About Rwanda: In 1994 almost one million Rwandans were killed by their former friends and neighbors in a span of one hundred days. Yet this small, mountainous East African nation has managed in recent years to make extraordinary progress in reconciliation, economic development, political stability, and provision of health care. Rwanda’s efforts to prevent and to treat HIV/AIDS are a central focus of this program. Students also learn about and help with local efforts to control malaria and tuberculosis. In 2005, the Boston-based organization Partners in Health (PIH), founded by Dr. Paul Farmer (subject of the best-seller Mountains Beyond Mountains, was invited by the government of Rwanda to bring its successful model for AIDS treatment to rural Rwanda. With funding from the Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative, health care delivery in some of Rwanda’s poorest rural areas has improved dramatically. The people of Rwanda are eager to put their tragic past behind them, to create unity, to heal, and to be healthy.

Kigali: The program begins in Rwanda’s capital, where students explore the nation’s troubled past, and its recent progressive initiatives. They meet with government officials, representatives of NGOs, and health care workers, and visit the Kigali Memorial Centre and its Genocide Museum. Kigali is a bustling city, and students have time to explore its green hills, and shop for crafts in its colorful markets.

The Village Experience: The group spends ten days in a rural community a few hours from Kigali, where people live in huts made of mud and palm fronds. Student accommodations are simple - they stay in small guest houses or make camp in a school. Learning that grassroots healthcare involves much more than hospitalization, students can lend a hand by joining with visiting neighbors as they call on patients, helping build shelter or clinic space, leading activities for children, and participating in AIDS survivors’ meetings. These activities help them to see first-hand the positive effects that improved health care is having on the process of rebuilding Rwanda.

Gorillas and Volcanoes: Before returning to Yale, students take a mountain trek into Volcanoes National Park. This is the home of the world’s last remaining populations of gorillas living in the wild. Local guides lead students on a climb through the lush rainforest to see the gorillas up-close on the rims of extinct volcanoes.