July 1st

July 1, 2012

Friday I spent my time at the clinic. Usually Friday is slow but we had an abnormally large amount of people getting tested for HIV and safe sex talks. In addition we had about 15 children get tested as well. Usually I work with adults, until Friday I had only performed one HIV test on a child. I asked Angel why they were all here, basically no help she told me it was because all their parents have HIV. Now worried to death, I was convinced I would have 15 positive HIV tests for the kids. Angel is awesome, but a terrible translator, and half the time she has no clue what she is talking about. Also her beliefs often interfere with what happens at the clinic. The reason the kids were getting tested in because they were all on the same soccer team and needed to be tested for travel. Thanks Angel.

I also had a first on Friday, I had an unmarried couple come in to get tested and get condoms for pregnancy prevention. I was startled because condom use is usually stressed for HIV prevention not pregnancy prevention. They both came back negative.  So happy to see people practicing safe sex I gladly handed them condoms. I don’t know if premarital sex is frowned upon here but this profession is not place to judge anyone. Unfortunately some of the nurses and Angel make their beliefs known in the clinic. I personally feel regardless if married or not safe sex should be supported, it’s better than people running around with unwanted babies and HIV.

I also feel like I have become the safe sex birth control guru. I always always always encourage people to have safe sex and be monogamous with their partner. People at the clinic seem to think I am a know it all when it comes to birth control. Believe me, I don’t know everything but I know a lot more than most the nurses. It’s actually quite frustrating. For example I have had a few pregnant women come in pissed because their birth control “doesn’t work”. They use the pill, first question I ask, do you take it regularly? Then they respond yes I take it every time I have sex. Well duh the pill doesn’t work, you need to take it every day not just when you have sex. The people come in pissed but really it’s result of lack of education, they don’t understand how to properly take the pill. This is so aggravating.  

This weekend the other volunteers came down from Kigali. Going to the largest bat colony in Gisenyi fell through so we ended up going to Paradise Hotel on Saturday. The last Saturday of every month public transportation doesn’t run, it is law that every Rwandan from 8am to 12pm participates in a service project. Basically the last Saturday of every month is dedicated to Rwandans cleaning up trash, and repairing roads. We had no clue that it was this Saturday so we decided to walk to Paradise.  On the way there a UN truck passed us and I waved. They ended up stopping and it was the same peacekeepers I had met at the border. The offered to give us a ride to Paradise, why not. Like a badass we all road in the UN truck. My life is epic. Once there we invited them to have a drink  with us but they said they had to get back to the Congo. Paradise was amazing, it had great food and a private beach, literally a place to go on a honeymoon.