June 17

My first day of work here! Started with 7:30 am devotions, which were all in the Kinyarwanda language. But there was some nice singing with a drum accompaniment (drum played by hand). I was introduced to the 30 or so hospital staff who had come to the devotions, but I was introduced in French, so I could only catch a few words of what was said. I heard "American", "administration" and "fiche". Later I learned that fiche means records or medical records. I stood up and said a few words, which were translated, about how I was glad to be here and Rwanda is a lovely country. There was a smattering of polite applause, so hopefully I did not offend anyone with my remarks ;)

My first project will be to find a better chart tracking system, using the constraints that exist here (small number of personnel, few computers, paper charts, rules/regulations). I have many pages of notes already and have toured the hospital, so today has been a good orientation/a good start! One of the volunteering doctors here is a general surgeon from Virginia (Greg Alty) and as soon as he heard about my assignment, he started bending my ear about how bad the chart system is here and how it needs fixing. So I have traveled halfway around the world, and I am still fielding complaints from surgeons! ;) I guess it is my destiny.

I am facing a bit of a language barrier here, as French is the medical language of choice for charts, orders, and official documents. The Rwandan people speak Kinyarwandan mostly in their day to day conversation but understand varying amounts of French and English. Oh, how I wish I knew more French. It would really help with my medical record project. There is a big push by the government to make English the primary language of Rwanda eventually. It must be being taught in schools quite a bit. Lucas and I were walking down a dirt road this evening, and a little 5-6 year old boy stuck out his hand and said to us in perfect English, "how are you?" Then a few minutes later, a group of school age children said, "good morning!" to us and waved. It was evening time, but we just waved back and replied, "good morning" as well. :)