ALUMNI NEWS

Emmett Reeb gives a lesson to Rwandan children

One of the First Peace Corps Volunteers Stationed in Rwanda in 15 Years Blogs about his Mission

Currently a volunteer for the United States Peace Corps, Emmett Reeb earned a BA in anthropology with a double minor in sociology and psychology at UIC in May 2004 and a Master of Arts degree in anthropology at UIC in June 2005. As a Community Health and Organizational Developer, Reeb has been stationed in Rwanda to assist local health centers and community-based organizations in planning, coordinating, and delivering HIV/AIDS services. He is among the first group of volunteers to be stationed in Rwanda since the massacres of 1994. The following is an excerpt taken from his blog, Reeb in Rwanda, in which he chronicles his experiences.

"I moved into my house in Rwamagana, a small village in eastern Rwanda, on Saturday, April 18, and since then I have been working on my Community Needs Assessment (CNA) report for the Peace Corps. The CNA is a great tool for me to figure out my place in the health center and the larger community.

"I know it just sounds like more paperwork, but creating a CNA report is actually very interesting; it reminds me of what I was doing in my anthropology studies at UIC. Specifically, this report needs to outline everything about the community...and I mean EVERYTHING!

"In three months time (that is when it is due to the Peace Corps), I need to detail the following aspects of my sector: history, geography, population statistics, education, health, communication, transportation, social issues, natural resources, organizations/groups, community infrastructure, government institutions and programs, and much more. I even need to create a map of the sector...a full map detailing the important places of the sector and the sector's relation to neighboring communities…and how do I acquire this information, you ask? Well, there are no libraries, so I get to go around town and talk to people, observe interactions, and live life in the sector, baby!

"During the first three months of my assignment, I am really only supposed to concentrate on completing my CNA. Well, the community had a different idea!

"I was sick on Monday of this week and I didn't go into work at the health center. HOWEVER, when I returned to work on Tuesday morning, one of my counterparts at the center gives me this list of people's names and says, in broken English, ‘The sector director wants me to give this to you. He says that your English class will be here at the health center from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every weekday… starting today. I look forward to the first lesson this evening.’

"I looked at the list...the director of the sector had recruited the health center staff (nurses and medical technicians), the primary and secondary school staff (teachers and head masters), and the local government officials to be my first students in the English class… the list had 70 names on it.

"I was a bit shaken, to say the least. Luckily for me, I had planned an English lesson over the weekend. HOWEVER, I was not expecting the class to be so large. Yikes! BUT! Then I said to myself, ‘Self, there is no way that all 70 will show up.’ Well, I was sort of right. On Tuesday, I had 44 students, but on Wednesday I had 55. On Thursday, however, I had over 70 students! (Friday was Labor Day for Rwanda; no work, no school). People were packed into this classroom...it was so crowded that some people were standing outside and participating through open windows! It was amazing to see such enthusiasm and dedication!

"I do want to make this disclaimer. It is true that I am NOT a Peace Corp TEFL Volunteer and that I am a Peace Corp Health Volunteer. HOWEVER, this is what the community wants AND it doesn’t mean that my English classes can't also teach them the importance of washing their hands, brushing their teeth, using mosquito nets, getting tested for HIV, etc., etc. Heck, my students are the community leaders. That means that the rest of the community turns to my students when they have questions. In the interest of being as effective as possible and creating something sustainable, I can't think of a better group to educate about healthcare. In this way, I don't have to go to each house and teach the same thing 100 times; I can teach it to the leaders in the sector and they will spread the lessons through their various social networks themselves."

Adapted from the Reeb in Rwanda blog post by Emmett Reeb, May 2, 2009.