Culturally Bilingual

This week has been a little tough. The initial shock of arriving has turned into what we have dubbed a "SIX MONTHS?!" moment. This happens when you stop and think for even a second about what and who you left behind at home, and the fact that you won't get to see, be with them, or be apart of it for another six months.

Now we do try to convince ourselves that six months will fly by. And I know that by the end of January I will ask myself "where has the time gone?" and will be sad to move on from what will inevidably be an amazing experience. But sometimes, especially when I cannot be understood, I'm tired, I'm lost, or I'm all alone, six months seems like an endless stretch of time. I have been asking myself "why, really, am I doing this? Why did this seem like a good idea?"

Luckily, I have found many answers.

I have pushed my limits many times before, and through those experiences I have grown into somene who is more confident, open-minded, compassionate, and kind, and ultimatly someone I like to be. I can only imagine how much I will grow personally during this adventure. I am really excited for the world view I will come away with. Not only am I travelling, but also living in a different culture; forced to meet people, make friends, and cope on my own (with the help of Skype and a few phone calls, too). I will eventually become comfortable with the noise of the bats as I lecture, the bustle of the people, the language and the local customs. The moral and ethical dilemnas I face every day as I walk past begging children, see immense suffering in patients, or learn about the genocide can only lead to spiritual and moral growth that will stengthen my belief in the potential for good in this world, as well as inspire me to be a courageous, generous, giving and kind person.

I also get to see my work from a nursing and development perspective, continuously on the lookout for solutions to problems and ways of doing things that can be adopted into my own professional demenor, and potentially the community where I work. I will really come to understand how there truely is many solutions to a problem, and many ways of being.

Hopefully through my own growth and knowledge development I will learn how to be a global citizen. In this world that gets smaller everyday, but somewhat nastier as we look at the future of the environment, global conflict, poverty and hunger, it is more important now than ever for everyone to know their community. Not only the small area where they were born, but the entire world and global community in which we live. We can no longer trick ourselves into believing that the consequences to our actions only affect us, so we must strive for those consequences to be positive for everyone they touch. And how are we to know how far our actions can reach if we never go out there an explore the world around us?

The huge bonus of this experience that I was not expecting is the professional development. The fact that I am a lecturer and incharge of a course will look stellar on a resume, so on that more superficial level this may lead to some career opportunities I hadn't thought of. Also related to the actual work is this grand opportunitiy I have to actually make a contribution. I wasn't ever expecting to be a "big help" or change the world, but it is nice to know that the work I'm doing is actually meaningful. In front of me is this huge potential to build the capasity of the nurses here in Rwanda. I do believe in nursing, and I know that the health care in this country will strengthen in proportion to the growth of the profession. And that's pretty exciting to be (a small) part of it!

I ran into a nurse who I met last time I was here. He was thrilled that I will be here until the end of January, because that is just enough time to become "culturally bilingual". He told me that there are only good and amazing things that can come from such an exchange of ideas, language, and culture, and that I will forever be a better nurse and person because I will be able to step more readily out of my comfort zone after this. His words of wisdom (without even knowing how daunted I felt!) were so comforting and welcome. As have been all of your emails and praise and your own words of wisdom. My dad reminded me that this is the ultimate learning experience, so I will do my best to soak it all up! Maybe I can even inspire you to take a daring risk and find yourself overseas, changing the world through understanding, one person at a time.


(P.S. I will explain more about my house, job, and the city in the future, but I'm waiting on some better pictures and tonight I needed to put this into some sort of meaningful blurb for myself as well as for you!)