Friends in Botswana

As my time here in Botswana winds down, I'm finding myself wishing I could have another month! This has been an INCREDIBLE experience in so many ways.

This post is a photo-tribute to some of the wonderful people I've met here.

Above: "The Team."  (Male Medical Ward Green Team - L to R: John, UPenn Medical Student; Billy, Medical Intern, who completed medical school in South Africa; Me; and "O.D." Bakae, Medical Officer, who completed medical internship in Ireland.)  I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with.  

My Flatmate, Dasha, looking up labs in the PMH Doctors' Room.  Dasha is very talented and dedicated, and immensely caring - the kind of person you'd want to be your doctor.  She's finishing up her MD-PhD at UPenn and starting Medical Residency at Mass General this summer.  

Out of (South) Africa: Returning from Tau with my new friends from the Baylor-Peds program in Botswana.  (Pictured: Me, Andrea, and Shubeita, walking across the South Africa-Botswana border.)  I have no idea how to spell Shubeita's name, but I think I've got the first and last letters right...

Kgale Hill:  The steep climb to the top of Kgale Hill yields a great view of Gaborone.  This picture is at the other side of the hill - so you don't see the city in the background.  Pictured here are: Me, David (UPenn-Med Student), Charles (UPenn-Resident), Amanda (UPenn-Med Student), Dasha (UPenn-Med Student), Khunong (our cab driver!), and Andrea (Baylor-Peds program).  

Question: What's up with all that sweat on Nir's shirt?  Did he carry everyone else up?  Answer: No, I didn't carry everyone up, and it's a trick question: that's not sweat.  3/4 of the way up the hill, I felt a little lightheaded and sat down.  The others decided that I was going into heat stroke and dumped a liter of water over my head.  I don't think it was heat stroke, but the water felt good!

Bushmen of the Kalahari!   A group of native San (or Bushmen) lives in a village outside of the Khutse reserve.  These two cheerfully greeted our Land Rover as we left the park.  You have to ask before you take someone's picture here - it's considered rude otherwise.  

The Brii (South African for Barbecue): a big group of us gets together for tasty grilled food.  In the back, in a white shirt, is Steve Gluckman - the man who made this all possible (and I don't just mean the Brii).  He's the founder of Penn in Botswana, and just got back to Gabs last week.  He's the kind of guy who knows a lot more than you do, but somehow manages to make you feel good about yourself.  Someone described him the other day as being "like the cool dad one of your friends had growing up."  That pretty much nails it.

I'll miss these people, all of them, when I leave.  And I'll definitely miss my patients, and the people of Botswana.  Their attitude about life, their gentle kindness, their collective smile - I will remember these more than anything else.  When I think back on Botswana, before I think of lions and giraffes, before I think of illness and AIDS, before I think of African crafts and vast savannahs, I will think of the wonderful people here.