Property Rights, Governance, Hospitalization. And a dress I like.

A paralyzed woman that the ASYV students were helping had her land – it was in her name – illegally sold, with none of the money going to her. At a recent meeting that ASYV students took part in, representatives from the local government discussed logistics of caring and providing for the woman and the children while she was in the hospital. Which made sense – immediate, practical concerns should have come before issues of property rights. But if her property rights had been protected, the immediate, practical concerns would be much less pressing.

The issue of property is very much relevant for a lot of the students at ASYV who are getting legal advice on what to do to re-obtain property illegally taken from them.

The head of the local Committee for the Promotion of Women was present at the meeting, and she volunteered to collect food donations for the paralyzed woman. The committee head had on a very smart-looking, perfectly-tailored locally made traditional blue dress, along with a matching turban made out of the same complicatedly-patterned bright blue and yellow cloth. She was very tall, towering over all the other attendees. She had perfect teeth. And perfect facial expressions to respond to what everyone is saying – like she could do really well running for office, which she perhaps did to obtain her current title. I was shocked when

I was told she was a builder, once – today she owns a shop in the center of town, and she looks much more like a woman who owns her own business and heads a Committee for the Promotion of Women. You can see her in the photo, where I did not show faces for privacy reasons, but where I felt it was absolutely necessary to show that dress. Though maybe not in the context of a very serious discussion on property rights, women's rights, and hospitalization. I can't help it.

It was suggested that food be collected in the neighborhood and that the municipality and/or ASYV pay for the transport of the food to the woman in the hospital once every two weeks or so. It feels odd that the most cost-effective way to do this is to send someone once every two weeks, at around 4,000 francs for transportation each time, to bring her the food, which will be collected in the neighborhood the woman is currently living. Why not just use the transportation costs to buy food near the hospital? Why are there no cheap hospitals with food – doesn’t economy of scale help out at all? I understand the logic of having every patient provide for themselves, and pay less to stay in the hospital. But if patients are coming from all over Rwanda, surely everyone has an interest in just pooling their food budget while in the hospital? And not just food - sheets, soap, etc. are all brought hand-carried by public transport.

Maybe people’s good will towards close-by neighbors and local organizational initiatives mean food just gets donated quicker if you donate to the person you know will personally bring the food over.

But it does make me really appreciate hospital food. From an economic standpoint.