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And then there was the walking. The kind with plenty of dust and length and scenery to make one content for a couple of days. It was after the visit to the health clinic. A government funded building with all of the things one expects from a government funded building. Clean concrete floors mirroring stucco walls guided us to the office the executive of the clinic. after establishing that English was the common language for all present, we were invited for a cup of juice in her home. 

The furnishings were the most plush I had seen in two weeks, the perks of being an executive of any kind. The juice was sweet, a little overtly so. My baby crazy colleague got the opportunity to hold another one of her favorite little bundles of joy. It was the soundest sleeping little thing I have ever seen. However, once it woke up, it became the most confused little thing I have ever seen. No doubt attempting to comprehend the abrupt and drastic change in her mothers skin color. After a pleasant visit we were escorted into the maternity ward to visit with the mothers who had just a day ago delivered. There were 4 blankets to hand out and 4 mothers.

Now came the aforementioned walking. Jacques wanted to show us one of the villages in dire need of water. From where the water was fetched and where it was delivered was a 2 hour hike one way. We journeyed that hike. When we reached the village it seemed that our visit was the first they had heard about our water project. This aroused concerns among the team, as we can't build where the community has not decided to build. And then they asked for a school. With these two realities fresh in our mind and a quick voyage to the border of Uganda, we started to Nyrotoshu. 

Perhaps it is the natural inclination while hiking towards introspection that started it, but I began to think deeply about the type and nature of our work here. My colleague confessed to be in a similar mindset. 4 hours later, back at the hotel,we voiced our concerns to Travis. Travis is our amazing mentor who is generally a large help in anything we do. He eats a lot, but I have no time for light eaters and drinkers anyway.  He also offers unsolicited stories on how the internet used to  be. Basically, he's one of my favorite people and I trust him with anything and he is definitely here with us in Rwanda. He says we don't talk about him enough. After Travis lended a guiding hand through our concerns as he always does, I felt much more at peace.

Today was our last day at Shakeys, an absolutely dreadful little place. But we had to say goodbye to Paul. We got his Facebook and gave ours, parting on friendly grounds.