Health 4 Swear In: We’re Peace Corps Volunteers!
By Claire Brosnihan, H4
On July 18th, 2012, 21 trainees swore in as official Peace Corps Volunteers after 11 weeks of community-based training in Kamonyi. Many PCVs wore beautiful Rwandan igitenge clothes made by talented Kamonyi tailors, and our group transformed from weeks of cold bucket baths and muddy dirt trails to clean and presentable eager volunteers, courtesy of the hot showers and plentiful mirrors at the Case de Passage. The ceremony took place at the residence of Ambassador Don Koran, and representatives from our host families, the U.S. Embassy, the Ministry of Health, and our future places of work, Rwanda’s community health centers, were in attendance. We were also informed that former President Bill Clinton had just arrived in Rwanda to open the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence through the Clinton Global Foundation.
PCVs Amanda Highfield and Ian Allen gave speeches in English, Darren Buterbaugh and I gave speeches in French, and Dametreea Carr, Donovan Wright, and Beth and John Braaksma gave speeches in Kinyarwanda. Rwanda’s new country director, Steve Miller, gave an inspiring speech to his first Rwandan swear-in group, which featured some lyrics from the song “Victims of Comfort” by Keb’Mo’.
Oh what do we got to lose? Everything. Yes and what do we stand to gain? Everything, so let’s try together…
Next, several members of our group performed a beautiful Rwandan dance they had practiced with our Language and Culture Facilitators in the weeks leading up to the event. Our group experienced many highs and lows during PST, as we will in our actual Peace Corps service. During the course of PST, we said goodbye to three members of our group. We experienced culture shock to varying degrees, transitioned to a life guided by Peace Corps rules and regulations (hello, 6:30 pm curfew), and joined our new host families. We shared our challenges and successes often and our care packages on occasion.
Even though PST seems like a blur looking back, at the time it seemed like it would never end. We spent our free time playing Frisbee, eating amandazi (donuts), and cultivating the garden at the Peace Corps hub. We helped out at umuganda, a monthly community service event in Rwanda, by digging water ditches and repairing roads. Our group of health volunteers led a “Hand washing Day” at local schools in Kamonyi, where we built hand washing stations and taught the children the importance of hand washing through creative games and songs. We also listened when the PCMOs gave us valuable medical advice such as “Do not eat shit, do not get hit, do not get bit, do not get lit, and do not do ‘it’.”
In three days of difficult farewells, all of us settled into life at site, with most of Health 4 placed at health centers in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In many ways, our first month at site has been another round of culture shock. We’re more than a 10-minute walk away from our Peace Corps friends, and enjoying a round of Primus and potatoes with everyone is considerably more complicated. We’ve gone from being abazungu to umuzungu. But that doesn’t diminish the bonds that we made from weeks studying Kinyarwanda and hours of technical training. We are a diverse group in many aspects, representing different ages, races, sexes, and backgrounds. But after all is said and done, turi kumwe: We are together.
PCVs Amanda Highfield and Ian Allen gave speeches in English, Darren Buterbaugh and I gave speeches in French, and Dametreea Carr, Donovan Wright, and Beth and John Braaksma gave speeches in Kinyarwanda. Rwanda’s new country director, Steve Miller, gave an inspiring speech to his first Rwandan swear-in group, which featured some lyrics from the song “Victims of Comfort” by Keb’Mo’.
Oh what do we got to lose? Everything. Yes and what do we stand to gain? Everything, so let’s try together…
Next, several members of our group performed a beautiful Rwandan dance they had practiced with our Language and Culture Facilitators in the weeks leading up to the event. Our group experienced many highs and lows during PST, as we will in our actual Peace Corps service. During the course of PST, we said goodbye to three members of our group. We experienced culture shock to varying degrees, transitioned to a life guided by Peace Corps rules and regulations (hello, 6:30 pm curfew), and joined our new host families. We shared our challenges and successes often and our care packages on occasion.
Even though PST seems like a blur looking back, at the time it seemed like it would never end. We spent our free time playing Frisbee, eating amandazi (donuts), and cultivating the garden at the Peace Corps hub. We helped out at umuganda, a monthly community service event in Rwanda, by digging water ditches and repairing roads. Our group of health volunteers led a “Hand washing Day” at local schools in Kamonyi, where we built hand washing stations and taught the children the importance of hand washing through creative games and songs. We also listened when the PCMOs gave us valuable medical advice such as “Do not eat shit, do not get hit, do not get bit, do not get lit, and do not do ‘it’.”
In three days of difficult farewells, all of us settled into life at site, with most of Health 4 placed at health centers in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In many ways, our first month at site has been another round of culture shock. We’re more than a 10-minute walk away from our Peace Corps friends, and enjoying a round of Primus and potatoes with everyone is considerably more complicated. We’ve gone from being abazungu to umuzungu. But that doesn’t diminish the bonds that we made from weeks studying Kinyarwanda and hours of technical training. We are a diverse group in many aspects, representing different ages, races, sexes, and backgrounds. But after all is said and done, turi kumwe: We are together.