Out of Africa

Above: Pool at Hotel Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda)

Well, this is our last blog and I can happily say I am writing it from the comfort of my house in Halifax.

We went to work Thursday morning and spent the time helping out with a 7 month old ICU patient that they were trying to ventilate using the anesthesia machine. We left the hospital at noon and had lunch by the pool at Hotel Milles Collines. It was a little surreal to sit there knowing this place was the centre of so many stories from around the time of the genocide.

We went back to the apartment and finished packing. Unfortunately there was little to no water presure we didn't begin our long journey home feeling as clean as we would have liked.

Emmy, our driver, picked us up and took us to a nearby orphanage so we could donate a few soccer balls that we had remaining. The orphanage was the only one in Kigali during the genocide and was run by a Hutu who took in any children needing help. Currently the center houses 137 children aged 3-23. It was sad to walk around and see the conditions in which they were living. The kids seemed excited about the gifts and were playing with the balls before we even left.

We had a nice overnight flight to Brussels and then a quick flight to London. With hours to spare in London, we enjoyed the Air Canada lounge. We had the best showers we had had in a month - lovely hot water and water pressure. Our flight to Ottawa went well but was late arriving and our luggage didn't arrive to clear customs. We ended up missing our connection to Halifax by just a few minutes. We were quite upset after travelling so long and just wanting to be home. Air Canada ended up routing us through Toronto and we finally arrived home at 10:30last night.

We had a great month with lots of emotional ups and downs. The country and people were terrific but it is nice to be home. Being away always makes you appreiate what you have.

Thanks for everyone's support over the past month,

Janice and Anita