Connecting. . .

The genocide permeates the psyche of this country and the trauma will linger for decades. Many survivors have lost many or all family members. As a result of everyone’s losses and traumas, “new” families evolve and grow. GHI has become an extended family unit for all the staff which is very heartening to witness and feel their care and connection for/with each other. It is also a remarkable testament to Julie and Brad’s leadership which certainly cultivates this phenomenon. It’s truly special to be engaged with such a dynamic and loving group.

This past week Alli and I helped Anathalie launch another women’s group in the community of Gikomera, as well as had a second meeting with the Rubungo mamas (for one woman she left home at 0500 to attend). Once again we were floored and moved by the responsiveness and the openness of the women. In the Rubungo group we asked about a positive event in their lives since the last meeting. One woman shared that her husband was perplexed that she had returned after last time without any goods (eg Plumpy nut), but she explained she had instead gained a “transformed” self. She was now stronger and a better person who would have much more patience and understanding and less anger with the children as a result of this time with the other women. He apparently realised the benefits and supports her attendance. This was a huge step for this woman.

In the new group, when the idea to have a support group (without children) was presented the response was overwhelmingly positive. On Thursday we returned and the group of twelve mamas gathered and shared. It is amazing to think that most had no idea that others in their midst have similar problems. It was certainly powerful to witness the weeping around the circle as each took turns sharing their testimonies. Gender based violence, rejection, homelessness were all common themes. Anathalie’s expertise and innate compassion, as well as being a genocide survivor, prove to be vital elements as she facilitates the group skillfully.

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Connections within my own life have intersected here three times this past week. The first, was meeting Sam, a Global Health Fellow (GHF) friend of Aaron’s, the GHI GHF. Our second meeting last week revealed we were both from Maine and after a minute the penny dropped and I realized that he was Ian and Annie’s classmate at Sheepscot Valley Children’s House. I hadn’t seen him since he was 9! Another connection was with a visiting journalist writer…turns out she is a friend of my niece’s from Connecticut and the third last night was meeting a woman who is getting her PhD from James Cook University in Townsville who knows friends there. “Small world” connections abound!

GHI is hosting the 2nd annual Thanksgiving community feast on 11/11/11. Last year about 500 attended and this year we anticipate about 750. It should be amazing, not only the event, but the process of preparation in the next two weeks.

Helen

Garden jumpers

Mamma with chicken and soap

Mammas at cooking demo

Team work

Helen & Sam Whittemore
meet again after 17 years

Just a few photos. . .

Naomi and Aline

Lake Kivu view from One Acre Fund residence


Jay's last house supper

Florence and Kevina


Children on the morning walk to the office


Team in the garden

Soaking in the surrounding goodness…

Another week flies by… as I write from my internet perch (usually a five-bar zone!) on the verandah outside my bedroom, the dawn chorus (incredible birds here) has begun. The sky has turned from pinky to brilliant orange and the noises of our bucolic neighbourhood begin. It is interesting that crowing roosters seem to be a rarity. We are getting a bit more settled into the new residence and getting ‘systems’ organized. With eight of us living here now, it’s wonderful to gather around a meal at the end of the day.

One of the highlights of this week has been helping getting a Mammas’ weekly support group launched. Alli and I have been planning this, with a few obstacles, such as finding an available translator/facilitator. Amazingly, we had Anathalie, a young woman of 28 with good English skills and a degree in clinical psychology, appear on our horizon. The first two-hour session was held on the farm platform and proved to be extremely moving for all of us. Here are some of their testimonials during the lunch afterwards:

"This is the first time in my life that anyone
has ever cared to ask how I am."

"It touches my heart, my heart is clear. To have
people care for me and others makes me feel good."

"When I first came here I did not have peace, I felt I was
the poorest. But then I hear that there are many problems
with people and we can talk about them, it gives me peace."

"We did not know what to expect today but we trust you
because you want to help our children… so we came."

Next week will be the first week of GHI’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Crates will be filled from produce from the GHI gardens and surplus from our local cooperatives to supply US Embassy staff who do not want to go the open air markets or the slick Nakumatt supermarket. It should be a win-win-win situation.

Some random observations:

• The horrors of the genocide are still very fresh in peoples’ psyches and easily triggered. (This reads like such a glib statement, but I can’t even begin to write about their trauma.)
• Two people on staff have shared part of their experiences. It is just impossible to fathom the impact of 800,000 people being murdered in four months in this tiny country. This week, one of the GHI staff, bumped into a friend in town who he thought had been killed. Their reunion after 17 years moved everyone around to tears.
• Plastic bags are illegal here. This is announced on the plane prior to arrival into Kigali, “All purchases from Duty Free have to be put into carry-on baggage and plastic bags left on the aircraft.” It is so refreshing to see MUCH less litter about as a result.
• President Kagame drives himself in a black Suburban with tinted windows with four vehicles accompanying him (two front and back). Apparently he likes to be in control at all times. Sightings are frequent.
• Thatch roofs have been outlawed within the last year and tin has been mandated.
• The news of the advancements with the malaria vaccine were met with great cheers, a moment to remember.

This weekend we are headed to Lake Kivu for an excursion which will be fun to see another district of Rwanda.

Helen

Helen in her 'internet perch'

GHI Staff


GHI gardens

Mamma group


Women on platform

Women in field

Aline & Cedric

Solange, Helen and Brad

Thanks to Jay Simpson for two photos; one of the women
on the platform and the two women talking in the grass.

Settling in…

I have finally had the planets align for getting this first Rwandan posting off; time, internet connectivity, electricity and a functioning computer! As I write there are flocks of lovely, colorful finches feasting on a myriad of dead flying termites. These termites are also harvested by local people for delectable treats and extra protein.

This first week has really been a process of getting acquainted, oriented and settled to the people, place and routine of Gardens for Health International (GHI). Unfortunately, I managed to be struck with a cold/flu from travel which kept me in a bit of a fog bound state for a couple of days, but it is great to be feeling well again. As a result of spending a little more time horizontal than usual, I read Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza, which is a very compelling survival story and gave me further insights into the atrocities of the genocide.

I arrived in Kigali October 6th (on time!) and was met by the fantastic welcoming committee comprised of Brad (nursing colleague/friend from time in Burundi), Aaron a Global Health Fellow here for the year), Solange ( translator), Sunday (translator) and Emmanuel (driver). They were heroic making it, considering a simultaneous hailstorm resulting in local flooding and gridlock traffic. The general chaos was exacerbated by this also being moving day to the new residence. After walking the final mile due to the very boggy and slippery road, it was wonderful to be welcomed by Julie, the country director, who had been preparing and “cozying” the house.

The new residence is a lovely 35 minute walk from the Gardens office/house, a good chance to get a bit of exercise, contemplate the day ahead and practice my very limited abilities of Kinyarwanda. Upon arrival at the gardens, it is wonderful to be greeted by the staff. The place really has the atmosphere of a large harmonious and loving family. Everyone seems very happy and dedicated to their work. Lunchtime is a highlight with a large plate of fresh food for all the workers.

We have been going out into the community to do malnutrition assessments on children. The really severe cases get referred to the district hospital, otherwise they get referred into the government program to receive Plumpy Nut supplementation and then get enrolled into GHI. GHI provides agricultural support with plants and fruit trees, as well as home visits by agricultural field officers. There is a also a four month health education program for the parents (99% mamas) which is taught by three GHI staff (Claire, Naomi and Anunciata, known affectionately as the “Three Mamas”, trained and taught by Brad).

The trainings for the community mamas coincide with their weekly visits to the local health centers to pick up their Plumpy Nut. It is truly wonderful to see the “Three Mamas” interact with the community mamas and share their personal testimonials, illustrating the concept of empowerment at its best. The trainings (designed by Brad) are excellent; beginning with yoga breathing and stretching, followed by terrific skits which personify the lesson (family planning this week). They captivate their audience and prompt many questions and general discussion amongst the mamas. Part of my work here will be to help Brad develop these trainings.

Alli (another volunteer) and I are also working together on psychosocial aspects of care and support/trainings. I feel very fortunate to be working and living with such a motivated and dynamic group of ‘twenty-somethings’ from the USA. It gives me hope for the future of humanity and the planet. There is much more to write, but I will sign off for now.

Hopefully the accompanying photos will give more of a sense of the goings on here. Helen

Helen walks to office

View of GHI office far left

Gardens for Health headquarters

Flower gardens

Julie and Cedric at plant nursery

Brad with Solange and Mamas

Helen with Solange and Mamas

Lunch

Helen with babes

Helen and Alli weighing

Mama with 3.2kg 7 month old

Claire and Naomi

Claire doing 1 on 1 consult

Claire and Naomi start with yoga

Ngiryi mamas being trained

Moto transport

Alli and Helen

Mama receiving plants

Child

Puppy love

Boy with harvested termites

Moringa & Mango

Helen finds the '5-bar spot' for the internet

Rwanda Bound. . .

Since my last entry in November 2010, I have attempted to re-frame the question “What is the meaning of life?” to “How to live one’s life with meaning?”! It’s been a good stint of self-reflection and opportunities to help friends and loved ones dealing with their transitions with moving, marriage, illness, and death. It has been a time to widen my horizons and keep my aging brain stimulated with more learning. I have been a participant in The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma hprt-cambridge.org, obtained Wilderness First Responder certification wildmed.com and attended the Summer Institute training at the Dougy Center, The National Center for Grieving Children & Families dougy.org in Portland, Oregon.

A “Healing Environments” video assignment for the Harvard program was particularly challenging, but ultimately provided me with a sense of fulfillment as I was able to synthesize some of my overseas work experiences to date. Reviewing thousands of photos of my own and my colleagues, brought back many memories and stories, but most of all cemented the reality that it has been an absolute privilege to embrace the humanity and uniqueness of many extraordinary individuals and communities across the globe. Here’s the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPGeobEV5qY. It’s about seven minutes.

I am departing for Kigali, Rwanda on October 5th to work with an organization called Gardens for Health International gardensforhealth.org. (The new and updated website is to be launched by mid-October.) I will be there for about two months and then return to Australia. To quote the website, “The Gardens for Health program is designed to enhance long-term food security, decrease malnutrition, foster economic development, and support effective HIV/AIDS care, and treatment.” The program comprises four integrated components: (1) Cooperative formation & land advocacy. (2) Inputs for community & home gardens. (3) Agriculture & nutrition training. (4) Income generation through agribusiness. Some of my roles which have been outlined in advance of my arrival are to assist with curriculum development …training the trainers; protocol development to integrate home based agricultural assistance into the prevention and treatment of malnutrition; integrating psychological first aid practices and other staff trainings.

Congratulations to Emma Clippinger, 25, co-Founder and Executive Director of Gardens for Health International based in Boston, who has recently been named a Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellow and will be a speaker at the Chicago Ideas Week chicagoideas.com on October 10th. Over the past three years Gardens for Health International has received numerous accolades, including an Echoing Green Fellowship, and the grand prize in the Dell Social Innovation Competition, JP Morgan Good Venture Competition and Ashoka/Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition. I am very excited anticipating the opportunity to work with a very dynamic and motivated group of under 30s from the USA including nurse extraordinaire Brad Snyder, whom I worked with in Burundi. Most of all I feel honored to be working with Rwandans who have undoubtedly endured so much in their lives. As Richard Mollica MD, the Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma writes in his book Healing Invisible Wounds, the goal is to help the individual create a new story, and that “The new story that emerges is no longer a story about powerlessness about losing the world and being totally dominated by someone else’s reality … it becomes a story … of survival and recovery.”

Postcript:
Cultivate Hope.
Please consider a donation to Gardens for Health through the website: http://www.gardensforhealth.org/support.php

Thank you so much, Helen

Gardens for Health Rwanda Staff

Helen & Emma in Boston