Melanie's Internship in Kigali

We are in the midst of preparing for our internship. Clare has been such an immense help! Currently, we are in the process of putting the final touches on our fundraising letters and are optimistically looking forward to an enthusiastic response. We have been already rewarded by the response that has been given by our friends and colleagues to our internship.

One of the first steps on our journey was to get our passport photo taken and have that stamped by the photo shop and signed by the doctor. This morning, we both had our first Twinrix shots, which is a combined hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccine is administered in 3 doses, so we are looking forward to getting our second dose in another month. Note that vaccines really should be budgeted for because just this one costs $176.59 a pop! (and that's not counting the $18 doctor administration fee). Really, to anyone who is concerned about needles, it barely hurts at all - and this is coming from someone without a high pain threshold. This week, we will be visiting a travel clinic to get all of our other vaccinations up to date. Hopefully, by Monday, we'll have the official go ahead to begin fundraising