A homecooked meal & personalized city tour

A week ago, one of the midwives who was participating in the ultrasound course I helped with invited us over for dinner to her home. Annika is a Belgian woman who has lived many different places in Africa and has been in Kigali for the past 5 years with her husband and 4 children. She was extremely generous to invite 9 guests over for dinner on Friday. Besides her family, the original faculty of the ultrasound course (Eric, Raj, Nerea, and Nicola) and the BBC film crew (Juliette & Glenn), their neonatology colleagues (Tom & Frances) and me, we were joined by Professor Joseph (the Ob/Gyn who I hope to work with here in Kigali) and a Congolese gentleman who was passing through Kigali before catching a flight to Amsterdam. Over a fantastic fish stew, crepes and homemade ice cream we had a really great evening. I believe there were conversations in about 5 different languages. Much of the conversation revolved around improving health care in developing countries, but there was a also a lot of discussion about whether the inauguration of Obama will translate into real progress in the developing world.

The following morning, I joined the same crowd for a driving tour of Kigali led by Annika. Since there were too many to fit inside the cab of her truck, most of us piled into the bed of her pickup. This was perfect because Eric, Glenn & Juliette wanted some driving footage of the city.

BTW--If you want to know more about Eric's organization that creates teaching films and documentaries about health care in the developing world, check out www.medicalaidfilms.org

Annika was an excellent guide. We ended at the entrance to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. That evening, the Londoners returned to the UK.

The fortune of meeting them and being able to help with their course was fantastic! As I told some of them before we said goodbye, if the rest of my time in Rwanda is 50% as productive as my 1st week, I will consider the trip a success.