Last Week of Practicum

Us nursing students with our cook Jado, saying goodbye. We will miss the guest house staff!

This is a sad post. Mainly because I am writing it after practicum is over and I’m sad it has come to a close so quickly. However, it is always a good sign when you are sad to leave some place because it means you were able to enjoy the place you are leaving. Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to the friends we’ve made in Rwamagana. There has been the nursing students, nurses, doctors, soccer friends, and the house friends that we’ve had the privilege of getting to know over this past month. They have simply been a blessing to each of us and I’m so thankful for this experience to get to know such wonderful people.

The last week at the hospital was great, continued observations and helping out. There were some highlights, which included watching Lindsay assistanting with a C-section! Me being able to help with the new borns, and just observing and chatting with the nurses was also fun. I can’t wait to be a nurse !  In our final week we made sure to hang out with all of our friends, so we got to hang out with a few Doctors one night and just chat with them, we also got to spend time with some of our friends at their houses which was really nice. The friends we made in Rwamagana were so hospitable and we were invited for lunch a few times at their houses. The friends we made that worked in the Laboratory at the hospital also had a combined going away and birthday party for one of the guys, the night before we left. Each time their was such great food and conversation and fellowship. We also went to a few dance parties with our friends we made at the Laboratory at the hospital. That was also a blast. There was a concert in Rwamagana that we got to go to, and there was lots of dancing. Rwandans are great dancers! 

Ok story time about Lindsay helping with the C-Section...

So that day I decided I wanted to spend the whole day in the "theater" or the surgery room. However, I got there in the morning and they were going to be checking out a guys leg that was really infected and I got there after he had local anesthetic and they were just taking out the surgery tools... I wasn't able to understand fully what was going to happen so I texted Lindsay and told her to get her butt over there because if they were going to amputate his leg I didn't want to be there alone watching. So she came, and they ended up just scraping at the infection to check to see if he needed it to be amputated or not... it was still pretty gross but not as bad as anticipated. But while we were in the surgery room, there was a c-section women that came in for surgery.. and the doctor was joking with us asking if we wanted to assist. I immediately said no, I didn't want to be apart of injuring a newborn haha, but Lindsay agreed to it. I think we both thought that she would just be the third helper in the surgery and be passing surgical tools and such, but after she was dressed in her sterile scrubs we realized she was the only other assistant besides the doctor! I was pretty nervous for her, but the doctor and Lindsay were both confident so that was good. But to conclude, she did a wonderful job assisting, the baby was totally fine, and Lindsay got to help get the baby out and then suturing the women back up. It was so fun to watch her do all of this and take videos and pictures! I also got to then take the baby from the doctor as he pulled the baby out and then do all the nursing stuff for the baby which was fun, because then me and Lindsay got to help with this delivery together and everything went smoothly so that was a bonus :)

Lindsay assisting with the C-section! Crazy

One of the babies I got to take care of post delivery ( aka the baby Lindsay helped deliver! )

There is so much to say about the last week of practicum, I miss it so much. But more stories will have to be shared in person because there is just too much to write and the memories are so dear to me. I was challenged during my time at practicum so allow the Lord to open my eyes to difficult things and the hardship that many face daily in Rwanda. But I wouldn't have it any other way, I am so thankful for the experience the Lord blessed us with. It was also wonderful getting to know the other nursing students I went with much better, and becoming close friends. And now we are back in Kigali with the whole group, and it has been great seeing everyone again. Today is Halloween so we are having a dress up party which will be fun! Tomorrow I believe we are starting classes, or it may be friday (sometimes we don't find things out until last minute :) it is africa, it happens.

Gaspard taking my blood to be tested, I wanted to know how the patients felt, not fun. I hate needles...

 Besides working with the patients we also got to work in the laboratory for a few days, which was cool. We got to understand better the tropical diseases that are very common here and understand how they test for these diseases and what is actually going on in the body. The guys that worked in the lab, were really cool and became so of our very close friends. 

Vedaste working in the lab!

Some friends we made through our dear friend Mask

Eating lunch at Masks

Me and Mask- one of the friends we met at the soccer friend.  

Hanging out with our friend Emmanuel, was so kind to invite us over for lunch.

Just a cow in the middle of the road. 

Took a walk to the more rural parts of Rwamagana, and found beautiful scenery, couldn't help but take pictures

Me and Danah

The market in Rwamagana, so many awesome used clothes for so cheap!

Sweet girl I got to dance with at our going away/birthday party

Watching Mask and Adi playing soccer 

The women I got to help with. She had her finger amputated and I got to dress her wounds. This was after she was discharged, glad she is doing better, she is such a sweet lady.

Saying goodbye to the staff at our house, not fun.

Saying goodbye to the staff at the house was difficult. They were so sweet and took such good care of us. We stayed at a Christian guest house where they cooked food for us, cleaned our rooms and were our security. It was such a blessing to get to know them over the past month.

This marks the end of practicum, now it is time to look forward to the last 5 weeks we have in Rwanda!