Kibuye is quite easily the most beautiful place I have ever visited. It's a very quiet, more rural part of Rwanda and is located in the Eastern part of the country. The town lies on Lake Kivu and across the lake are mountains, volcanoes, and the Rwandan-Congolese border. The hills are actually endless out here - you cannot see flat land anywhere in the horizon.
The sunsets are the best time of the day. The sky is pink behind the mountains and the colours reflect and glow off the lake. It's amazing how beautiful this country is - it makes it hard to believe that such terrible and gruesome things happened here less than two decades ago.
During my time in Kibuye, I have been teaching Anatomy and Physiology to first year students at the other Kigali Health Institue (known as Nyamishaba). Below you'll see my classroom. It's been quite the experience teaching difficult scientific concepts to students who are still learning English. They are no where close to mastering basic words, let alone words like duodenum and pericardium! You also really begin to appreciate the role of technology in education. Several times, we had no power and it makes powerpoint presentations impossible. Some programs rely on the internet to work and functional internet is definitely not a regular part of life.
Funny enough, weather out here even impacts teaching. The roofs are made of tin and so when it pours, you can't even hear the sound of your own voice. Lightning struck the roof of this classroom during a lecture once and it made it pretty difficult for the students to focus or for me to even keep my composure! Scary stuff.
My first year orthopaedic students
I'll be returning to Kibuye in early November. I feel very fortunate to be able to explore the country through my work. This is a great place, not only for the nature but also the people. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Rwanda is truly the land of a thousand hills and a million smiles!
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