Rwanda Student Leadership Trip: Day 10
January 27th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
To Nicole Bronson’s delight, we gathered at the Hotel Gorillas this morning for reflection and snacks. It was our last full day in Rwanda so we started by going around the table and sharing our highs and lows of the trip. To name a few, we loved visiting the youth chapters and seeing their projects as a testament to how much young people can do when they’re given the tools; making new friends; Christmas at Jean d’Amour’s house; spending time with the FACE AIDS team; seeing the hospitals; meeting Paul Farmer; and spending time with kids. Low points in the trip were either not feeling well or feeling helpless in the presence of injustice, but we had Dramamine and overall we encountered more hopefulness than helplessness.
We spent the next few hours reflecting on the movement for global health equity. We talked about collective mobilization and what comes to mind when we hear the word movement, as well as what types of actions and tactics we think are necessary. It was fun and helpful to hear everyone’s thoughts. After a little break, we took different colored Post-It notes and wrote down thoughts in response to the questions: “Why do we need a movement for global health equity?” “How do we form a movement for global health equity?” and “What does our movement do?” We then posted our responses on pieces of paper corresponding to each question and read the rest of the group members’ responses to ourselves, putting a check mark on our favorites. For me, as a computer science major, it was the first time I’d thought strongly about wanting to be a part of this movement for global health. Being involved with FACE AIDS and especially being on this trip in Rwanda makes me feel like I can.
Cher-Wen showed us the video “How Not to Write About Africa.” After watching, we talked about stereotypes and generalizations of Africa, sharing reactions from friends and family when we told them we were traveling to Rwanda and discussing the misguided perception that Africa is a country and therefore homogenous. It reminded me of the first time I looked for Rwanda on a map. We can’t say we understand the entire continent of Africa now that we have spent two weeks in Rwanda, but we can work to dispel myths we know to be untrue.
Before an afternoon of souvenir hunting, we ate at a lunch buffet. (Earlier in the week, we learned that lunch buffets were government mandated for the sake of productivity!) After lunch we went to craft market and fabric markets to purchase bags, jewelry, art, key chains, figurines, and t-shirts for friends and family back home. The guys even found cool knives.
In the evening we met with Dr. Peter Drobac, the PIH Rwanda Country Director. We were originally going to have dinner with him last Wednesday, but he was stuck in meetings and now that I think about it that was another “low” mentioned at breakfast. But this timing was better in a way because we had more educated questions for him, plus we had coffee! He told us his story, and we asked about his work, the progress of health care in Rwanda, PIH’s relationship with the Rwandan government, and his hopes for the future. Peter was a psychology major in college and took a class about primates, which he enjoyed so much that he decided to go to Zambia the next semester to study monkeys. The monkeys got boring quickly but being in Zambia sparked his interest in global health care and he became a doctor even though he wasn’t originally pre-med. He read works by Paul Farmer and made the connection that Paul was as mad as he was about inequalities in health care. Peter worked with PIH during his residency and took the opportunity to move to Rwanda when the government first invited the organization in. He and the other doctors slept in the hospitals while they were still being constructed. I loved how much Peter loved his work—he even said he doesn’t mind working 14- to 18-hour days sometimes. He also had some great advice for us as students. Most importantly, he told us to do what we love and if we are passionate about global health care we will find a way to contribute using our talents. We don’t all have to be doctors to make a difference, especially if medicine is not what we are excited about. This movement needs everything from architects to business experts as well as physicians. Peter also said it helps to be a little angry about social injustices and health inequality. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that our time spent with Peter was an inspiring and awesome way to conclude the trip.
To round out the day, we shared Ethiopian food for dinner and packed a little before heading to bed.
Thanks for reading!
- Jordan Kellerstrass, Creighton University ‘14







































