Joanne-CCU nurse

Joanne is the youngest of 11 children! Her parents were farmers and she grew up in Othello.  Education was emphasized in her family and all of her siblings are accomplished.  Joanne chose nursing as a career because she always wanted to help people.  As a young child, she would help her Dad with his feet as he had a bad back and couldn't reach his feet. She has worked as a nurse for 7 1/2 years. She worked as a nursing assistant for 15 years at Providence Sacred Heart before becoming a nurse. Joanne is married and has 4 children ages 20 to 15.

To reach her goal of getting and paying for her trip to Rwanda, Joann made and sold 120 boxes of homemade chocolates: caramels with and without almonds, coconut clusters, peanut butter chews! She had always given them as Christmas gifts but her friends paid them for her support.

Joanne went on the safari to Akagera and was one of the lucky ones who saw one of the lions!

Laura Schaffer-tele

Laura has joined HHNW for the first time as a telemetry nurse but is no newbie to mission work.  In her 4 years of nursing she has volunteered in Mexico, Peru and Senegal.  About a month before leaving Spokane, Laura became a thrift shop pro.  She purchased an entire wardrobe which she packed and is wearing it all while here and plans to leave them for women in need.  Laura also knit hats for many of her patients and has been a life saver with programming our phones.  What will she do with all the space in her suitcase?  She has visited Abraham's shop (2013 blog post) and will have no trouble refilling her suitcase!

HHNW Surgical Techs

Meet our surgical techs Monica, Erica and Jessica:

Monica has been  working as a tech for 8 years and presently works for Kot Hospital She has 4 children aged 17, 16, 13, and 12. Monica has fallen in love with  Rwanda.  She went on the excursion, "A Day in the Life" it has changed her life. She met a mother of 7 whose youngest baby has a medical problem. Monica is ready to sponsor the child and cover her medical costs if not adopt the baby! She also is having her wedding dress made by a tailor at the market using some of the fabric she got on the excursion. She is going to be married in May! Stay tuned.

Jessica has worked for 6 years as a tech and started in orthopedics and moved to open heart.  She chose to be a surgical tech because she really wanted to be "hands on".  She also was adamant about working with hearts.  Jessica persisted in applying for the open heart surgical position and it took five rounds of applications to land the job at Providence Sacred Heart.  She is fascinated by the heart and the "life force" of it.

Jessica also has 4 children, 3 boys and 1 daughter 15 to 7.

Erica also works  at Providence Sacred Heart and has been a tech for 13 years, 8 of them at Sacred. Incidentally, both Erica and Monica went to the same community college in North Carolina to do their training (at a different time and did not know each other). She has always wanted to do a mission trip and is really "hooked" on being here. Eric has 2 children and she often returnins from work excitedly sharing her day's stories with them.

All of these women emote a passion for their job and their joy in being here in Rwanda.

Open Heart OR friends, Jessica, Monica and Bethany

Drs. Fidel Sebahungu and Robert Karakire

Dr. Fidel

Dr. Fidel and Dr. Robert are the two wonderful Rwandan residents from King Faisal Hospital who have been of tremendous help to HHNW.  Fidel is a 4th year medical resident who describes himself as a dreamer and idealist.  He strives to share his skills and in return feels the satisfaction of his work.  At age 41, he joins in the medical careers of his sister, and RN, mother, a hospital social worker, and his father, a Physician Assistant.  His goal is to organize and run a comprehensive health care center, either in Kigali or in his home area of Gisenyi to give further purpose to his life.  His wife is an engineer working in IT and they have 2 sons.

Dr. Robert

Robert is a second year, orthopedics resident, who prides himself in thorough pre and post-operative care.  He and his wife are expecting their first child next week! Like Fidel, his efforts are apparent in their knowledge of and care for our patients at time of their surgeries.  Robert and Fidel are thoughtful citizens and readily discuss the state of their country, their culture and their future.  We are honored and privileged to have their valuable assistance.