Not All Who (R)wander Are Lost Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Most of the visiting lecturers and field trips/educational excursions we had were extremely relevant and interesting, and helped me to deepen my knowledge of the social, cultural, and political climate of Rwanda. The workload was very manageable and SIT supplies you with all of the resources you could need. The only downside was that sometimes speakers would cancel last minute and we would have maybe an hour of idle time while the SIT staff tried to find another activity for us. This was not the fault of SIT and the staff did a great job of finding replacement speakers or activities.

On-site administration of your program

Celine, Mercy, Sunday and the rest of the SIT staff are great! Very accessible and very knowledgeable. Whether you need directions, travel arrangements, or medical treatment, the staff are super supportive.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was placed with a wonderful host family who helped to make my experience in Rwanda even more enjoyable! I had my own room in a house in a busy part of Kigali and we rarely had power outages and had running water most of the time. I loved getting to know my two younger host siblings and being able to come back to a home everyday after school really helped me to feel more settled in Rwanda.

Overall, I enjoyed Rwandan food. Bananas and potatoes along with other starches are very popular and are present in some form at almost every meal. I found that my stomach was more sensitive so I tended to stay away from meat and fish, but most of the other students on my program ate these regularly and were fine. In addition to traditional cuisine, Kigali has a number of restaurants that serve a variety of food, so if you're craving something different, there are plenty of options. The food is also considerably cheaper here than in the US!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Beyond being placed with a host family, I felt that SIT did not do much to help us integrate with the local culture. They definitely provided us with the language skills and basic knowledge to venture out on our own, but I found that I felt most integrated when I made an effort to attend a local church or get an internship at a local aid organization. Those were a couple of the opportunities I had to meet and engage with local people, but those occurred outside of SIT.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I only had minor stomach issues which were very easily remedied by getting medicine from the pharmacy. However, students who had more serious health issues said that the care they received at the hospitals wasn't great.

Rwanda is probably the safest country in Africa, if not, one of the safest in the world. There are armed military personnel on every street, and you can travel around Kigali day or night without any issue. I didn't experience any pick-pocketing and I felt safe wherever I went. That being said, it's always a good idea to use caution when travelling around any city, or those parts of the city that are especially busy.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Host Family
• Apartment
• Hotel
• Hostel

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• The independent research period
• The people
• The excursions

• Schedule

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer