I remember it like it was yesterday, June 27, 2014 – my friends and family, in mass, showed up at Bujumbura International Airport to kiss me goodbye. I was going to the United States – “The Promised Land”, as most of my friends would call it – to serve as a Global Health Corps (GHC) Fellow at Vecna Cares in Boston. (Check out https://ghcorps.org to learn more about the GHC Fellowship)
I remember that mixed feeling of excitement and anxiety. It was a great pleasure to have been selected as a GHC fellow, but I felt ambivalent as to how I would make it in that whole new world. After hugs and best wishes from the many people who had escorted me to the airport, I took a deep breath, a good dose of faith and hope, and told myself I can do this.
Even entering the tiny terminal of Bujumbura International airport seemed terrifying – it was my first time traveling in an airplane (yes, seriously). But suddenly as I gazed around I saw Noel Fleury on the queue – another GHC Fellow – who helped me check in. Going into the waiting room, I met Axel, Joanna and Sacha (the other GHC Fellows from Burundi). Within an hour, we were ready to fly to the famous USA. The adventure began.
After a long 20 hour flight, we landed at JFK International Airport . On our way out of the terminal, a young girl with a GHC poster was waiting for us. She saw five confused fellows, amazed by how huge and beautiful JFK International Airport was compared to our dear tiny airport. She waved at us in a friendly, lovely and most welcoming way. Then, she gave warm hugs to each of us.
For a short period, I thought I was dreaming. First, we had made it safely to New York, and then this girl who didn’t even know us was super friendly and helpful. Her name is Sydney Silver and she was a GHC intern. I did not know anything about the US except the single story I made up from watching American movies. As opposed to some of my friends who thought the US was “The Promised Land”, where money grows on tree and streets are paved with gold, I was a little skeptical of the stories I had heard. From the movies I had watched, the picture of the USA I painted was of a huge country made of skyscrapers, a very capitalist place where everyone minds his own business, where there is absolutely no sense of social life and there could, potentially, be racist people there.
The welcoming hug Sydney gave me, proved me wrong and magically turned my pessimistic view of the US into an optimistic one. I felt like everything was going to be fine. This was my little ‘lollipop’ moment like Drew Dudley explained in his Ted Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership.
After that unforgettable moment, we met the Rwandan fellows with whom we made the journey to Yale University, where we would spend two weeks at training. It felt comforting to be with people who were as amazed as we were passing through fancy highways and along side the buildings of New York. We took pictures of almost everything. Everything looked new to me, and honestly most things still do. After about a three hour drive – which seemed like an hour to me, mainly because I was busy gazing at buildings and beautiful trees along the street (the thing I least expected to see in the US) – we were in Connecticut at Yale University. An even warmer welcome was waiting for us. All the GHC Staff and some GHC Fellows helped us get settled in our rooms. Everyone I met at training was super friendly, enthusiastic and accommodating. The next day, training was ready to begin.
We spent two weeks of intensive training with great and inspiring speakers who prepared us for the challenging and laborious year ahead of us. But deep inside, there was a little voice that kept asking me : What could a guy like me from Burundi possibly do to make an impact in the US? On one hand, I was a computer scientist with little to no background in public health, on the other hand I was starting to question my English skills. There was a lot of processing in my head before a word came out of my mouth; I thought in Kirundi, translated that into French and finally into English. I was simply too slow.
I knew I had a lot to learn, but realized I had even more when we headed to my placement organization in Boston. In Boston, I started living a real American life and started learning interesting facts about the USA. Nearly everything was new to me, and being a guy from Burundi – although I would say in Africa generally – there are simply a lot of things you don’t believe until you see them. For example:
- In the U.S., severe poverty, homelessness, no matter how limited, actually exist.
- Most people go to see their doctors without being really sick.
- Fruits and vegetables are way more expensive than meat.
- Skinny people are not necessarily poor. It’s more likely the opposite.
- Restaurants serve relatively large amounts of food, and if you can’t finish it, you take it at home.
- Most people do not carry cash. Most purchases are done with credit cards.
- Some people think Africa is a country, and most of people have never heard of Burundi.
- Americans have an unparalleled love for dogs. A little bit more than “Bagamba” love cows in Burundi.
- You cannot purchase alcohol unless you are 21, but can purchase a gun if you are 18.
I can continue but I am afraid the list would be too long.
The great thing about a GHC Fellowship is that you are never alone. You get a strong support system. People always have your back no matter what. At home, you can rely on your housemates, and at your work you’ve got a co-fellow. In my case, I was extremely lucky to have both housemates and co-fellow who are incredibly awesome.
The very first day in Boston, we went shopping for me to learn where and how to buy food and more importantly, they taught me how to cook. The next day my co-fellow showed up early in the morning so we could commute together to work, showed me how to buy a train ticket and read the train maps. The people I had met only two weeks before at training turned out to be my best friends, showed me love and support I did not expect. I can’t imagine what my life would look like without them.
Now three months later, I’ve learned the minimum for me to survive, like:
- Shopping (with still overwhelming options)
- Cooking
- Navigating the town using Google maps
- Taking the train/bus
But more importantly I learned the value of friendship and the importance of relationship building. I’ve learned to love, respect, listen, ask questions and understand. I learned that there is a lot I still have to learn.
I’m looking forward to each new day of this fellowship year. It is definitely the most enriching experience of my whole life. I hope I can get the best of what it offers.