Days 6 & 7 - Kigali, Rwanda; King Faisal Hosptial

I apologize for the delay in postings; the last 2 days my Wifi was sporadic.

Another 2 days of intense ACLS training with 20 students.  It’s mentally draining but also rewarding.  Nothing much else to say.  Oh yeah, all of the students passed successfully.

Even the CEO of the hospital took the course.

Instructors:  Linda Bell, Cindy Colgan, Yvette McQueen

Days 4 & 5 - Kigali, Rwanda - ACLS at King Faisal Hospital

Linda Bell, Cindy Colgan, and I traveled to Kigali, Rwanda to train hospital personnel in Advance Cardiac Life Support [ACLS] through the International American Heart Association.  Linda Bell & Consultant Services is the AHA training center providing the coordination and equipment.  The project was organized by Global Engagement Institute [GEI], Rwanda Ministry of Health and King Faisal Hospital.  The goal is to provide a center of excellence in health care.

We were provided assistance by several local Human Resources of Health [HRH] staff.  Our first class hosted 26 participants eager to learn and enhance knowledge in cardiac resuscitation for improvement of patient care.

 

 

 

Even Doc McStuffins joined me in this adventure and training session.

 

 

All 26 participants successfully completed the ACLS course.

 

www.global-engagement.org

www.heart.org

www.hrhconsortium.moh.gov.rw

hstart@bellsouth.net  [Consultant Services]

Day 3 Part 2 - Kigali

After a full day in the rural communities, we relaxed at the restaurant Heaven.  The view of the city was spectacular and I felt like I was dining in a treehouse.  The food was excellent especially the pumpkin soup and squash risotto.

 

 

 

We met with the President and Founder of Solid Africa; a local NGO that helps patients in the public hospitals of Rwanda.  Their four main programs ease in their recovery and accelerate their return back to home:  1. Food Deilivery; 2. Medical Expenses; 3. Hygiene, and 4. Hospital Bill Payments and Transport.  They are currently delivering 300 meals once a day to the inpatients in the public hospital.  The hospital & insurance system is very different than the USA.  If you are admitted to the hospital, the insurance does not cover meals; a patient may go 2-3 days in the hospital without food if they unable to buy their food or the family cannot supply food.  Solid Africa provides food security to these patients.  You can read more about the organization at www.solidafrica.net.

 More about Solid’Africa and the hospital system in Rwanda to follow.

Day 3 Part 1 - Bugesera, Eastern Province, Rwanda; Nyamata, Gashora

We drove into the country side to the Eastern Province of Bugesera; approximately one hour from Kigali.  An area which was dessert like 15 years ago is now green, lush and beautiful.  We left early in the morning and viewed the mist across the fields.

 

Gashora

We learned about the rural development and successful interventions of the Vision 2020 Umurenge project:  an integrated local development program to accelerate poverty eradication, rural growth and social protection.  We met the director of the “Savings & Loans” equivalent; they have over 4000 community members.  It facilitates business development within the community; and there were several construction projects ongoing.

 

We had an African massage via the "jiggly" road - rainy season leaves many uneven roads.

We visited the new Gashora Health Clinic facilitated by The Access Project.  In conjunction with the Ministry of Health, the organization provides technical and operational assistance to improve the management capacity of rural health centers.  The health clinic provides care to over 20,000 local Rwandans.  The people are treated daily by nurses and a once a week visit of a doctor.  The medical care ranges from acute/chronic illnesses to maternal/fetal to nutritional/breastfeeding to family planning to HIV care.

 

Our next stop was the basket weavers cooperative ran by local widow women.  Covaga is a women's collective working in Gashora to fight poverty though their incredible talent for weaving baskets made from water hyacinth and papyrus.  The proceeds from the sales go directly to the women to feed families and daily survival.

 

We took a tour the Gashora Girls Academy of Science & Technology.  The Gashora Girls Academy is an upper-secondary boarding school for 270 girls which opened in February, 2011.  GGAST overlooks Lake Milayi and is located on approximately 30 acres of beautiful land. The campus includes student dormitories, a dining hall with attached kitchen, classrooms, science and technology labs, computer lab, an art/mixed media center, and auditorium/community center.  Along with their studies, the girls are involved with community service projects and sports.  Our tour guides were two aspiring seniors Grace [global health interest] and Kevine [engineering interest].  These well poised, intelligent and personable women will succeed in excellence.

 

We concluded our rural outing by having lunch by the lake at La Palisse Hotel.

 

 

Day 2 Part 2 - Kigali, Rwanda

In the last 20 years, Rwanda has rebuilt their infrastructure and economy.  Tourism has blossom and there is pride of the new Rwanda.  Rwanda is known as the cleanest and safest country in Africa.  The country promotes green environment and plastic bags are banned.  There are people sweeping the streets in all community.  Umuganda is the last Saturday of each month; it is a mandatory day of community service.  Each community choses a project that is beneficial for them currently. 

 

 

The new Kigali.

We met with the local training team at King Faisal Hospital.  It was a productive meeting finalizing the logistics of our training sessions.  And we emerged from the meeting with a blessing of the rainbow.

 

Dinner was at Republika with Human Resources of Health/Ministry of Health representatives.  Dinner was family style and tried the native little fish Sambaza.  Sambazas are little fried fish usually served with a tartar-like dipping sauce and you eat the whole crunchy thing- head and tail included.

 

 
After a long day, Goodnight Rwanda.