We had an interesting lunch with Dr Christian, we met Liam who is now walking and talking - he is adorable as you can see in the picture. A particular useful take home message for us was putting practice into context, e.g. it may be difficult for a health care worker here to empathise with a patient who has cancer if they themselves have lost their entire family in the genocide whether they be victims or perpetrators. equally a patients pain or symptoms can often be worse during the anniversary period of the genocide (April to June) and should be considered in the holistic approach. And whilst in the UK we do not have this context every patient will have their own contextual situation.
As the Vicar of Dibley had several Christmas meals we then went on to have dinner with Diane (Palliative Care Co-ordinator for Rwanda) where a fascinating evening of discussion took place. There were many take home points but the one we found most significant was that an organisations sustainability is improved if the infrastructure of workforce, finance and planning is embedded within it rather than reliant upon one individual or dominant personalities.
An unusual aspect to our evening was a city wide power cut, but this did not stop the evenings fun allowing us to play Jenga in the dark with Diane's lovely children (Again see pictures).
we finally arrived back at the hotel at Midnight (Cinderella style) with brain overload - it has been a really useful day though with lots to think about.
Today we are hoping to meet with our friends from the training last year - JC And Dr Vincent to carry on our discussions before we are "Driven" to Bjumba to start the mentoring aspect of our journey.
Glad you have both arrived safely and settling in. Good to see updates about our colleagues. Remember me to Christian! Lucy
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