Healing Hands.

Today the G.M. and Y.S. teams did vacation bible school once again with the church that they were at yesterday. They made crafts with the kids and a game of duck, duck, goose also occurred. In the afternoon they made a trip to the market for a little bit of shopping.

This morning the S.W. and Religion teams headed to the small town of Rwinkwavu, which is about two hours outside of Kigali, to head to the Partners in Health clinic.

The hospital is located on a hill, overlooking a valley. Not the kind of place you would mind

being sick at with its lush vegetation, shady green corners and a great view. But though this place may look like a location for a resort, instead this place is saving lives of those who wouldn't normally be able to afford healthcare.

Partners in Health was started by Paul Farmer in Haiti in 1987. In 2005, he opened up a clinic in Rwanda.

Rwinkwavu is one of the hottest locations in Rwanda due to its location so close to the equator. Because of this, the clinic mainly deals with malnutrition and malaria cases.

The hospital also does HIV and tuberculous testing. These tests have saved numerous lives such as the life of Jenny, a little girl who came to the hospital for malnutrition but after discovering she has HIV and TB, they also tested her entire family with the same results. Now she is a healthy little girl who spends a large amount of time hanging out at the hospital.

Community health workers are individuals in the community who help to make sure that the locals are taking their medication, living the healthy lifestyle that ensures recuperation, and also administers drugs to those who need them and have been released. This is the best way to make sure that medication is taken so that the person will become better.

The biggest issue at the hospital is food. Food is not usually given to patients at the hospitals in Rwanda, but since malnutrition is such a problem in this area, the hospital felt that it must feed its patients. And since most of the patients are children, they also must feed the parents who are staying with the children and may send packets of food home to the rest of the household.

They also have a pediatric playroom where children with HIV can come to play and act like normal children. Around of the age of 8, they begin to educate the children on the consequences of having HIV and trying to live a normal life.

In the afternoon, the S.W. team headed to the market and the Religion team had a longer discussion with the organization they had met at the church on Sunday, the Abahetsi group.

The group buys food, materials such as kitchenware and housewares, and clothes for the poorest members. They also give Christian counseling to those with HIV and help to spread HIV awareness.

They were making bricks until they were shut down by the government for not meeting the correct codes. The Religion team hopes to find someone who can teach them the correct method and they also want to find churches in the States to help fund the products they need for production of the bricks.