid-back feel of the town. We usually travel by foot to each destination, which is usually about a 25 to 30-minuet walk from our AMAZING guesthouse.
As we pulled into the driveway covered in volcanic rocks, Jean Claude, the Biomedical Technician who will work with us at Ruhengeri hospital, and Jean Paul, the keeper of the house, greeted us at the door. They helped us settle in and Jean Claude gave us simple instructions to meet at the hospital at 8 am the next morning.
I feel almost selfish for allowing myself occupying our house, but I am most definitely NOT complaining. It is a nice size house with a front yard that puts other yards to shame. With a living room, three bedrooms, and a bathroom, we have more than enough space. And we are very grateful to have Jean Paul with us. He speaks English fairly well and has been more then helpful and very kind to us; he takes out our trash and helps us use the coal stoves to cook occasionally.
One of the best parts about living in Musanze is the fact that we have volcanoes in our backyard! In case some of you may not know, Musanze is known for the Volcano National Park, which is the home to the world famous mountain gorillas. The park is only about a 30-minuet drive from our house so we are lucky to see the volcanoes from almost any corner of town. It is a great view.
I feel almost selfish for allowing myself occupying our house, but I am most definitely NOT complaining. It is a nice size house with a front yard that puts other yards to shame. With a living room, three bedrooms, and a bathroom, we have more than enough space. And we are very grateful to have Jean Paul with us. He speaks English fairly well and has been more then helpful and very kind to us; he takes out our trash and helps us use the coal stoves to cook occasionally.
One of the best parts about living in Musanze is the fact that we have volcanoes in our backyard! In case some of you may not know, Musanze is known for the Volcano National Park, which is the home to the world famous mountain gorillas. The park is only about a 30-minuet drive from our house so we are lucky to see the volcanoes from almost any corner of town. It is a great view.
After basking in the glory of Musanze Manor, the name Megan gave our house, we decided to walk around town. Now keep in mind that Engineering World Health, the organization that made all of this possible, organized car to take us directly to our houses. So we walked out of our neighborhood with no idea where actual town was and followed a sign that supposedly pointed to a restaurant. We ended up walking for forty minuets with no sign of the place. So we turned back and walked into a random bar that had a single table set up and ordered brochettes (shish kebobs) and chips (fries) for a late lunch. It was an interesting way to start our lovely adventure.
Now that we knew which way did not go into town, we were able to find a market to buy necessities. With our new supplies, we made questionable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our first dinner in Musanze Manor.
I slept in my own room for the first time since arriving in Africa, and woke up to get ready for our first day on the job!
Now that we knew which way did not go into town, we were able to find a market to buy necessities. With our new supplies, we made questionable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our first dinner in Musanze Manor.
I slept in my own room for the first time since arriving in Africa, and woke up to get ready for our first day on the job!
First day on the job!
The 25-minuet walk to the hospital gave me time to wonder about what was to come during the next five weeks of working in an African hospital. Without any real job experience, I was not sure what to expect. I was excited to get started and make a difference in the Ruhengeri hospital, no matter how small.
Our first day started off with a tour around the hospital. We met Jean Claude in the maintenance department, our shop for the next five weeks. It is a larger room, which used to be a garage, right next to the hospital’s oxygen plant. The shelves are full of broken equipment that have been through troubleshooting but are waiting on things such as replacement parts. There is a section of tables and chairs that serve as our workbench. Off to the side there is an office where the technicians have their paperwork and departmental computer.
Jean Claude took us around the open and spacious layout of one of the larger hospitals in the country and we visited with many departments. First on the list was administration. Mr. William, the administrator, invited us into his office with open arms. We talked with him about our involvement with the hospital and he assured us that we could see him with questions at anytime. His welcome played a large part in my quick ease into the working environment at Ruhengeri Hospital.
The rest of the morning was filled with visits and greetings from other departments such as Neonatal, ICU, Surgery, Ophthalmology, Stomatology, and the morgue. Our visit to the morgue was combined with a task of fixing the large refrigerators. Although the three of us did not work on the refrigerators, we were able to see the style and work pace of our new job while observing the technicians.
Our first day started off with a tour around the hospital. We met Jean Claude in the maintenance department, our shop for the next five weeks. It is a larger room, which used to be a garage, right next to the hospital’s oxygen plant. The shelves are full of broken equipment that have been through troubleshooting but are waiting on things such as replacement parts. There is a section of tables and chairs that serve as our workbench. Off to the side there is an office where the technicians have their paperwork and departmental computer.
Jean Claude took us around the open and spacious layout of one of the larger hospitals in the country and we visited with many departments. First on the list was administration. Mr. William, the administrator, invited us into his office with open arms. We talked with him about our involvement with the hospital and he assured us that we could see him with questions at anytime. His welcome played a large part in my quick ease into the working environment at Ruhengeri Hospital.
The rest of the morning was filled with visits and greetings from other departments such as Neonatal, ICU, Surgery, Ophthalmology, Stomatology, and the morgue. Our visit to the morgue was combined with a task of fixing the large refrigerators. Although the three of us did not work on the refrigerators, we were able to see the style and work pace of our new job while observing the technicians.
During our tour, we found two patient monitors that would serve as our first real tasks. One monitor, from neonatology, had an SPO2 sensor that was not operational. While trouble shooting the two wires needed to create the sensor,we realized that although the sensor was emitting the inferred light, the monitor was not detecting the sensor at all. More tampering revealed that the entire cable needed to be replaced. But without a replacement, there was not much to be done. This would be a reoccurring theme for the days to come.
We ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria and walked down the road into town to explore before returning to work. Soon after lunch the anesthesia department brought in a second monitor. This monitor was having trouble with the power supply. It could be plugged in, but an alarm read that the battery was critically low, and soon the monitor would shut down. Fortunately, Jean Claude had a replacement battery that we installed, but the same problem remained. We left the monitor plugged in over night with the new battery to see if there were any improvements the next day.
Next on the agenda was diagnosing what caused a display fail on an ultrasound machine. And after a little excavating through a mass of wires that enveloped the inside of the machine, we found that there was discontinuity in the VGA cable that ran from the heart of the device to the monitor. In short, there was a bad screen cable. Unfortunately, after researching the manual, the only replacement that could be made was the same cable from the manufacture, another part we did not have.
Day one did not end of the highest note, but we became familiar with the biggest problem that we would face on this job, lack of parts. Our group of hospital technicians is completely capable to handling any problem that they face here at Ruhengeri. The only limit to what they can do is what they have to work with. It is frustrating to come across a problem, know how to fix it, but get cut short in the process. I knew this coming into a job in an African hospital and I am ready for the challenges ahead. I plan to use this situation to stimulate the “engineering part” of my mind, my imagination.
On the walk back to Musanze Manor (that really has a nice ring to it), I spent time analyzing the day and preparing myself for the weeks to come. Knowing that our technicians are good at what they do, the problems that we will encounter will not be easy ones. We may not be able to fix a large amount of equipment, but that is not all that we came here to do. We are here to help this community in anyway we can, and that is what I plan to do.
We ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria and walked down the road into town to explore before returning to work. Soon after lunch the anesthesia department brought in a second monitor. This monitor was having trouble with the power supply. It could be plugged in, but an alarm read that the battery was critically low, and soon the monitor would shut down. Fortunately, Jean Claude had a replacement battery that we installed, but the same problem remained. We left the monitor plugged in over night with the new battery to see if there were any improvements the next day.
Next on the agenda was diagnosing what caused a display fail on an ultrasound machine. And after a little excavating through a mass of wires that enveloped the inside of the machine, we found that there was discontinuity in the VGA cable that ran from the heart of the device to the monitor. In short, there was a bad screen cable. Unfortunately, after researching the manual, the only replacement that could be made was the same cable from the manufacture, another part we did not have.
Day one did not end of the highest note, but we became familiar with the biggest problem that we would face on this job, lack of parts. Our group of hospital technicians is completely capable to handling any problem that they face here at Ruhengeri. The only limit to what they can do is what they have to work with. It is frustrating to come across a problem, know how to fix it, but get cut short in the process. I knew this coming into a job in an African hospital and I am ready for the challenges ahead. I plan to use this situation to stimulate the “engineering part” of my mind, my imagination.
On the walk back to Musanze Manor (that really has a nice ring to it), I spent time analyzing the day and preparing myself for the weeks to come. Knowing that our technicians are good at what they do, the problems that we will encounter will not be easy ones. We may not be able to fix a large amount of equipment, but that is not all that we came here to do. We are here to help this community in anyway we can, and that is what I plan to do.