Swear-In Speech

Hey Guys,

Since I didn't see any of you at the Swear-In Ceremony (not sure why you couldn't make it), I thought I would try to include you in some of the the days events. So, below I have posted a few pictures and the speech that Portia and I gave. Not sure if it will be interesting to non-volunteers but I hope you enjoy.

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming today to the swearing in of the second group of Peace Corps health volunteers. My name is Jarod Ring. I will be working with Kageno in Nyamasheke. My name is Portia Washington. I will be working with ADEPR in Gisenyi. First of all, thank you Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador for opening up your beautiful home to us for this ceremony today. We would also like to say a huge thank you to John, Biba and the entire PC staff for giving us the amazing privilege of serving in this wonderful country. Thank you Mup for giving us the opportunity to speak on this special day. It really is an honor to be standing here today. I would also like to briefly tell you about how we came to be here giving this speech. So, a couple of weeks ago, Mup called us into his office and told us that at the swearing-in ceremony, there is always one volunteer who gives a speech in Kinyarwanda and another volunteer who gives a speech in English. Before he finished his sentence Portia shouted, “I call English”. Fortunately, he then asked us both to give a speech in English, which I was glad to hear.

These past 10 weeks of training have flown by. Since the first night of our arrival in Rwanda, the Peace Corps has kept us very busy. We have been busy making new friends, busy learning about the illnesses we will probably get during our service here, and, for some of us, busy actually getting those illnesses. Most importantly, we have been learning Kinyarwanda and learning about Rwandan culture. That was the most challenging part of training and will most likely continue to be a challenge throughout service. Most of us have found that learning Kinyarwanda takes a great deal of patience and perseverance, and we all applied ourselves to studying and practicing. This is not to say that learning Kinyarwanda has been smooth sailing. There were failed attempts in practicing our skills on the people of Nyanza, for example accidently telling someone “I vomited” Kuruka instead of “I ran” kwiruka and there was complaining about the difficulty of the language and much fretting that our Kinyarwanda would never be good enough for us to be able to function as human beings. However, thanks to our language teachers, our Kinyarwanda has improved buhoro buhoro. In the famous words of Mup (Papa wacu), “Kinyarwanda is a process”. Really, our language and culture facilitators have been amazing. I am sure that many times they were very tired of us asking, “is there a rule, I need to know the rule”. They are practically superhuman in the amount of patience they possess when teaching us Kinyarwanda and they have been invaluable sources of information in answering our questions about everything from Rwandan culture to the best place to eat brochettes. Their enthusiasm in teaching us and their honesty in answering our questions is greatly appreciated.

We also would like to thank Mup. Mup’s job could not have been easy, listening to 36 volunteers’ complaints and demands about classes and food. But throughout training, Mup has been extremely good natured. He is always ready with a hug and always willing to listen and sort out any problems we may have. For many of us Mup’s support has been a comfort and we can’t help but wonder how we’ll manage once we get to site and don’t have him there, encouraging and reassuring us.

I would imagine that many of you would agree with me when I say that Rwanda has stolen my heart. With every mysterious stare that quickly becomes a huge smile at the very mention of a simple “Mwiriwe”, with the many walks home where you suddenly find a crowd of kids surrounding you and their hands in yours as you walk (who knows if they were actually going that same direction originally) and with every sight of one gorgeous landscape after another, it is impossible not to fall more in love with Rwanda and all of its beauty!

I know I speak for us all when I say that I am extremely excited and somewhat scared about the next two years of service. Over the next two years, we will begin many life long friendships and make many memories. Already during training we have become a family and it is amazing how, despite all the strong and occasional personality conflicts, we have become so close and are so supportive of one another. The experiences we have and memories we make will shape our lives beyond the time we will spend here in Rwanda. Perhaps some of us will find a new hobby, or develop a new passion for a particular profession, or meet our future husband or wife. And hopefully all of us will make a positive difference in our communities over the next two years. There are so many great things happening in Rwanda and I know we are all excited to get involved and play a part in the bright future of this amazing country.

So in closing I just want to remind you all to remember why you’re here. Think back to when you first started the seemingly unending application process for the Peace Corps, and remember what you wrote in your aspiration statement. What was your primary reason for joining the Peace Corps? Why did you decide to give two years of your life to an unfamiliar and foreign place? What motivated you to come here and to give up your amenities and comforts of home? Remember those reasons and let them be your motivation and guidance over the next two years. When times get tough, when isolation sets in and you began to question why you signed up for this in the first place, remember those reasons. They are why you are here today. We have all been blessed to have the opportunity to come here and not only help those in need, but also to learn about Rwanda and its people. We should make the best of this opportunity. Fortunately, I, unlike the rest of the volunteers here today, am lucky enough to experience this amazing adventure with my beautiful wife Sarah, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Mup, the LCF’s and all the training staff have worked extremely hard in providing us with the tools we’ll need to be successful Peace Corps volunteers. Now, it is time for us to make them proud by putting those tools to use. We will do our very best not to disappoint them. So thank you again to Mup, Felicien, Alphonsine, Abdul, Marie Claire and Claudine for all your hard work and dedication in helping us get to this day, where we’ll finally become Peace Corps Volunteers. We would also like to thank all the LFC’s, particularly Assinath, Zilpah and Abel who we had the privilege to live with for the past 10 weeks. Our late night Kinyarwanda lessons are much appreciated. You have helped make Rwanda our new home away from home. We look forward to working with our respective organizations and becoming part of the community of Peace Corps Volunteers here in Rwanda. We also look forward to working along side the current volunteers and drawing from their experience. Remember as cliché as it may sound, the statement could never be truer; you will only get as much out of this experience as what you put into it. So, I wish all of you the best of luck. Komera and get ready to begin the toughest job you will ever love!!!

The two gentlemen at the top of the picture are PC Country Director John Reddy (on the right) and Ambassador Stewart Symington (on the left).