My name is Julia Hoek. I am a third-year nursing student at CHE University of Applied Sciences. I had the opportunity to do a five-month internship at the Health Centre in Rubengera, together with my fellow student Joëlle. During this period, we stayed with the deaconess community.
I had a wonderful time and learned a lot at the Health Centre, and I was warmly welcomed into the community; it felt like a second home.
The internship was very educational; I accompanied the ambulance and went on outreach for the immunisation programme. I was able to observe and assist in all departments. I found the maternity ward, the vaccination programme and minor surgery particularly interesting.
Not only were the weeks varied, but so were the days. In one week, you could see and work in four different departments. The stability that the sisters brought with the communal meal was very nice.
While I was in Rwanda, I also travelled a lot, literally from south to north and east to west. The trips I made:
- Vulcanoes National Park, where we climbed Mount Muhabura with three German volunteers and a former German volunteer.
- Akagera National Park, for a one-day safari with Joëlle, during which we saw the Big Four and two different lion prides, and also went on a boat trip.
- Nyungwe National Forest, also for one day, where I did the canopy trail and waterfall hike, saw monkeys along the way, and enjoyed the beautiful nature.
- I went on a four-day trip to Uganda from Rwanda for a one-day gorilla trek and a two-day safari in Queen Elizabeth Safari Park.
- We visited Kibuye a few times, where we swam in Lake Kivu and went on a boat trip, among other things.
We spent New Year’s Eve in Kigali with the group of German volunteers who were also in Rwanda. During that week, we visited the Kigali Genocide Museum, where we learned a lot about Rwanda’s history.
We also went on a beautiful horseback ride on Mount Kigali and enjoyed a nice trip into the city. The country itself is beautiful too; very green with amazing views.
I am very impressed by everything the sisters do here and the projects they have running. And by how much they mean to the people here.
Unfortunately, our time in Rubengera has come to an end and now we are back home and we’re going back to school to work on our final thesis.
Best wishes,
Julia
