A loner’s journey begins. Today, I embark on my 8-week solo trip for my Loewenstern Fellowship in Musanze, Rwanda. Since my acceptance into the program in November 2016, my perspective and expectations for this trip have significantly shifted. I used to be very skeptical of those “hey let’s go help Africa” volunteer trips (and still sorta am…), but I now have a gradual acceptance of such trips when they are done with the correct mindset. Through the fall Loewenstern class, I know civic mindedness and critical reflection are essential for me to continue to learn and grow through this experience.

In terms of figuring out what exactly I would be doing in Musanze, partnering with the nonprofit school PREFER (Poverty Reduction, Education, and Family Empowerment in Rwanda) was a great starting point. The vision of Cathy Emmerson (PREFER’s director) to empower Musanze’s youth through education allowed me to brainstorm how my own experiences and skill sets could contribute to the community. PREFER’s guidelines of community immersion, as reflected in Ms. Emmerson’s commitment to live there for the rest of her life, urged me to think of how my service could be sustainable. When Ms. Emmerson learned I was a pre-dental student, she informed me that there is a great need for dental education and suggested dental hygiene lessons. That sounded good and all, but I felt largely inadequate, and doubted if bringing in “Western dentistry” into a land with a completely different culture and economy was appropriate.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned thus far is that people are willing to help, I just have to ask. Things I learned from contacting foreign and local health initiatives:

• Children in Musanze usually care for their teeth by just rinsing with warm, salt water
• A specific type of wood was traditionally chewed into makeshift toothbrushes
• Harvard and University of Maryland Schools of Dentistry recently helped found Rwanda’s first dental school in the capital Kigali
  • Dental healthcare and education is slowly but gradually becoming more accessible to local villages through the local efforts of organizations such as Rwanda Village Community Project (RVCP)

Collaborating with dental professionals already involved in Rwanda was paramount to my understanding and confidence of my purpose. With the help of Harvard and Maryland schools of dentistry, and Colgate, I now have a dental curriculum and supplies for PREFER’s children. Fingers crossed, I will also be able to collaborate with Rwanda’s Dental School, but we’ll see how it goes! I am still keeping my expectations low in terms of “what I will accomplish”, and my top priority remains: to immerse into the community and simply live life with my students.

Oh, I forgot to mention this, but since Loewenstern paid for everything including the flight, I’m stopping in Italy for a week before Rwanda. So that’s pretty dope. Getting on the plane now!