The First 180 Days
One of the assigned readings for our Quarter 1 retreat was an excerpt from the book The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael Watkins. The premise of the book is that, as a new employee or leader of an organization, you have 90 days to prove yourself […]
Shaping capacity building to embody equality
As a GHC fellow, I’m used to giving the one minute spiel about the program and responding to questions such as,“What’s GHC?” “What are you doing here?” “What are your plans after this?” These are questions I’ve come to automatically respond to with equal parts heart and wit. My responses are always genuine answers as […]
Running in Rwanda
Anytime I move to a new place I need to quickly establish my surroundings. A good way for me to do that is by running. You can on occasion get lost but what better way to discover some of the local shops and parks in your new neighborhood. Rwinkwavu is a small village in the […]
My Still Harbor
Helen Keller famously penned, “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my own ship.” I have always found this quote calming. When I think of a still boat or harbor, I think of an inlet on Lake Champlain in Vermont. Growing up, my family would retreat each summer to […]
Rwanda is building a strong economic reputation
The Rwandan economy is performing well, thanks to a strong government and anti-corruption stance, and beating some developed European countries. Rwandan President Paul Kagame Ask any expat about Rwanda and its bloody genocide is likely to feature strongly, rather than the fact it has one of the world’s best performing economies. Young Rwandese,Remy Ugirase […]
Lucky to be a GHC fellow and given a chance to empower my community
I am a very fortunate Rwandan woman: I was able to attend school throughout my childhood and graduate from university. Others, however, have not been quite as lucky. Due to various circumstances—displacement from the genocide, the financial burden of schooling, obligations at home—many women, and men for that matter, did not have access to an education as they […]
Paint a Mural, Build Peace
A couple of Sundays ago, my wanderlust got the best of me. I decided to leave DC and head north to the bustling town of Silver Spring, MD. Although it’s only a few metro stops outside of the District, it held the promise of novelty for an afternoon. I was expecting to find all the […]
This Little Piggy Went To Eastern Uganda
Growing up, I heard a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit inherent to American identity. “You can do whatever you want if you work hard and smart enough.” I had the feeling that if I ever wanted something, I could reach out and take it. But this was always harder to do than say. The intersection […]
Five Years
I remember the moment when I knew that I needed to stay in Uganda for another year. Let me start from the beginning: I serve as a GHC fellow at Clinton Health Access Initiative in Uganda. I am privileged to wake up every morning excited to go to work. Through my work, I have had […]
Oh boy, my home city is growing
I am so proud of the current progress happening in my home city of Kigali, Rwanda. As young Rwandese, we are so committed to move this country forward through education and human capacity building. By getting into nice schools as well as promoting international partnership, I am sure we will be CHINA or SINGAPORE of […]