Thereafter...

We were the last ones on the plane, and we were the last ones off the plane. Partially because we had to cram our luggage haphazardly into random overhead bins throughout the plane once we finally boarded and it would have been difficult to retrieve all of our luggage without, once again, holding up other passengers. Furthermore, Nicolle didn't wake up until the plane was empty.

Upon disembarking, we retrieved our checked luggage from the baggage claim and entered the general area where we met Afton, WOW's (http://wowinfo.org/new/) VP of International Affairs and director of the Global Education Opportunity Program of which we are a part. It was good to see a familiar face at the end of our journey. Along with Afton were Julie, president of WOW, and the Bonnys, the couple I was set to live with during my stay in Geneva. This was our first meeting, and I found them to be extremely sweet, although we could not communicate thoroughly because they spoke only Spanish and French and my French speaking skills have become fairly non-existent after a few years of acquiring dust in the recesses of my brain.

Afton and her coordinator Mutua had originally arranged for Nicolle and I to live with the DeGuzmans, but that fell through once they realized they could not house us the entire summer. Nicolle and I proceeded to panic as we realized we were to arrive in Geneva within the month and had no definitive housing. Up until the day before we left we were planning to live in a hostel for a week or so while we scoured the town for an apartment. The day prior to our flight, however, is when Nicolle was able to contact an LDS bishop and line herself up with a local family. I decided to stay with the Bonnys as suggested by Afton.

We loaded our luggage into the Bonny's car and proceeded to the Balixer (a local mall near the airport) to get cash and a bus pass. Afterward we headed to the Bonnys to clean up and contact the family Nicolle would be staying with, hereafter referred to as the "Smiths". We phoned the Smiths a number of times to no avail, so we decided to search for food. Mrs. Bonny offered to show us around the area, so the three of us boarded the elevator with four or five others. On our descent, however, the elevator decided to develop a mind of its own, meaning it did the opposite of what we wanted it to do, and instead imprisoned us for a good 20 minutes in the company of numerous bellowing french speakers as they ineffectively pounded on the doors of the lift as if sending a sign to God. I sat on the floor laughing at the latest predicament we found ourselves in.

After a short visit to a local pizzeria, we returned home to find that the Smiths had still failed to call. The Bonnys offered to drive Nicolle to their home, just a few blocks away, to see if they were home. As I came out of the bathroom to find them already gone, I decided to unpack and organize my things in the rather tiny room that had been assigned to me.

To our communal dismay, however, there had been a mistake in the communication between Nicolle, the bishop, and the Smiths, and they were not prepared to house her. Therefore, the Bonnys kindly set up another single bed in the already too small space that was now to be our shared bedroom. Without enough hangers, Nicolle hung her clothes over mine and we divided the space as evenly as possible. We were both so tired that we fell to sleep without a problem.

The next day Afton introduced us to Mary Balikungeri, an incredible Rwandan woman who founded the Polyclinic of Hope (http://www.rwandawomennetwork.org/clinic.html)as a holistic healing mechanism for women who experienced gender-based violence during the genocide. Afton had previously told us that she had a room for rent, but it sounded too pricey to be worth sharing a room and a bed. We found out, however, that she would be leaving that saturday and would be in Rwanda until mid-July. To pay that price for an apartment to ourselves sounded like a great plan at this point, not to mention having a great mentor in Mary. We visited the apartment, in a central part of town, with its hardwood floors, its large windows, spacious balconies, scenic view, and pleasant furniture, and we fell in love. Afton placed another intern in our previous home with the Bonnys (really only appropriate for one person) and we moved in with Mary the following day.

Talking with Mary is thoroughly inspiring. Hearing her stories and watching films about her work with the amazingly resilient women of Rwanda has allowed me to empathize with them more than I ever have before. I asked her if there was any way we could help further her cause, and she invited us to help update the content of her website and to help her write a book about her experiences with recovering Rwandan women and the Polyclinic of Hope. This would be an incredible experience to say the least. I also hope to bring her to UVU in the fall, she would undoubtedly inspire many UVU students to take action in helping to heal the women of Rwanda.

Now that I have generally caught you up with our living circumstances, I will be getting into our UN experiences, which have involved Bill Gates, Margaret Chan (Director of WHO), Julia Lalla-Maharajh (founder of The Orchid Project, http://orchidproject.org/) and many other incredible people who have been present at the World Health Assembly.

http://www.who.int/en/

The room we were initially sharing at the Bonny home.

The room we are renting at Mary's apartment.

The sitting room in Mary's apartment.

The view from our front balcony.

The view from our back balcony, including Jet d'eau, the world's tallest water fountain, and Mont Blanc, their tallest mountain.