Episode 7: Too tired for a catchy title

January 5, 2011

Kudos to the superb staff at the University of Botswana Office of International Education and Programs for meeting, greeting, welcoming, and shuttling over 50 international students today, and for extraordinary improvisation under stressful circumstances! All 23 of “my” students in the ACM program are here.  They have all had pizza.  They have a flat place with mattress to sleep.  They have met Cha and David, two local undergraduates who will help them for the next two weeks.  And every single one was in good humor despite plenty of opportunities to be grumpy.  Some of them have most of their luggage; others have a sheet to sleep on for the night and are trusting in luggage delivery tomorrow (I do believe it will work out just fine).  Every single one of them was a gentleman or lady, despite difficult circumstances, for example they distributed the few bed sheets there were first and foremost to the ones who had the least luggage!  I’m so proud to get to be their faculty director.

Orientation begins tomorrow at 9, but they will be taken to a cafeteria for breakfast in the morning.  Then on we go! Classes to begin the 10^th.

I hope that I will get to have time to get a little orientation for me in tomorrow….perhaps a meeting with Dr. Sabone, my Head of Department in the Faculty of Nursing (nursing! How exciting!).  

Today I was told that I should be a stand-up comic.  I told them, what do you think I am already, I teach five hours/day back home, to the same students!  So I’m sorry that this post is not so funny – I’m just exhausted but wanted any friends & family of the ACM crowd to know that we are all here.

Here is my first safari photo, lions or perhaps cheetahs but certainly not vultures or hyenas at a feed….

And here is the nicest room in my “flat,” which is actually a townhouse.  The rest is much much plainer, but they do go in for plush, comfy living room furniture!  Very nice.

Episode Six: The luggage, the ditch, and the wardrobes.

January 2, 2011

     Never fear, the luggage arrived before I did.  As it flew by itself and did not have a means to pay, it apparently arrived for free – I would have had to pay upwards of $200 for the kilos above 30, had it traveled with me.  Parting (with one’s luggage temporarily) is such sweet sorrow (apologies to poets everywhere).  So sorry that it caused Amanda so much grief!

     Caveat flyer:  pack extra underwear, something to sleep in, and a change of clothes in your carry-on.  It is rare for all luggage to arrive in Gaborone at the same time as the particular passengers who were originally associated with that specific luggage.  You are very likely to arrive with someone’s checked luggage, just not necessarily your own.  That will arrive on some other flight, perhaps sooner than you, perhaps later.  Thus it all works out in the end, just like a Mma Ramotswe story.   Just have your own “end” covered with some extra clothes in your carry-on!  Your carry-ons must not weigh too much, so you might have to unpack them and carry multiple lighter bags rather than two heavy ones.  This calculus confuses me but it works for South Africa Air Express.   Best to say Thank You and not ask too many questions.

     Today I learned that it might or might not be the rainy season.  It rained all of last night, accompanied by a cozy chorus of crickets.  It isn’t that hot, but holy cow is it humid.  It rained much of this morning as well, but is not raining now that it is evening.

     I also learned how to install a cell phone’s sim card, activate it, and text the United States (dial 001, not just 1, for the country code).  I found out that “follow the road straight” in Botswana does not mean “go straight,” it means follow the road especially if it curves dramatically and nevermind if the hand-drawn map shows the road being straight.  Also, key landmarks such as “the clinic” are readily apparent if you have Setswana eyes, but alas not so obvious with my U.S. American ones.  Nevertheless, the important thing is to keep strolling, not too far, not very fast, only ten minutes in the end, and you will indeed arrive at your destination, in this case the touristy Riverwalk mall.  Ditches in Botswana are shallow or entirely lacking, and there are safe paths to walk along the side of the road, sort of like sidewalks but without the bother of cement.  And even if it rains, buy the groceries you need because chances are a taxi driver will be happy to give a ride for P20 ($3.50).   Wait staff are ever-ready with the phone numbers of taxi drivers.  And in case any of you worried that I might miss out on seeing Tron as I also missed out in the 80’s, never you fear, it’s playing every night this week.  (A sign of the film’s greatness?)

     Almost everything has been unpacked and stowed in one of my capacious wardrobes (closets).  The Batswana must value closet space, as the townhouse cannot be characterized as full of anything, except that it is full of otherwise empty closets.  The kitchen is not really organized yet, but I guess another day should put that in order, too.  Still no internet at home, and it may or may not be a city holiday or a federal holiday through the 4^th or possibly the 5^th, so it may take a few more days for the Mascom store to be open so that someone can show me how to use the mysterious USB modem.  I’ve got the software installed, but I think that I have to pay some money to get the network activated.  I can’t wait to activate it so that I can “chat” with home in the evenings, when it is still morning or early afternoon in the U.S..  I did call home for exactly 38 seconds, and home called me for 1 minute 42 seconds, but I have not figured out how to tell how much of the P60 phone credits that actually cost.  I guess if I stop being able to use the phone, I’ll know that it cost too much.  I think texts are very cheap, so text me if you dare!  Amanda has the number.  As soon as I have a chance to go to the Equatorial Café to use the wireless and upload this blog, I will also send the number to all of the ACM-Botswana students, so that they will know how to contact me during their travels.

Cheers!

Sweet Adelines Tag #1

January 1, 2011

   For those readers who do not sing Barbershop, a “tag” is a musical bit added to the end of a song, for the purpose of both prolonging and heightening the emotional content of the performance.   We also use tags to eke out several more opportunities to show off vocal skills.

   These Blog Tags are for the Velvet Hills Show Chorus, though I hope that you will all find them amusing.

   Ladies!  As I sat in the airport hotel in Johannesburg, eating dinner while pondering the missing luggage, what song should come over the audio but “When You Wish Upon a Star.”  It was New Year’s Eve, I was in Africa, I was eating chicken &  butternut squash pasta and sipping a South African white.  To think how I started out in a little town in Nebraska, the weird kid who liked to read & sing …. and look where I ended up!  This year Rome and Botswana, next year Beijing and (fingers crossed) France….and of course Houston.

   And now we have the photos of the adventurous PIB.  Here she is will all the luggage.

   But she had to slim down quite a bit in order to fit in "economy stowage," so here she is ready to travel.  She did so well!  Must have been all that jumping around on the risers.

   Never fear, she has managed to regain her original beauty perfectly and is on the dining room table, resting!

Episode five: in which my luggage and I have independent adventures

Greetings and Happy New Year from Johannesburg, South Africa!

After quite a few conversations with Delta as well as conversations between them and the ACM, I was allowed to board the flight to Atlanta, and the flight to Johannesburg, as well.  Hip-hip-hooray!  Now that I am in South Africa, no one cares a whit that I do not have a visa to stay in Botswana longer than 90 days, but Delta was certainly concerned.  I hope that next year’s Director has a visa ahead of time, to satisfy U.S. American procedures.   And thanks to the red-jacketed Delta representative who ultimately decided that “should have a visa” is different from “MUST have a visa” and let me leave Colorado. Thank goodness the computer screen said "should."

To add pula (blessings), I flew the entire 16 hours in a 3-seat row all by myself.  I must have slept at least 10 hours.  A father with very good humor boarded the plane with his partner and their young infant; to a round of applause he passed our earplugs to everyone seated nearby.  Now that’s class. There were actually two families with young infants on the flight, and at customs, the South Africans insisted that the mothers with babies skip to the very front of the line.  Again, how classy!

The airport in Joburg was lovely, with hardly any other flights in evidence.  It was just me, the two young couples with infants, and the retirees, all on their dream safari vacations. Everything went perfectly except that my checked luggage did not arrive with me.  The South African Delta sales representative was very impressed with the fact that the luggage contained all of my travel destinations, dates, and contact numbers and was also labeled properly with my jaunty red luggage tags.  My bright orange luggage is rather striking, so I really could tell that it did not arrive.  One of the nicest Delta employees teased me quite a bit, saying that I really should be more careful to have easily-identified luggage.  And even though I was the very last DL200 passenger to leave the baggage area, Mr. Tia from the hotel had waited all that time and took me directly to the hotel.

Amanda stayed up all night New Year’s Eve and was ultimately able to ascertain that Delta believes that my luggage will arrive in Gaborone before I will, this morning at 10:30.  It is already almost noon, so perhaps my luggage is already enjoying Setswana hospitality.  Thank you Amanda.  I promise I'll make it up to you!

The South African landscape visible as the flight lands is stunning – it looks like paradise. 

Many pula to all of you for this new year.   

Episode Four: poinsettias the size of trees

Almost time to go.  I meant to post this image before Christmas but couldn't quite get it up.

Anyway, when I was in Botswana in July, I saw poinsettias - the size of TREES!   Imagine how sad beautiful U.S. holiday altars must look to visitors from Botswana.

Mysteriously I did not take a photograph of any of the actual trees, but I did take this picture.  It shows the inside of the SOS Children's Village and the "family tree" made by the kids who go to pre-school and/or live there.  It is a poinsettia tree!

I hope to write to you next from Botswana.

Episode three: malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS

I’m getting my lectures and other materials together, so I thought that it might be nice to tell you a little about the focus of the course I will be teaching, which is called “The Biology and Public Health of Malaria, Tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.”

Why those three infectious diseases?  I chose them because they remain significant causes of mortality despite the fact that every single one is preventable, and two of them can be cured.  I also chose them because social categories such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status have strong effects on both the risk of contracting one of these illnesses and also the risk of dying as a result. Additionally I’m a microbiologist and so I chose them for teaching purposes, because one of them is caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), another by a virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), and the third by a eukaryotic parasite (Plasmodium species).

It is also very interesting that despite the importance of these infections and concentrated research effort, there is no immunization series that can effectively protect children or adults from any of these agents.  (Some studies indicate that an immunization called BCG can protect young children from some forms of severe tuberculosis early in their lives, but this protection does not protect immunized people later in life and can complicate diagnosis of tuberculosis, so it is not used in low-prevalence countries such as the U.S.)  Unfortunately, these three infectious agents have taught us how little we understand the human immune system, which has more connections among cells than are found in the whole nervous system!  Even if we had effective immunizations, we might not have the political will to build the human and physical infrastructure needed to distribute and administer the immunizations where they are most needed.  Certainly the infrastructure to store and administer affordable antimicrobials is not in place, even though those antimicrobials exist.

I also plan to use these diseases to teach about evolution, because all three infectious agents have evolved in response to our attempts to treat them, and in the case of malaria and tuberculosis, we humans have evolved in response to their attempts to infect us.  

The World Health Organization likes to explain the causes of mortality by scaling everyone who died in a given year to 1,000 people.  For the most recent available data (2004), the top ten causes of mortality in low income countries were:

1.     Lower respiratory disease (112/1000)

2.     Coronary heart disease (94/1000)

3.     Diarrhoeal disease (69/1000)

4.     HIV/AIDS (57/1000)

5.     Stroke (56/1000)

6.     Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (36/1000)

7.     Tuberculosis (35/1000)

8.     Neonatal infections (34/1000)

9.     Malaria (33/1000)

10. Prematurity and low birth weight (32/1000)

Numbers 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9 are directly caused by infectious disease, while infectious disease in a mother can contribute substantially to number 10, too.

For the world considered as a whole, the list looks like this:

1.     Coronary heart disease  (122/1000)

2.     Stroke (97/1000)

3.     Lower respiratory infections (71/1000)

4.     Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (51/1000)

5.     Diarrhoeal diseases (37/1000)

6.     HIV/AIDS (35/1000)

7.     Tuberculosis (25/1000)

8.     Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers (23/1000)

9.     Road traffic accidents (22/1000)

10. Prematurity and low birth weight (20/1000)

Even though malaria isn’t listed, it is a significant contributor to #10.   Malaria is also a major downer for economic prosperity – people so sick they can’t get out of bed don’t generate as much income or wealth as healthy people.

In Botswana, which by some measures is a middle-income country, HIV/AIDS is the #1 cause of over-all mortality, while tuberculosis is #4.  For children under 5 in Botswana, HIV/AIDS  is the #2 cause of death, while malaria is #4.  Tuberculosis is the most common “opportunistic infection” affecting HIV+ people worldwide, so there is a connection between deaths from TB and HIV/AIDS, with some difficulty in separating the two in some cases.  It is exciting that the over-all crude death rate in Botswana has fallen substantially from about 32/1000 in 2003 to about 8.5/1000, very close to the U.S. death rate.  This is due in no small part to Botswana’s enviable medical infrastructure and the availability of anti-HIV medications (antiretrovirals, or ARVs) and antibiotics to treat tuberculosis.  Check out this animation showing the data regarding the rise, fall, and rise of health in Botswana.  Public health measures WORK!!

Infectious disease remains an important cause of death worldwide, and is likely both caused by social inequality and a contributor to the perpetuation of that inequality.   People interested in the impacts of infectious disease on development might want to check out gapminder.org and look at under-5 child mortality as one of the variables.  There is also a great visual summary of HIV infection data on that same site.

Lest I end with all gloom and doom, it is worth pointing out that this has been a year with lots of good news on the infectious disease front, too, so stay tuned.  And cheers to all the microbiologists out there devoting their lives to making the world a safer place.

Episode two: Preparations so far

The University of Botswana library, July 2008:

I feel busier than an elf in Santa’s shop.  I have assembled a list of advice regarding what to bring along, including what attitude to tuck into my carry-ons.  This advice comes from all manner of helpful people, such as a UB visiting professor from Canada, past ACM faculty directors, Fulbright scholars, American Society for Microbiology volunteers, and the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership for HIV Research and Education.  I found a blog written by a Fulbright scholar particularly helpful, so I would like this post to be similarly helpful to others who stumble across it while planning to live in Botswana themselves.

One thing I’m not doing is running around getting a gazillion travel immunizations.  The first time I went to Botswana, in 2008, I got a whole bunch of shots.  This time I know better, so I just want a seasonal flu shot, a measles booster, and some prophylactic anti-malarials for the safari up in the Okavango Delta (wetlands).  The water in Gaborone is very safe.  I have visited twice and always just drank water out of the tap, used tap water to brush my teeth, etc.  I did get a touch of traveller’s intestinal discomfort, but nothing to write home about (though I am a Salmonella biologist, so I would, in fact, write home about anything intestinally notable!).

So far, I am planning to bring….

1.     Too many electronics

a.     A PC laptop for my office in the Faculty of Nursing.  The PC is loaded with all electronic documents needed to administer the ACM Study Abroad program.

b.     My Mac laptop for use at home, via Mascom wireless

c.      My Kindle, because books are scarce and too heavy to bring along

d.     My iPad, to use for teaching (Airsketch!  Keynote!)

e.     A portable LED projector

f.      Extra cables for the assorted electronics to connect to each other and to power.

g.     Two U.S. surge protectors/strips to go with two power converters (220 to 110).

h.     Several cell phones with Botswana sim cards (provided by my employer ACM).

i.       A cooling gel pad for the laptops – it’s going to be hot!

j.       A lock for the laptop at home.

2.     An official letter explaining that the electronics are for educational purposes and must be returned to the U.S. after my visit.   (We'll see how much I get charged for importing all that stuff.)

3.     A neck support pillow for better sleeping on the planes.

4.     Spray-on sunscreen (for the places I can’t reach!).

5.     Two padlocks in case I join a gym or need to put a lock on a closet or … who knows.

6.     Umbrella for sun and rain.

7.     Swimming suit for trip to Johannesburg and possibly for local gym or hotel pool membership.

8.     For teaching, nicer summer clothes than I ever wear in the U.S..  I will still be under-dressed, I’m sure, but at least I will try.

9.   .  Lots of passport photos, notarized copies of my graduate diploma, and a copy of my appointment letter.

10  For sleeping in an apartment without air conditioning:  a “chillow” and a hotflash pillow.

11. Three cooling bandanas (filled with polymer that can be filled with water).

12. Extra pair of glasses and glasses case.

13.  One warm sweater and one warm fleece; supposedly I will feel cold in April/May.  I guess I’ll update you on that one!

14.  As few copies of teaching books as possible.

15. A wooden backscratcher (living alone!)

16. A few travel-to-Botswana/Namibia/South Africa guides.

17.  Assorted over-the-counter meds that might not be available in Botswana, such as miconazole, hydrocortisone cream, aloe sunburn cream, baby aspirin.

18. A lightweight crocheted shawl in case I ever have to meet any dikgosi and have to cover my shoulders with an extra layer.

19. A Visa credit card (not Mastercard or Discover or any other type).

20. Safari related items for going to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Okavango Delta in late February/early March

a.     Raincoat

b.     Tevos

c.      Walking/tennis shoes

d.     Safari pants that can be unzipped into shorts

e.     Traveljohns (if you don’t know what these are, you should look them up!)

f.      Similarly, a GoGirl

g.     Head lamp with extra batteries

h.     Camera with extra batteries

i.       Anti-malarial (haven’t decided which one yet)

j.       Epi pen … plan to assemble a travel first-aid kit for the safari once I have arrived.  I will also buy DEET-containing bug spray once I am there.

k.     Binoculars

l.    Rain-proof stuff sacks and duffel bags

As far as the attitude to pack… the experience of any given faculty visitor appears to be very specific to their living situation and the department in which they are visiting.   The plan appears to be “expect the unexpected;” as Velvet Hills sometimes sings:  “fle-e-ex-i-bi-li-ty…”  Undoubtedly there will be expected problems (collecting luggage in Jo’burg to stay overnight at airport Hilton, checking in again on New Year’s Day to fly to Gaborone, negotiating about any extra luggage or weight, getting e-mail set up from home, learning how to buy local cell phone service....). 

The unexpected problems are the ones that demand the very most patience and good humor, so all I can say is, wish me luck! 

P.S. I've looked around and most estimates for shipping to Botswana are >$300 for 10 lbs of books....so I may have to pay overage charges for extra luggage of teaching-related books.  We'll see.