helen weld public health

11/11/11. . .

Despite formidable weather predictions and the previous days heavy downpours, the Second Annual GHI Thanksgiving celebration was blessed with sunshine throughout the whole day, with nary a spit of rain. After the grey days, colors seemed especially vibrant; large white cumulous clouds, cobalt blue skies, verdant fields and gardens, vermillion and orange flowers, local women wearing their finest gitenge fabrics and the GHI women (moi aussi) resembling Statue of Liberties (without the torch and crown) wearing brilliant green umushananas. The complete rainbow which came out Thursday afternoon was apparently good luck and helped make the event wonderful for the throngs.

The whole week had been a build up to Friday’s event, but the energy really began to focus on Thursday. The GHI staff gathered and tackled a variety of tasks; washing and peeling 200 kg of potatoes; washing, peeling and slicing 100kg of sweet potatoes for fries; husking 800 ears of corn; slaughtering five large goats (after we all gathered and gave thanks); making pennants and erecting a covering over the cooking area. We all (about 20 of us) spent the night on mattresses in the office and took short shifts of sleep. Throughout the night there were intermittent bouts of dancing keeping everyone refreshed. Good humour and a festive spirit abounded.

Dawn broke to clear skies on Friday…still many things on the list to check off…salad prep, and the beginning of serious cooking of beans, rice, corn, potatoes, goat, turkey, dodo (all done over open fires) by an incredible crew of strong and hard working women (Clair, Naomi and Anunciata) as well as volunteer women from the community. 4 large turkeys to kill and prepare, tents to erect, chairs to set up, speeches and skits to rehearse, plus a myriad of behind-the-scenes tasks.

People began to arrive by noon. Many had walked far distances for this event and carried offerings of their own garden harvests on their heads in agseke (lovely traditional baskets). One man brought sweet potatoes in a battered brief case. Sunday and Solange were a terrific duo as emcees, keeping the pre-meal schedule of events rolling in a timely manner. One community health worker/mama, Marceline, brought her six sets of twins (she also has two singles!) to do a song and dance performance. Two men wrote a song about GHI’s vision and service to the community weaving public health messages into the lyrics. Community women gave testimonials and performed traditional dances. Julie gave a speech in Kinyarwanda before we broke to serve the food.

We really had no exact count of the numbers of expected guests which made quantities of food a bit of a worry. There was never a final tally of an exact number of attendees, but judging the amount of chairs and plates used, we estimate between 800-900 people….maybe closer to 1,000 if you count babies on backs. There was a steady and serene queue receiving food for almost two hours. The circular flow began with a hand-washing station and continued around the ‘bingalow’. Each dish was served by one person (I was on beans). Brad ended the line distributing de-worming tablets and condoms. GHI friends came and helped too (dish washers galore) which was a fantastic bonus and added great fun to the festivities. The quantities were perfect and some even had seconds.

Before people headed home there were more skits conveying public health messages done by community members and the GHI mamas who were terrific and humorous. Per the Rwandan tradition of an elder closing off the day, I was asked to do a reading (Advice from a Tree by Ilan Shamir) and say a few words.

Clean up continued into the night under the full moon. Exhaustion set in by 9:30 and we piled onto the mattresses again. Just as we had put heads down, Rasta, GHI’s extraordinary carpenter/fixit man, who had worked so hard all night and day, came in to ask for help. His wife was in non-progressing labor at the local hospital and needing transfer to the district hospital. Brad and Julie went with a Rwandan friend to help. Brad ended up finishing the day delivering a healthy baby boy, Joshua, around 11:11 pm on 11/11/11. The full moon was in action!

I woke early to take a walk and survey the area where everyone had gathered before continuing with the cleaning up process. Flocks of lovely red finches flew by in a flock as the dawn broke. The airs still held the festive air of love and laughter of this amazing community of people. 11/11/11 was a day never to be forgotten.

Helen