This year I started the Global Health Leadership Programme, a two-year hybrid master’s at Oxford with 23 participants from different health systems around the world.

The North began for me as a small seed that grew with each visit, and on this trip I saw that same beginning in others. At some point, the north stops being an idea and becomes something you are part of.

This was my seventh trip up north, yet the feeling never fades. I looked forward experiencing the wide-open space of the North to bring me back clarity. As we boarded the plane, that familiar mix of excitement and focus settled in once again.

I had not been back to Chisasibi since residency. My first visit was as a senior resident, at a time when travel to the North was still limited by the pandemic. Yet despite the steep learning curve, that week became a catalyst in shaping my path as a physician learning to build projects with and for the community.

I enjoyed an unlikely but special kind of vacation to experience culture, community, and rediscover what makes Rwanda feel so inviting.