From Zara Cooper, M.D.

April 18, 2009

Greetings from the equator! Today is my last day here. The first group of us are heading home tonight and I for one am ambivalent about it. This has been an incredible experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity to come and serve in such a remarkable place.

Rwanda is a beautiful country, and it is difficult to fathom what has taken place here in the recent past. The beginning of our stay was during Genocide Remembrance Week. During our first night in the ICU two young Rwandan nurses were singing to each other at 3 in the morning. The sound was so sweet and so haunting. When we asked them what they were singing, they explained that they were praying for the genocide. They explained that even though they go on, and appear happy, they are still grieving. There is always sadness. It just brings tears to my eyes. My impression is that this country is deeply committed to reconciliation and a bright future. The streets are clean, I feel as safe here as I do in my native New York City, and the people are incredibly proud and hard working. It would be hard to imagine that so many of these people spend their nights on mud floors with only candles to light their homes. There seems to be no self-pity.

As I understand it we are operating on patients who are quite a bit sicker than last year. Some of these patients would have been challenging at BWH - double valves, on multiple pressors, after multiple bypass runs. Not a small feat when it takes almost 24 hours to get STAT blood! Everyone has risen to the occasion and kept their spirits high. Despite long hours, and unfamiliar territory we continue to work as a team, and are doing the best we can for our patients. Many of us are working 18 hour days but the patients inspire us. They are all small, many are pediatric, and some are quite malnourished from poverty and prolonged heart failure. But they are all so thankful and quick to show us a smile. It is difficult to imagine that timely treatment with penicillin could have averted  much of this suffering. 

This is my first year in Rwanda but, I hope not my last. I have been touched by the journey and I think I will continue to learn from it. Finally, I want to thank all of my incredibly thoughtful co workers who gave me and my fiancee a beautiful hand carving to congratulate us on our upcoming wedding. The group here has become and extended family.

See you stateside!

Zara