Last day in Africa
tomorrow is departure day. It is amazing how quickly my return to africa has come and gone. In many respects this trip has allowed for me to see a comprehensive vision of a person, outside of the isolated view of theology and religion. I have been able to see how the question of health fits into a larger social context. i have had a chance to see how health decisions that can severely affect a persons life are made based on economic capacity. I have even had a chance to experience that myself, as I considered taking what would be prescription medicine in the US for worms, without doing any sort of stool sample, simply because it costs more at home. watching sicko with the students a few days ago served as an excellent link between our observations and experiences here and those in the US. While perhaps the diseases may be different, we still have people unable to make the choice for better health and a more full life in the US because of social circumstances. Rwanda has even managed to do something which we have not; universal, affordable health insurance. It is illegal in Rwanda to not have health insurance, and in order to insure that this is possible for the bulk population, the government has introduced the mutuelle, a health insurance program that only costs 1000 RF ($2) to join per year. With the mutuelle, the cost of consultation, testing and medication for the most pervasive illnesses only costs 200RF, the same price as a gourd of traditional local banana beer. Rwanda seems to be a country where the government genuinely cares about its population, and is even willing to go to the lengths of kicking out NGO's in order to provide a standard of excellence to its population.

It has bee wonder to me to see how vastly difference my two experiences in africa have been. In one case, my time was spent in churches and amongst theologians. In the other, doctors and clincs. In one, i was soly responsible for myself, and was subject to only my desires. This trip, i have been responsible for 16,and my needs or my wishes sidestep to the needs of my students. outside of any question of mode, i have thoroughly enjoyed transmitting the traveling experience to these students. We have used bucket showers, ate locally almost daily, and squeezed into matatu taxis until bursting point. In presenting our experience to the parents and other putney students, we have decided to do it in the form of the matatu monologues.

Once more time is short, and reflection wanes. until next time!
mike