Last May, if you had asked me in what country I wanted to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, I would have said Rwanda.
Right now, in terms of development Rwanda is one of the most exciting places in the world. President Paul Kagame, who is currently serving is second 7-year term, has made development the highest priority on his political agenda. When Peace Corps reentered Rwanda in 2008 after a twenty-year absence, he wrote a welcome letter in the Huffington Post I highly recommend you read.
The current government has also made gender development and equality a priority. By law, all government offices (at every level) must be at least 30% female. The electoral gender quotas have helped place Rwanda at the top of the list when it comes to women in parliament. Today, over half of Rwanda’s national parliament is comprised of women.
Last year, at Cornell, while writing my senior thesis on women’s representation as it relates to women’s health in sub-Saharan Africa I did a lot of research in this area, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have a chance to be on the ground now. If women in development something you’re interested in, I highly recommend International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). They have a huge database on gender and electoral quotas.
When it comes to public health, Rwanda is also at the forefront of development. Thanks to a lot of local initiatives and international NGO interest, Rwanda has instituted a series of changes in public policy and primary health care treatment that are changing the entire country. PBS ran a segment on community health workers in Rwanda that I also highly recommend.
As an English speaker, Rwanda is also a great place to be. As part of their entrance into the East African Community, Rwanda is in the process of switching all public sector business from French to English. Two years ago, the school systems switched from teaching mainly in French to now mainly English. This should be great for future generations, but is causing some unease among adults who are in desperate need of English teachers. Looks like I'll be doing some teaching after all!
Rwanda is also a favorite among international NGOs. For a variety of reasons (some good, some bad) the international community is heavily present in Rwanda, which means I should get to see a lot of development projects in the works and hopefully meet and work with some of them.
Everything I've mentioned in this post are facts, ideas, and perceptions I come to Rwanda already having. It should be interesting to see how they change over the next two years!
Right now, in terms of development Rwanda is one of the most exciting places in the world. President Paul Kagame, who is currently serving is second 7-year term, has made development the highest priority on his political agenda. When Peace Corps reentered Rwanda in 2008 after a twenty-year absence, he wrote a welcome letter in the Huffington Post I highly recommend you read.
The current government has also made gender development and equality a priority. By law, all government offices (at every level) must be at least 30% female. The electoral gender quotas have helped place Rwanda at the top of the list when it comes to women in parliament. Today, over half of Rwanda’s national parliament is comprised of women.
Last year, at Cornell, while writing my senior thesis on women’s representation as it relates to women’s health in sub-Saharan Africa I did a lot of research in this area, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have a chance to be on the ground now. If women in development something you’re interested in, I highly recommend International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). They have a huge database on gender and electoral quotas.
When it comes to public health, Rwanda is also at the forefront of development. Thanks to a lot of local initiatives and international NGO interest, Rwanda has instituted a series of changes in public policy and primary health care treatment that are changing the entire country. PBS ran a segment on community health workers in Rwanda that I also highly recommend.
As an English speaker, Rwanda is also a great place to be. As part of their entrance into the East African Community, Rwanda is in the process of switching all public sector business from French to English. Two years ago, the school systems switched from teaching mainly in French to now mainly English. This should be great for future generations, but is causing some unease among adults who are in desperate need of English teachers. Looks like I'll be doing some teaching after all!
Rwanda is also a favorite among international NGOs. For a variety of reasons (some good, some bad) the international community is heavily present in Rwanda, which means I should get to see a lot of development projects in the works and hopefully meet and work with some of them.
Everything I've mentioned in this post are facts, ideas, and perceptions I come to Rwanda already having. It should be interesting to see how they change over the next two years!
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