Part of the program for prisoners to pay back their debt to society involves the able prisoners to perform various duties for the community. For the educated prisoners, they teach. I am making arrangements to study the local language. Heidi, the public health specialist who manages the human health component of the MGVP "One Health" concept has been taking lessons for quite some time so she made the introductions for me to begin. I have been trying to learn kinyarwandan on my own, but it is tough. A guy from town did teach me to say "Umuzungu ni Nyoko." Basically, when you walk around town, young children and drunk men will yell out "Umuzungu" meaning "white guy!" What I learned to reply with is the Rwandan version of "Yo Mamma." It literally translates to "Umuzumgu is your mother." I'll save that one for special occasions.
After the prison, we walked to the Murabura hotel for Thanksgiving dinner. Heidi had a toasted cheese sandwich with french fries and I had a big platter of pineapple. We had many items to discuss for work but our conversation kept coming back to how thankful we were to have been born in the United States of America.
The "One Health" idea includes a priority for capacity building within the community. The idea is that if you can improve the livelihood of a community, you improve the health of the community. If you can improve the health of the community, it is easier to protect the health of the gorillas who live in the park that is surrounded by the community.
For those in severe poverty, health care is a luxury. Capacity building can elevate the livelihoods so that health care is less of a luxury and more of a standard practice. Capacity building can be the coordination of a new milk processing facility that will promote commerce as well as public health. Capacity building can also be as simple as making sure that a bright person has an opportunity for an education. One such person, Pacifique, works at the Murabura hotel in the restaurant and makes 20,000 Rwandan franks each month, that's $35.71. He is 23 years old, single, no children, lives at home with his parents and they depend upon his paycheck for their survival. His father is 72 and handicapped, his mother is 69 and takes care of his father. He just completed a national exam which earned him a full ride scholarship to the National University of Rwanda. If he goes, his parents don't eat. The neat thing about it is that he isn't looking for a handout. What he is looking for is an opportunity to earn enough money so that he can go to school and feed his parents.
The worst news that I heard this week involves HIV. The level of support from around the world for helping children that are born with HIV has sharply risen. There are many people doing wonderful things to improve the lives of these unfortunate souls. The trouble is, in communities where poverty is severe, individuals are intentionally becoming HIV positive just so they will receive the food, clothing and health care that the charitable programs provide. I am talking about children in the 8-12 year old age range who are heads of households because their parents have died. These kids live on the streets and are responsible for their younger siblings. I just can't comprehend that level of desperation.
Just being born in America has been a huge blessing for me. In fact, I think that I am the most fortunate person that I know.
