My name is Jarod Ring and my wife, Sarah and I are Peace Corps volunteers that will be spending two years volunteering with Kageno Rwanda. We came to Rwanda form NW Arkansas and have been in Rwanda now for 6 months. Sarah graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Health and Nutrition while I graduate from Arkansas Tech University with a degree in Emergency Administration and Management. Since graduating in 2007, Sarah has worked with nutrition in a few different preschools and has also served as the director of a preschool before moving to Rwanda. I on the the other hand after graduating went to work for the American Red Cross as the Health and Safety Coordinator.
After working for a couple of years we both decided we wanted to be a part of something different, something bigger and something that would benefit a people in need that may not be as fortunate as we are. After a lot of consideration and prayer, we decided to join the Peace Corps We arrived in Rwanda in February 2010 and immediately began studying the very difficult language Kinyarwanda, started learning about the culture and many other technical skills that we would need for our service here. 10 weeks after arriving, we set off for the beautiful village of Banda where we began our work with Kageno.
We are both health volunteers but know that we will be serving in a variety of things in the community as Kageno works to develop the community through several projects ranging from IGA's, Health, Education and Agriculture. Sarah will no doubt be involved with the newly constructed Kageno Nursery and I will be involved with the health center and education. However, we will also be involved in many other community projects.
Even after being in Banda Village for only 3 months, we have already fallen in love with the community, the people, the scenery, all of it. Banda is an amazing and beautiful place. And although it suffers from many of the same issues that plague other African countries, we feel that Banda Village has a bright future. The community is on board with the Kageno team and they are seeing the ways that lifestyles inflicted with poverty, bad health and lack of education can be turned around and made into something much better. After all, Kageno is a place of hope and I believe the community is taking hold
of that perspective.
To be honest with you, Sarah and I feel completely honored to volunteer of such an amazing organization and amazing village. We do not take this opportunity lightly and expect to see many great things come out of our service over the next two years with the help of the community and other Kageno staff. We are extremely happy to be here and can't wait to see what is in store for the future of Banda Village.
We look forward to keeping you all updated on our activities!
Jarod and Sarah Ring
Those are my kids.....they are truly amazing and have helped us fall in love with Banda even from a distance.
Posted by: Elizabeth Scudder | 13 September 2010 at 04:02 PM