Differences in the Health Care World

July is wrapping up and UNGANA’s nurse seminars are ready to impact the people of Goma. Brianne, our nurse, arrived to Rwanda on Saturday and it’s great to see the enthusiasm of our last volunteer of this summer. To start off Brianne’s experience of Africa I took her to tour the Gisenyi Regional Hospital. It was great to see her reactions of the vast differences of the clinics and hospitals from Africa verses the United States. She was awed by the conditions of the delivery rooms and equipment used to treat patients. It was good to hear her say “I can’t wait to show the doctors and nurses at my office these pictures to remind them how good we have it”. The visit was a great reminder to Brianne and I of the many medical circumstances we take for granted at home.
Even Rwanda, which is one of the fastest developing countries in Africa, is still leaps and bounds away from achieving the health care standards of most western communities. UGNANA hopes that the seminars of this week will just be the start to the many programs that will be implemented into the region. This exciting event is just the beginning of the many great resources that will soon be flowing to Africa. I can only look forward to the changes that will occur here and the hand that UNGANA will have in its success. Thanks for reading and I plan on bringing more great news here soon.

Brianne Nurse Volunteer

Hey, everyone my name is Brianne Moffitt. Dave introduced me a little bit previously, but I am indeed the RN. I am from Logan, Utah and I still reside there. I graduated from school three years ago and have worked for Cache Valley Women’s Center ever since. I was so excited when the Ungana Foundation asked me to come to Africa.

As we headed to the border of the Congo I have to admit I got nervous and scared a bit. I have only been in Rwanda for a few days and have only heard scary things about the Congo. As soon as we met up with our friends from the Congo I felt a lot more at ease. They knew exactly where to take us and how to get there. The city was so busy, the drivers were crazy. That probably ended up being the most dangerous part of the trip. We met at a school classroom which we appreciate them letting us use. When I came to Africa they told me I would be teaching 7 nurses a day instead it was like 16-20 nurses, most of who were male which was interesting to me. Doctor Jonathan was there to translate and he did a terrific job. Everyone participated and asked questions. It was so fun to hear the questions they had for me. For example one nurse asked, “Why are Americans scared of breastfeeding”? It was hard to answer that without smiling. When I told them I had never dealt with a pregnant AIDs patient in Logan, Utah there was shock. I told them I had to read about it and ask the doctors I work for about treatment. They did not believe me they kept asking me if I was lying. Their faces were unforgettable when I read statistics from the States on AIDs. It was a very humbling experience. They wanted to know how we do it, why are there so few people with AIDs. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

When I was finished with all of the material they asked if I could come back for more days. I told them I didn’t have any more material then they asked if I could get more. Throughout the seminar I could not tell if they were enjoying the seminars so it was great to see their responses. It was so fun/interesting to compare stories and treatments. They have taught me so much. When we left they had one of the nurses stand and thank us. It was so sweet and nice of him. It was such a great learning experience for me and hopefully for them too.

 Utah State University has written a nice article on our work over here in Rwanda with the XO computers and OLPC.  Thanks for helping to get the message spread in the U.S. about Ungana Foundation's mission and goals.  

Alyssa Callister

President

Ungana Foundation

It's always fabulous to read some nice publicity about our work here in Rwanda!  Thanks for helping get the word out that we are partnered with wonderful organizations doing  great work.

...Yet among the most exciting of endeavors is a joint-venture between Université Libre de Kigali (ULK) and the Ungana Foundation, based in Gisenyi....

Alyssa Callister

President

Ungana Foundation

It was the day of pomp and circumstance.

Today we hosted a formal event, designed to give parents, district and city officials, and school administrators a look at the wonderful opportunities that are coming their way.

The event – highly publicized and attended by several popular leaders, including Senator Balinda, who is also the founder of the Independent University of Kigali (ULK) – was covered by Rwanda Television, and showed the country some of the things that ULK and The UNGANA Foundation are doing to enable progress.

We got the chance to showcase some of the XO laptop activities that the children at the E.P.GI Primary School have been working on over the last couple of weeks, and it was honestly amazing to hear the reaction of the crowd when one of our students logged onto her XO, opened the Web browser, and searched for images of Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame. She then wowed them with her ability to copy an image to the clipboard and paste it in a text document, then write a sentence about the President.

That’s after two weeks of having the XO for one hour per day.

This is a perfect example of the limitless opportunities that come as a result of the XOs. The kick-off event began a process that – with the guidance of The UNGANA Foundation, the teachers, school officials, and the entire community – has the ability to transform these children’s education.

Power into the hands of those that crave it.

Coy Whittier
Communications Associate
The UNGANA Foundation

Our Colleagues

Getting known in Rwanda

The other day we had breakfast with a gentlemen named Albert Nsengiyumva, a great friend and local contact. He was excited because the previous evening an acquaintance was telling him about the "Ungana Foundation". Albert was taken back! It wasn't just that someone knew about us, but this was his SECOND conversation about Ungana - the first was with the Minister of Education! He told us both gentlemen were well aware of our presence and stated "these guys are serious". We were certainly ecstatic to hear that Ungana was being hailed by the Minister of Education and came up in dinner conversation. It was a true sign that our organization is now here, and here to stay.

Also in our meeting with Albert, he informed us about a campaign he'd thought up years ago but never found the right partner. Between praises for our current work, and an offer to share USAID grant money, he invited Ungana to manage his idea; its called "Rwanda, Its Possible". The plan involves a national awareness of smaller entrepreneurs who have succeeded. Imagine a portfolio of success stories, publized throughout the country to inspire rural entreneurs and provide hope in the seemingly impossible. Albert's network of higher-ups would put the campaign on the national stage, recruiting Ministers, business leaders, Rwanda's most exclusive group the "Unity Club", and even the President himself. "Rwanda, Its Possible" is a perfect segway into our entrepreneurship endeavors planned for 2010.

Needless to say, things are moving at a quickening pace. Despite our many rejections to offers for partnership, the projects are building up. Our next step is funding then recruitment. We've met a great team of Rwandese young professionals to manage our programs and can't wait to give them personal ownership in what we're trying to do.

Loving Our Work in Rwanda

The Little XO Computer That Could... in the Congo

The deployment in Goma (Congo) is coming along as well.  Although many officials and members of the media are excited for the project, it has been a wild two weeks in Goma.  

This week, the President Kabila arrived in Goma and will be here for two weeks.  Kabila is the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and it has been quite the spectacle.  Kabila is rarely in Goma and the streets are lined with thousands of soldiers armed with AKs and rocket launchers.  June 30 was the Independence Day in Congo and these soldiers were in formation as a part of a parade and celebration on the streets of Goma. 

 Despite the hectic environment, the planning for the deployment has been going quite well.  A classroom is available at the district offices and the Education Privet (Director of Education in Goma) along with UNHCR is helping with a choice of the initial primary school. 

The Ungana Foundation and students from the University of Kinshasa (involved in OLPC Corps) have extensive plans for the deployment including the children designing their own schoolhouse on the XO computers that will then be constructed by the Ungana Foundation.

Alyssa Callister

President

The Ungana Foundation

Entrepeneurialism

The Ungana Foundation has been fortunate enough to develop a strong partnership with ULK (the Independent University of Kigali and second largest University in the country) and with Senator Balinda (Rwandan Senator and founder/director of the University).  

As a result of this partnership we have been fortunate enough to work with the University on multiple projects one of which being the development of an incubation center.  The incubation center is basically a resource center for students who want to begin their own businesses.  Eventually the center will include affordable short-term office space but for right now it will operate on the basis of informational resources and a series of labs.

The Ungana Foundation has made many observations about the business culture in Rwanda since beginning operations here, one of these observations being that many Rwandan university students graduate and take positions far below their qualifications.   This is due, in part, to a reserved nature and aversion to an entrepreneurial mindset. 

The labs that the Ungana Foundation will set up in the incubation center are centered around changing this mindset.  The labs utilize a mentor program, real world observation/case study, role play, and a community project to teach competitive thinking and leadership.  The incubation center is set to open in the next few weeks in Kigali and will then open at the Gisenyi extension campus as well.  

These type of entrepeneurial skills are a critical pillar of our foundation.  Designing and setting up this center has provided much of the base research and curriculum necessary for the entrepreneurial training program that the Ungana Foundation will launch in conjunction with a socially responsible business in the near future.  

Alyssa Callister

President

Ungana Foundation

Emphasis on Education

The Ungana Foundation has been working tirelessly this month on a multitude of projects.  The hard work that the associates have been exerting towards the goals of this organization can be seen in the many recent successes Ungana has experienced. 

Ungana is focused on what we believe are the four pillars of development: Education, Entrepreneurialism, Health, and Environmentalism.  Ungana has moved ahead with projects in both Rwanda (Gisenyi) and Congo (Goma) based on these core missions

The Ungana Foundation just completed a pilot education program at a second primary school in Gisenyi without the XO Laptops.  This program highlighted the Ungana Foundations emphasis on English, money management, and health education to primary schools.  The Ungana Foundation hosted five volunteers from various universities in the United States that each taught different subjects in the program.  The program went extremely well and we expect to use the structure of the program with a few modifications at multiple schools in the area. 

In addition to the primary school education the Ungana Foundation is also holding weekend English tutoring for educators in Gisenyi.  Rwanda is currently switching from a Francophone to an Anglophone country and as such will be mandating instruction in English.  This has been extremely difficult for the teachers as English is not their first language.  Almost all schools in the area that we have spoken to have expressed a strong desire for a program designed to help this transition.  The Ungana Foundation has been quick to oblige and we hope to help many educators in the area achieve their goals.  

Alyssa Callister

President

The Ungana Foundation