I know it has been awhile since my last post. I have been here for a week now and still surviving. Although that's not that hard here. Many people have referred to Botswana to me as "African Lite" including the native born population. Its definitely more like the USA, one of the reasons I think that there are so many ex-pats here and a HUGE peace corp volunteer contingent.
Saturday was the Christmas Party here at Baylor. They invite around 300 kids who are HIV+ to Baylor for a day of music, fun, games, and presents. It was awesome to watch them play and it makes you realized that here in Botswana you cannot tell who does and does not have HIV. I got to be in charge of first aid as the Baylor doctors had left in a rush secondary to illness in one of their members. Anyway, I got to give some Gatorade to 2 dehydrated children who had overdone the playing in the Botswana summer heat. :) Highlights were getting to talk to the several peace corp volunteers that showed up, playing with the children (as always!), and watching the teenagers perform a native dance for the younger children. A very fun day, although it is hard for me to think of Christmas in 90 degree heat. :)
Sunday I went to dinner at Lisa, a friend of Katie's - thank you Katie - who lives here. She works for a NGO that she formed here to work with Botswana teenagers around all sorts of teenage issues. She is an amazing women and has lived/worked all over. She was in the midst of writing a grant application and I learned more than I ever knew about the struggles of getting funding for NGOs. Its rather complicated and something I am glad I don't deal with. She had 2 people from Project Hope over as well and the strangest part of the evening was that one of them, Megan, had been BK's roommate in college. Strange, small world. And we had put the two together without reference to ultimate. :)
Remembering why I like being abroad - although I don't think I really forget that - and why medicine had been a draw when I lived in India so long along. Realizing that was almost 10 years ago now. I went on outreach this week and we actually flew to one of the sights. These sights were more of what I expected - more resource and staff poor and remote. Baylor goes to these sites to help local staff learn how to manage kids with HIV. They often go with other NGO groups that help teach the local medical officers as well. I spent yesterday rounding on the wards in a remote hospital with a American doctor, an Australian doctor, a Botswanan FM resident, and the local medical officer who was from the Congo orginially. Botswana did not have a medical school until recently and most Botswanans do not want to work for the government as the government can send you whereever and at these local hospitals you are the OB, the surgeon, the internist, and the pediatrician. Its a crazy life. This also means that usually the doctor does not speak the language of the patient. Some sad cases on the wards, which I won't detail here and some cases that I was amazed had been admitted. Those cases were both kids and I think there was some discomfort with the staff at that hospital which managing children.
I am learning more than I ever knew about HIV management and getting a glimpse of yet another culture. It is only making me want to practice abroad even more than I did before.
That's it for now.
jenny
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