Our life in Rwanda so far

Our first year in Rwanda has ended.  (I wrote this while in the U.S.A. visiting with family and friends.)  I want to re-start my blog by reviewing some of what happened during our first year.  Since this is written from my point of view, I will mention what I know of Anne’s year, but more will be about mine.

Anne was hired originally as a mentor to midwife students.  She was to accompany them in their clinical practice at hospitals and clinics, giving them advice and demonstrating how to do things.  Shortly after ahe began, she was given other duties, including writing lectures to instruct midwives in various aspects of their jobs, and teaching skills in simulated skills labs.  Most of these lectures she produced as Power-Point presentations which can be used by future teachers.  She and her fellow midwife mentors were also called upon to create clinical experiences for advanced midwife students, to write the curriculum for midwives, and to instruct the staff at the hospitals in standards of care like “Helping Babies Breathe”.  The schools, and especially the hospital staff, had previously been educated in “the way we have always done things” which included practices from the 1930’s that have since been found to be detrimental to the health of the mothers and their infants.  Now, students are being trained in critical thinking skills, using a decision tree to determine appropriate procedures, keeping up with research in best practices, and in devising and carrying out research of their own. Anne has also been given some extra responsibility for the HRH staff employed by UIC.

I came to Rwanda with no formal position, other than as Anne’s spouse. In our minds, we are in Rwanda as “Baha’i Pioneers,” which means that we are there to assist the Baha’is of the country in whatever way they deem appropriate.  For me, that service has involved going out in our neighborhood regularly amd making friends with the people I meet.  While I am gradually learning to speak and understand Kinyarwanda, the language which is spoken throughout the country, I do best when I encounter people who have some fluency in English. I strive to have conversations about things that matter, like unity, justice, overcoming materialism, improving cooperation, and improving the quality of life for all people.  I also look for opportunities to introduce topics in religion or spirituality, asking about their beliefs, and sharing Baha’i teachings.  One person who was teaching me Kinyarwanda, was helping me to understand and pronounce the translation of “The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah”.  He came to acknowledge that the book is the Word of God, and soon joined the Baha’i Faith. So far, five people have declared their belief in Baha’u’llah, and we have found two adult Baha’is who were living in our area before we arrived.  These, and a few others, have been attending a study circle at our home.

There are, in my opinion, two main purposes for the study circles.  One is for the attendees to learn about the Baha’i Faith.  Whether they are interested in joining or not, they have an opportunity to learn about the Baha’i Revelation, and Baha’i practice while studying the Baha’i Writings in a spirit of consultation.  The other is to prepare the attendees for certain forms of service.  The two services that I am most interested in providing in our neighborhood are children’s classes and Junior Youth Empowerment groups.  According to standard procedure, a person should first complete the first book of the series, “Reflections in the Life of the Spirit,” before proceeding to any of the other books.  (Actually, the prefered procedure is that a person study each book in sequence.)  The third book is “Teaching Children’s Classes, Grade One,” and the fifth book is “Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth.”  At this point, five people have completed the first book.  I don’t know how many are going on to study the third or fifth book, but I do know that some of the people who were in the Book 1 group are interested in having Children’s classes or animating Junior Youth groups, so perhaps they have begun the third and/or fifth books while we have been away.  I look forward to catching up with my friends in Rwanda when I get back.