Our final day in Rwanda started out with working at the Ubumwe Community Center (UCC). The UCC looks after children and adults in the community with disabilities. It operates group homes as well as provides services to the disabled in a drop-in centre.
Our work today was to do an assessment as to how ABW can support UCC in delivering its services. It was good to have several healthcare professionals on hand.
Drs. Paulette Comeau (Family Physician) and Bev Prieur (Pediatric Neurologist) examining patient files with local Nurse:
Jane Machacek, a Physiotherapy Assistant, can make children smile. She assessed the physiotherapy needs and prepared reports for our rehab team in Canada.
Barbara Wade, ABW medical training coordinator, and Jane Machacek with UCC founder and director Zacharie:
Bev and Dr. Wayne Church working together with hospital psychiatrists on issues dealing with epilepsy and mental health:
In the afternoon, we went on a boat ride on Lake Kivu:
Girls’ Island – legend has it that Rwandan girls who got pregnant out of wedlock were brought to this small rock island and left behind as punishment. Congolese from the neighbouring country would come and rescue them and take them to Congo.
It is fascinating to be at the border of Rwanda and the DRC and see the free flow of the border residents. 38,000 people cross this every day!
Tomorrow we will drive the 4 hours to the Kigali airport and head home.
