Our final two days here in Rwanda have been very worthwhile and enjoyable. Yesterday we spent time in doors — it rained VERY hard most of the afternoon. It was actually pleasant to sit and read and listen to the rain. Last evening we had dinner with Bishop Nathan Gasatura and his wife Florence in [...]

Over the weekend I had several very worthwhile experiences. I got some chores done in Kigali, and then had dinner in the home of new friends, Cal and Mimi Wilson. Cal is a family medicine doctor and a faculty member at the University of Colorado Denver. He is UCD Director of the Capacity Building Project [...]

This morning we got to visit Sonrise School in Ruhengeri. This is the school that Joel attends and Theoneste used to attend. The two of them took us around the high school, which has about 550 students, mostly boarding. We learned that Sonrise has one of the top records in Rwanda for students passing the [...]

Today has been a full and rewarding day. After a quick trip with our young friend Theoneste for him to see a local dentist, we headed out for Ruhengeri (or Musanze as it is now known officially). It is about 70 miles, but it took us more than two hours, as there is quite a [...]

After getting a bit settled this morning (with local currency and cell phones), we set out to learn about the latest in public health here. We went to the US Embassy, where we were hosted by CDC’s mission chief, Dr. Pratima Raghunathan. We had lunch with some team members — they have nearly 50 CDC [...]

Will and I have embarked on our 2011 international trip, and have returned to Rwanda. Last year’s trip was so worthwhile that we decided that we should come back to this special place. We will be visiting friends we made when we were here in the summer of 2010, and making new ones. If you [...]

I had a very pleasant weekend in Kigali and beyond. One of the places I saw was the Hotel des Milles Collines, which was featured in the film Hotel Rwanda. On Saturday evening, I had a dinner meeting with the leader of the Anglican Church in Rwanda, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini and several others. Our church [...]

Today I had a very helpful meeting with Dr. Patrick Kyamanywa, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Rwanda. The med school is in Butare, where I will be in a few days, but he and I met in Kigali. Patrick is a surgeon, with an active medical practice, who [...]

Today I had the privilege of meeting with several health leaders here in Kigali. I was introduced to them via my friend, Nathan Thielman, MD, who is a faculty member at Duke Med School. Nathan is an internist who does work in infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, and global health. I visited with two Ob/Gyn physicians with [...]

I spent two days at the remote and idyllic Shyira Hospital. In many respects they lack much of what we take for granted in the US ? for example, they only have electricity for two hours each evening, when the generator is running. But in other respects, they have so much that we lack ? [...]