Throwback Thursday
This time a year ago I was peeing a pooping in and hole, had my own little house chamber pot cleverly disguised as a plastic bucket, and regularly took baths by using a few liters of water and pouring said water over my head with a cup. It was...
Women traveling alone-A different point of view
Women are in the news yet again. These days it has to do with the current US president’s views on women (and other marginalized populations), but honestly, it’s always something. A few years ago, it was the media giving women traveling along a hard time. This post is from...
All about Umuganda
What is Umuganda? In Kinyarwanda Umuganda translates as ‘coming together to achieve a common goal’, and it was originally started after Rwanda achieved independence in 1962. In the beginning, Umuganda was often called ‘umubyizi’ –and was a day set aside by friends and family to help each other. It...
Poverty by Choice
When I worked my last shift at the hospital on June 2, 2018, I didn’t have a sudden feeling of insecurity when I pulled out of the parking lot around 7:30 because I was suddenly unemployed. Even though I knew I was choosing poverty, it didn’t hit me then....
The next steps
I guess by now you know that I left the Peace Corps completing exactly 9 months of service. I was medically separted from the Peace Corps due to an injury I sustained while at a Peace Corps’ training. I returned to Greenville, spent the night with my best friend,...
Things I won’t miss about the village: Muzungu
This may not be the most politically correct post I’ve written. If you are easily offended, you’ve been warned. Back when I worked in the hospitals, occasionally some misguided soul would yell out ‘hey, respiratory,’ as I walked by, and I’d continue to walk on by. And then the...
Things I Won’t Miss About the Village: Lack of Anonymity
I have lived most of my life in South Carolina [other states include North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee] — a state with roughly 5 million people in it, and just prior to departure, I moved back to the area I grew up in. The town I currently reside in...
The Return
I returned to Rwanda on January 22, 2019, but not as an active Peace Corps volunteer. It was a strange feeling… to return to the area I lived in yet not have a home. To speak the language [somewhat] yet know how much I’ve forgotten. To visit my banking...
Happy Peace Corps Day
Happy Peace Corps Day! On this day, 58 years ago, John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps. All over the world and back home in the US, Peace Corps staff and Volunteers celebrate March 1st as Peace Corps Day. My official start day with Peace Corps was...
Readjusting After Medical Separation
There’s a long version and a short version of what happened. Short story: I was medically separated from the Peace Corps on January 4, 2019 after being evacuated on December 23, 2018. I was shipped out of the country just before the government shutdown started. PC’s theory was, and...