CONGE was written on the class schedule last week. It means holiday; a full day off in honour of Mary's assumption to heaven. Sounded good to me! To make the most of the long weekend, we managed to organize a trip to Nungwe National Park in the Southwest province of Rwanda. On a side note, planning such a trip basing your information on a 5 year old guide book and coordinating with three other people via text messaging can be a little frustrating, so in the future I am most definately asking some local people, or experienced expats, first. However, by noon on Friday we were in Butare, the town where I spent three weeks last time I was in Rwanda, with a place to stay and omelets in our bellies.
The hospital was a 15 minute walk along a familiar road. I wanted to visit and see if any of the nurses I worked with were still there, and the other girls were keen to see what Rwanda's healthcare system is like. I don't know why I was expecting to see my old patients, but I was glad my little friends were no longer living in the damp cement building. I am picturing them recovered at home, back to being healthy children. Unfortunately I know that is probably not necessarily the case, but I'm going to stick with that idea for now. Claudine, one of the peds nurses was there working in the NICU, and was happy to see me. I was so glad to be embraced by her – so I DID make some friends last time! It was actually a bit of a relief. The reaction of the other girls to the suffering and situation in the hospital also reassured me that it is acceptable to still feel some inner turmoil over my experience working there. The daily suffering, apathy, and terrible conditions would wear anyone down. I think I still haven't fully digested it.
The road to the National Park on Saturday morning took us through more feilds, crops, communities, and some tea feilds. I was dissapointed we were not able to track the Chimpanzees (turns out you DO have to make a reservation, contrary to what we were told) but found a compromise in walking a trail that would take us to Columbus monkeys. And did it ever. Monkeys everywhere!! At first, I was entraced by the jungle itself. Nungwe is a natural rainforest situated in the hills of Rwanda. The buzz of the insects, the canopy high above, and the incredible growth of the plant life was mesmorizing. As we rounded one corner I could hear the rustle of the leaves as the monkeys were jumping from branch to branch, then there they were, at least sixty individuals that were part of a troupe of more than 400. Although they were silent, they were very active: shimmining down trees, leaping across gaps in the canopy, clamboring up to the branches with food, and always interacting with eachother. Seeing them in their natural environment was the best part by far.
That night we stayed at Peace Guesthouse in Cyangugu, near the boarder of the DRC, which you could see across the lake. I recommend the guesthouse to anyone – the sunset over the lake was beautiful and the area was very peaceful (no pun intended). My favorite part of the evening was the conversation we had with our driver, Bernard, who only speaks french. I got to practice my french, even though it is grammatically terrible, and hear about his struggle to rebuild his life after the war. I've found that most people will tell you their story, if you give them a chance to tell it.
The waterfall trail sounded enticing, so Sunday we were back in the rainforest first thing in the morning. Although the cascading water was the initial appeal, it turns out the most amazing part of the whole weekend was walking through the tea feilds that are situated at the edge of the forest. Tea grows in short, very brightly colored, green bushes, which stretch for miles over the hills, resembling a bed of spongy, enticing moss. I kept wanting to roll in it, it looked so soft and welcoming (even though it is actually a bush with sharp branches). As we climbed over hills towards the jungle, we could hear churchgoers singing in the distance. The sound of their voices soaring high, the morning light, the rolling hills, the contrast of the red dirt road against the green bushes, and the fresh mountain air can only be described as awe-inspiring, romantic, and stunning. I couldn't help but think “here I am. Here I AM! HERE I AM!!!!”. I felt like you do when you gaze at galaxies of stars in the night sky: small, but so lucky to be part of something so beautiful. That feeling continued all day, as I learned about the delicate balance of the species in the forest, the length of time it takes for a forest to rebuild, and found a waterfall deep in the African jungle. I felt complete.
There were so many lessons gleaned from the beauty of the balance, harmony and interdependence of all the species in the jungle. For example, there is a vine that has taken over the jungle floor because there are no longer elephants to eat it; there is a species of plant which uses existing root systems, so that a tree can have different types of leaves growing on the sames roots. The fact that there is such a delicate balance involved with this extreme level of cooperation is really interesting; nothing can take more than it's share, and all must co exist to survive. There are a million ways that these lessons can be applied to balance in my own life, and balance through the entire world. We all play a vital role, and if we share, and allow others to flourish, we can grow even more. At least, that's what the jungle taught me. I wish I could have shared the magic of the rainforest with you all.
(sorry, pictures not uploading! maybe next time)
The hospital was a 15 minute walk along a familiar road. I wanted to visit and see if any of the nurses I worked with were still there, and the other girls were keen to see what Rwanda's healthcare system is like. I don't know why I was expecting to see my old patients, but I was glad my little friends were no longer living in the damp cement building. I am picturing them recovered at home, back to being healthy children. Unfortunately I know that is probably not necessarily the case, but I'm going to stick with that idea for now. Claudine, one of the peds nurses was there working in the NICU, and was happy to see me. I was so glad to be embraced by her – so I DID make some friends last time! It was actually a bit of a relief. The reaction of the other girls to the suffering and situation in the hospital also reassured me that it is acceptable to still feel some inner turmoil over my experience working there. The daily suffering, apathy, and terrible conditions would wear anyone down. I think I still haven't fully digested it.
The road to the National Park on Saturday morning took us through more feilds, crops, communities, and some tea feilds. I was dissapointed we were not able to track the Chimpanzees (turns out you DO have to make a reservation, contrary to what we were told) but found a compromise in walking a trail that would take us to Columbus monkeys. And did it ever. Monkeys everywhere!! At first, I was entraced by the jungle itself. Nungwe is a natural rainforest situated in the hills of Rwanda. The buzz of the insects, the canopy high above, and the incredible growth of the plant life was mesmorizing. As we rounded one corner I could hear the rustle of the leaves as the monkeys were jumping from branch to branch, then there they were, at least sixty individuals that were part of a troupe of more than 400. Although they were silent, they were very active: shimmining down trees, leaping across gaps in the canopy, clamboring up to the branches with food, and always interacting with eachother. Seeing them in their natural environment was the best part by far.
That night we stayed at Peace Guesthouse in Cyangugu, near the boarder of the DRC, which you could see across the lake. I recommend the guesthouse to anyone – the sunset over the lake was beautiful and the area was very peaceful (no pun intended). My favorite part of the evening was the conversation we had with our driver, Bernard, who only speaks french. I got to practice my french, even though it is grammatically terrible, and hear about his struggle to rebuild his life after the war. I've found that most people will tell you their story, if you give them a chance to tell it.
The waterfall trail sounded enticing, so Sunday we were back in the rainforest first thing in the morning. Although the cascading water was the initial appeal, it turns out the most amazing part of the whole weekend was walking through the tea feilds that are situated at the edge of the forest. Tea grows in short, very brightly colored, green bushes, which stretch for miles over the hills, resembling a bed of spongy, enticing moss. I kept wanting to roll in it, it looked so soft and welcoming (even though it is actually a bush with sharp branches). As we climbed over hills towards the jungle, we could hear churchgoers singing in the distance. The sound of their voices soaring high, the morning light, the rolling hills, the contrast of the red dirt road against the green bushes, and the fresh mountain air can only be described as awe-inspiring, romantic, and stunning. I couldn't help but think “here I am. Here I AM! HERE I AM!!!!”. I felt like you do when you gaze at galaxies of stars in the night sky: small, but so lucky to be part of something so beautiful. That feeling continued all day, as I learned about the delicate balance of the species in the forest, the length of time it takes for a forest to rebuild, and found a waterfall deep in the African jungle. I felt complete.
There were so many lessons gleaned from the beauty of the balance, harmony and interdependence of all the species in the jungle. For example, there is a vine that has taken over the jungle floor because there are no longer elephants to eat it; there is a species of plant which uses existing root systems, so that a tree can have different types of leaves growing on the sames roots. The fact that there is such a delicate balance involved with this extreme level of cooperation is really interesting; nothing can take more than it's share, and all must co exist to survive. There are a million ways that these lessons can be applied to balance in my own life, and balance through the entire world. We all play a vital role, and if we share, and allow others to flourish, we can grow even more. At least, that's what the jungle taught me. I wish I could have shared the magic of the rainforest with you all.
(sorry, pictures not uploading! maybe next time)
No comments:
Post a Comment