heading back

In a few hours Brian will drive Mat, a Dal anesthesia resident, and me to the airport to begin the long journey to Rwanda.  This will be Mat's 2nd visit to Rwanda and my 7th.  I had not intended to keep a blog, thinking there was little I could say that would be new, but I realize that each time is fresh and sometimes sharing these experiences is inspiring to people.  So I will do my best.

The last few days have been rather inauspicious.  Brian and I got bad colds and a polar vortex descended on North America bringing a deep freeze (who's ever heard of a polar vortex anyway?).  Operations at Toronto airport, through which we are scheduled to fly later today, ground to halt a few days ago, creating a mass of chaos and suffering.  People waited hours, even days, in horrendous circumstances.  Flights are moving again but with many delays and some cancellations.  We could be in for a rough journey...

Mat and I will be teaching Respiratory System to the anesthesia residents.  With the sim centre is up and running, we can make things more lively.  I will be following up on many other activities – arranging a third SAFE Course, helping to set up pain management programs at two of the hospitals, ensuring sustainable funding for the sim centre, and helping to fulfill the anesthesia department's strategic plan.

As always, I look forward to the people.  Emmy, our friend, guide, fixer, translator, cultural interpreter and driver extraordinaire, promises to greet us at the Kigali airport.  Christophe will be taking care of the apartment; it will be lovely to see his warm smiles.  Steven, my friend who has worked his way from street cleaner to translator to law student, will be graduating law school in June.  He is applying for a scholarship to study conflict resolution at Notre Dame University.  Then there are all the anesthesia staff, residents, technicians that I have known for years.

We are scheduled to arrive in Kigali around 2 AM on Saturday morning.  It will take us a while to get internet and for my brain to clear enough to post.  Thank you so much to my family, friends, and colleagues for great support and all your good wishes.

This is what we are leaving behind:

View from our condo during the last snowstorm