Traditional Healer

This may be one of my more aggressive and not so culturally competent blog post so I apologize if it offends anyone but I said I'd write about everything that was going on here in Botswana so here I go: 

Today we went as a group to visit a local traditional healer in Gaborone.  I went into this thinking that is would be the perfect opportunity for me to see and hear what the people who use traditional doctors listen to and experience.  When we first sat down, I looked at all of the jars filled with herbs, tree roots, and other medicines.  I also noticed a certificate on the wall recognizing the fact that the man was a registered traditional healer.  I knew that it would be different than anything I have ever seen before but what I did not realize what I would find out would really disturb me.  Also, just keep in mind this man was snorting straight nicotine about every 15 minutes during our session with him and uses animal bones to tell what maybe be someone’s illness (I don’t sound too skeptical do I?).

Traditional doctors claim to be able to fix and cure almost anything you can think of including marital issues and diseases.  While I don’t personally believe in traditional medicine (maybe that’s just the hard science background I have), I can appreciate people using the herbs for simple, non-life threatening issues.  The problem I had with the whole thing was the topic of curing HIV.  Yes, this man claims he has a cure for HIV that is not the anti-retroviral drugs which are offered in clinics.  What he claims will happen is he gives you an herb and tells you to drink a lot of water.  Basically, it makes you urinate A LOT and is supposed to “cleanse” the body.  That is the cure.  Supposedly you go get tested afterwards and you test negative.  BUT, he can only cure those who are strong.  Those who are weak will not see success with the treatments.

Here is my problem with this:

1.       1. It is no wonder he can only treat those who are strong.  People who have been infected with HIV for a longer period of time have their CD-4 blood counts drop to a point that they become weak and sickly.  A person who has not yet reached that point could easily take some herbs which trick a test into testing negative OR raise their CD-4 count to just high enough to pass as being negative.  In weaker people, he cannot do that.  They have already passed the point of tricking the immune system.

2.       2. It is possible to test negative for HIV after a certain period of time of using ARVs but that does not mean you are negative.  ARVs are used only to boost the immune system and cannot cure HIV.  Once a person has tested negative for HIV after being on ARVs, they are still infected.  They can still spread HIV.  The same goes for traditional remedies.  Once a person is infected, he or she will remain infected for the rest of his or her life. Period

   

      3. This is the same country that has the second highest rate of HIV and AIDS in the world.  I am not surprised.  I’m sure other countries have traditional doctors which do the same things but right now, I’m focused on Botswana.  If you tell a person they will be cured by a herbal remedy and they believe that, they will live their lives as if they are not infected.  This is going to lead to MORE infections and MORE patients.  One of my professors told me that we don’t know all routes of HIV being spread because it continues at a rapid pace despite the ARVs being offered.  I thought she was crazy but I know now that THIS is the route she was looking for.  This is how people are continuing to spread this disease.

4.      4. He charges P750, over $100, for these treatments.   ARVs, a medically proven and tested medicine, are FREE IN ALL CLINICS!  ARVs are used forever once they are started because doctors know HIV does not just go away.  People should be using the treatment which continues to protect their health and should be advised that despite their good CD-4 counts, they are still infected and can still infect others.

The larger issue at hand is that people are going to these doctors in order to find cures.  There is NO CURE for HIV.  ARVs are used to prolong the life of a patient and to increase their immune system.  That does not mean they cannot still spread HIV.  If people want to use traditional healers, that is fine but the government needs to find a way to either regulate or ban the treatment of HIV by traditional healers here.  I know I am being extremely opinionated right now but this is a MAJOR health issue around the world and what I just saw today is doing so much harm to all the progress which has been made by this government.  Providing free ARVs could be the cure to their high rates of HIV and teaching them about prevention but if this crack-pot and others like him are promoting the ideas that HIV is curable, the situation will never change.  The fact that he does not take money until after people are “cured” is supposed to make me believe he is actually helping these people but again, it is possible to get your blood count to a level that you will test negative but that DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE NEGATIVE!  Ugh, I am so frustrated right now but happy beyond belief that I saw this because, while this is not the only reason HIV is a big problem here, I believe it has a serious impact. 

Can there really only be 35 days left?

Long time no post, guys!  Sorry, again, about that but things are starting to get hectic here.  I only have 5 weeks and yes I say ONLY because I’m on that roller coaster again and I am NOT ready to leave!  The past two weeks have been filled with some of the best times I think I have had here so far and the thought of all of this being so close to ending is starting to hit me.

The end of March was Kelly’s birthday so I think the start of this up-swing in feelings towards Gaborone began then.  We just went out to dinner and hung out at UB for her birthday but it was a lot of fun and some good memories came from those two nights.  For one, apparently we impress people from here by the amount of lyrics we know to songs as Ronnie’s host brother who was visiting watched in amazement as we sang a Taylor Swift song word for word.  The morning after had proved to be bit trying as I ended up in a disagreement with one of my flat mates about sanitation issues.  We currently have roach power sprinkled all over our counter tops which I find a bit more serious of an issue than me running water over my toothpaste in the kitchen sink before I brush my teeth.  Anyway, we are all better and things have moved on (with the powder still in place).  

 Just the girls!  Me, Ali, Kelly, Gerrica, and Anna are the 5 girls from CIEE this semester.

Last week was a bit boring as everyone is just bogged down with end of the semester work.  I went to my last field visit on Tuesday which was with a Health Inspector in charge of checking all the pre-schools and day-cares in Gaborone.  I thought she was on top of her game from the way she explained to me what she was looking for but turns out I was wrong.  She would enter the schools glance over everything without checking ANYTHING she had mentioned was required and just leave.  When I asked her if she would report the things we found, she said it’s not use because nothing will get done.  That typifies the attitude here of try once and give up.  It is one of the most frustrating things when I’m dealing with the people here because as soon as an idea is shot down or people don’t listen the first time something is said, that’s the end of the efforts.  Nothing in this world is as easy as saying something once but I guess that’s just how they are raised here.  The other problem I had with the health inspector was that she would find something wrong and make an excuse for why it was not correct.  If this woman is supposed to be looking out for the safety of the children and decides to ignore the fact that a fire extinguisher is locked with no way to get at it in the event of an emergency, who will be there to protect the health of these children.  At one point, she even said “I’m being lazy today.”  I just wanted to ask her, then why are you here?  You are going to check this school off as having been checked when in reality you LOOKED at it without much concern.  In one school, I tried to turn the bathroom water on and nothing came out, meaning kids can’t wash their hands after using the toilet and she looked surprised then just walked away.  It was a bit frightening and again, made me realize that even in this fairly developed country, there is still a LONG way to go.  

This is a bathroom in one of the day-care centers.  Notice there is no privacy or toilet paper to be found.

This is a sink found in the bathroom of the Health Inspectors Office.  Ironically, there isn't any hot water, soap, or paper towels here either.

Continuing on with schooling type issues, we had our one and only assignment which was a term paper in one of my classes due on Friday.  The professor decided not to come to class the week and a half proceeding that date so we ended up asking him yesterday, 3 days AFTER the paper was due, to explain how to write the paper in his style.  We are now required to revise a 10 page term paper worth 40% of our grade in 2 days despite the fact that the professor had been asked for weeks before the due date to go over an outline.  I am currently in the process of fighting to extend the deadline.  I do miss Nova academics.

The truly awesome stuff that is happening here is outside of school though.  I feel like now we are starting to figure out just what we want to do but now it’s almost time to go!  Last weekend in particular made me think I am not ready to get out of here.  I want school to end but as for living and traveling in Africa, I definitely have not had my fill yet.  Saturday we spent the day on Gerrica’s host parents’ farm which was an absolute blast.  We basically just hung out, wandered around in the bush, cooked some meat, the boys killed a chicken which was disturbing, and ended our day with popping a tire on the truck we used to go to the farm!  Yes, all 8 of us rode in one truck which meant I finally got to ride in the back of a pick-up truck!  It was very windy but a lot of fun.  As for the tire, we were half way between the farm and the main road when a rock put a hole in the tire wall big enough to stick a finger in there.  It turned out to be a lot of fun though as we got to chase some donkeys to try and ride them and spend some quality time bonding in the middle of the bush.  Gerrica’s host-brother came to our rescue 2 hours later and brought us a spare tire and we were on our way.  That’s not before myself, along with Kelly and Ali were in the back of the truck not realizing Gerrica’s brother didn’t put the e-brake on and started rolling backwards down the path.  Luckily there’s not much to run into other than bushes so it turned out to be a very funny experience rather than scary.  

 A traditional home and what a typical farm looks like.  Usually one or two guys stay there to tend to animals and  live with no electricity, no plumbing, and no running water.

My new friend Charlie

Our ride home from the farm was the time in the past few weeks that I don’t think I will ever forget, however.  The sky was a gorgeous shade of pink and orange while the hills and mountains were deep blue.  There is no way a picture can even begin to capture the beauty that even this city that offers so many frustrations can show.  I was thinking about what I have done here and the friendships I have made.  It almost made me nervous about going back home and I don’t want to ever forget any of these memories.  This experience has taught me more than I ever thought it could about myself, my strength, my desires, and my endurance.  I consider myself a fairly independent person but there is NO test like living in a completely different place alone for almost 5 months.  I have been contemplating joining the Peace Corps after graduate school and living here has made the decision even harder.  My family means the world to me and being away from them this long has been hard enough but on the other hand, these experiences are unbelievable.  I guess I will have a lot to think about in the next few years!  As for now, I’m going to try and live in the moment and enjoy these last few weeks here even though is it starting to get surprisingly chilly at night here!  

P.S. Some good news, Marc Ketcha (a friend from Villanova)and I will be partnering up next Fall to lead a Fall Break Service Trip!  I am really excited and hoping for some more opportunities to see other parts of the world!!

Time flies when...you're in Africa?

I know, I know, I am a horrible blogger and haven’t posted in almost a month but I am fixing that now!  The past three weeks haven’t been too event filled but I will give you guys the few updates I have.  It seems like most of my time has gone towards this health promotion pamphlet I am trying to get started.  I have gone to 5 stores and gyms looking for financial support and haven’t heard back from any of them.  In fact, my first one should respond later today so I am actually pretty nervous right now.  I never realized just how tiring it is to interact with all of these people and try to sell the same story over and over.  Nothing is ever done straight forward here so it results in me traveling to different headquarters and making lots of phone calls.  However, if the end product is what I hope it will be, then all this will be worth it.  I find the worst part of it to be the traveling to and from campus in this ungodly warm weather.  Without a car and trying to avoid paying to combis, I tend to go through a lot of clothes these days.  I don’t know what ever happened to “winter” coming because it seems like it has been getting hotter every day!

Anyway, so it was a couple of my friends’ birthdays in the past few weeks so we went out again, my second time since coming here.  It was fun but I definitely don’t feel as comfortable going out here as I do at home.  All of their clubs and bars are in the middle of nowhere which is a little scary.  I try to keep myself occupied on the weekends doing other things though so that works out well. 

Last weekend I stayed at David’s house (the man whose family is taking care of me while I’m in Gabs).  I made them an “American meal” as they requested for dinner last Saturday.  While I fancy myself as a decent cook, I have no idea what is considered “American”.  I would have said hamburger but they already have those here so I resorted to chicken parm and macaroni and cheese.  They enjoyed both but I would say the mac n cheese was the big hit.  They want me to make another meal before I leave but I think I’m fresh out of ideas!  Anyway, the next morning I went to church with the two little girls, the son, and David’s wife, Charity.  It was interesting to see the differences in churches between the Mochudi church, the one in Gabs, and the one she took me to last Sunday.  This one was not the typical church.  They had people from the congregation reading and leading the mass and the most noticeable difference is that there was no building.  We had mass under a tent.  At least I didn’t have to cover my head like I did in Mochudi, that makes it about 10 degrees hotter anywhere.  Speaking of Mochudi, I am going to visit my host family this Saturday so that should be fun.  Also, one of my friends doing a home-stay is offering the family farm for a bunch of us to camp out and do…farm things?  It should be fun.

 Last Friday we went to the Jwaneng Diamond Mine where 80% of Botswana’s diamonds come from.  I have never seen a hole that big in my life!  I can’t even put into words how big it was.  It was about a quarter mile deep and I can’t even estimate how wide.  Its weird thinking the entire economy is based on that one spot though.  They are estimating the pit will last until 2033 but at that time…no one knows what will happen.  That’s not even mentioning the fact that something like 60% of all of Botswana’s water supply goes to cleaning the diamonds.  No wonder people are still digging boreholes here.  Guess it’s time to start rethinking some plans.  The coolest part was probably getting to stand next to a 240 TON capacity truck.  The tires were about two of me high.  Talk about feeling small!

All geared up for our tour (too bad you can't see our steel-toed boots!) 

Open-cast mine.  Those little trucks down there are the ones in the next picture.

Also, on Tuesday morning I went around with the Gaborone City Council who does waste management which sounds disgusting, and kind of is, but it was very interesting.  Again, I just don't understand some of the things they do here.  We went to a landfill which was absolutely enormous.  Apparently they did not build it up to standards so once everything decomposes, the toxins will seep into the ground water thus affecting drinking water.  Something isn’t right there considering half the time they have trouble finding water here anyway.  Don’t you’d think they’d want to protect it?  The other issue was that they use an incinerator to get rid of PLASTIC clinical waste.  Everything I have ever heard says burning plastic is not too wise. 

As for school, I have run into a few issues recently that have made me truly not understand how things work here.  My first issue is that one of my classes, the professor only shows up about half of the time.  I have an issue with that when my program is paying the school which is paying the professor to teach me but he doesn’t do half of his work.  Apparently the students don’t ever complain and at first I didn’t mind some of the days off but now it is getting ridiculous.  Also in that class, we watched a film called Slum Survivors.  While it was an extremely eye-opening documentary, I left the class extremely annoyed.  First of all, the stuff we saw was very intense as it covered the story of Africa’s largest slum found in Kenya and we did not discuss anything we saw.  I am not used to seeing something like that and just leaving after like nothing was different in the world.  The other thing that aggravated me was that the kids in the class were laughing about the whole film.  I don’t understand what they found humorous, especially knowing that is happening in their backyards and they themselves are about 20 years away from that situation themselves once the diamonds run out.  My only guess is maybe it was a defense mechanism but it really disturbed me.

My second issue I have with this school is that yesterday I had a bit of a run-in with a professor who gave me my first taste of predjudism.  In a class of 100 people, three of which are international, we are giving group presentations about traditional medicine in different regions of the world.  After one group member presents, the professor asks one male and one female to volunteer criticism about the presentation.  I wouldn’t feel comfortable standing in front of that many people to begin with but to be criticized by immature college students would make it 10 times worse.  So one girl went up and she was the only girl who actually knew what she was doing so I decided it was my turn to offer comments.   I wanted to make sure she got an honest comment rather than the ones people had been saying such as..”your font is too small” when we couldn’t even see the presenter’s note cards.  Not only did the entire class laugh at me after making my comment (which was that she did a good job and clearly knew her material because she didn’t rely on her notes) but the professor proceeded to make a joke out of my comment for the rest of class.  This really got to me because one other international student made a comment on Monday and was also laughed at yet everyone else doesn’t comment seriously and should be laughed at.  The worst part was that the professor joined in on the fun with my comment.  It is clearly just because we are international and it was clearly a lesson to be learned.  That was the first and last time I will ever raise my hand in that class, if I even go back.  I guess this should be chalked up as a “learning experience” about what people in the states go through but it was probably the most embarrassed I have been since coming here.  After talking about it with a local friend I have, I came to the realization that the students here who claim the teachers aren’t good never do anything about it because they just don’t care.  They aren’t paying for school.  In fact, they are being paid to go here by the government so what do they care if professors show up?  It makes for a very frustrating situation.

Other than my classes, everything here is going well though.  I only have 21 days of classes left which is crazy to think about but it amounts to 46 pages of papers left to write.  I hope something more interesting happens soon so I can update people about cool stuff.  Still, hoping to get to Mozambique over Easter break and will probably go scuba diving there so that will be fun.  Hope all is well at home and that everything in Northern Africa and the Middle East calm down seeing as I have to fly through all of those places on the way home.  That could end up…interesting.

Reality Check Number 2 - Ke botshelo (such is life)

Following my break in Cape Town, I knew that I was going to have to come back to Botswana and assumed I would be swamped with work but I found a couple of things that caught me off guard.  This post is going to be more of an overview for the second half of the semester and talk about some issues I have been realizing.

Initially, upon returning home (yes this has now become home), I had forgotten that I left a flat with no hot water.  You would think that during the week we were gone, someone would have made progress with this issue.  No.  We still, almost a month after losing hot water in our building, have yet to get it back.  This makes showering a daunting task as I find myself sending 5 or more minutes motivating myself to run under the freezing water before running back out and soaping up only to repeat the process for rinsing and washing my hair.  This has motivated me, however, to run more as I realized a cold shower isn’t exactly bad when you are burning up from working out.  If this were the only problem, I think I could live with it but the most recent development has been water cut from the kitchen.  

This poses a much bigger issue as we can no longer properly wash our dishes, clean our foods, or wash our hands.  Being a public health major, I have spent the semester studying the ways in which diseases are spread and basically, that’s it.  I have been taking my dishes to other people’s rooms in order to clean them but obviously it is extremely inconvenient.  I never realized the important of kitchen water in food but it is slowly becoming more and more or a hassle to cook anything.  My biggest fear is that they will cut off our water to the building completely and at the rate they are addressing this issue, it would never be resolved.  Also, we are having a building meeting tonight to address this issue as apparently some others are concerned about the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.  For those of you unsure, there are three types of waterborne disease, one of those being due to a lack of adequate water.  Overall, this has just reminded me again that as developed as Gaborone may be, I am still in Africa and need to take precautions. 

Moving on from the water, I have been doing some life searching and planning which has resulted in some big things.  First of all, I have decided that I need to go right into Graduate School after finishing at Nova otherwise, my major will not be specific enough in order to get positions I would like to get.  After deciding that, I have narrowed a list of schools down and it looks like I will either be in Boston or Washington D.C., mainly because I need to be near NGO headquarters.  As of right now, my top choice would be Boston University and its program for International Health but who knows, that is almost a year down the line.  Anyway, more immediate, I have realized that the project I am working on here in Bots is going to be the key to everything I want to do in public health.  

Recently, with the help of my clinical professors, my program director, and a CIEE regional director, I had decided it is time to take what I have learned from my clinical experience and do something productive.  Therefore, I have come up with the idea of developing a bi-weekly or monthly health promotion pamphlet to be distributed in clinics and other helpful venues throughout Botswana.  While the packet itself is not too terribly difficult as I just need to write helpful tips on how to live healthy lifestyles, the logistics behind getting it approved, printed, and distributed will be taking up the majority of my time this semester.  It looks like I will need to talk with the Ministry of Health which is basically our FDA at home and a few other HUGE organizations.  I am a bit nervous because I have never started a program before nor have I ever had to deal with behind-the-scenes details before but if I can get this off the ground, I will be one of the happiest people in Africa.  Not only will I be able to use this program as a basis for any public health internship, school, or job but more importantly, I can give back to the community that has so graciously hosted me.  With this, it is also possible for people to come and continue my work and eventually expand it into possibly a health promotion program to be presented in schools and workplaces.  

Obviously, I am extremely excited but in the mean time, I also have a ton of other work I need to focus on.  The one other project I have taken responsibility for is being a student representative at the University of Botswana for a new NGO to be created by my professor.  With this, I will be helping to organize their first activity which will be a “marathon” to raise awareness on anti-smoking.  That is quite as involved as my pamphlet but still excited.

Anyway, I have had a lot of time to think about my time in Botswana and the time I have left.  When I initially started thinking, I couldn’t believe I still had to be here another 65 days or something like that but now I have shifted to not believing I ONLY have 65 days left.  We have started talking about our final trip in May and all of my classes are done in about a month.  It is amazing how fast time has actually gone.  I will not lie, I have definitely had some hard times, especially in the past few weeks with being homesick but being here has been an awesome experience.  It has been nothing that I expected it’d be but has taught me so much about myself.  Being the only white person within miles at times has made me a more confident person as people stare and ask questions while I have also learned from the communities things I never thought I’d discover here in Africa such as WHY I have the motivations I do.  I guess I was going through the rollercoaster of emotions that everyone talks about when you go abroad and I am now on my second high.  Mid-semester and I have realized that I love the people in my program and can’t imagine not seeing them when we go home.  Even more than that, I love my family beyond belief and value their thoughts, opinions, and support more than anything.  I appreciate all that Botswana attempts to offer but understand where it fails to pull-through.  Despite the uncomfortable moments with people begging and men proposing, I thoroughly enjoy walking in the city and experiencing the differences in cultures.  Sitting on a combi yesterday, I came to the realization after talking with my friend Gerrica that being here IS what I needed.  While I am very excited to travel other places and work with different cultures, the people, government, and culture in Botswana has truly been an experience I would not trade for any other.  

I realize that the attitude I have right now is a completely 180 from the attitude I had the few weeks leading up to Spring Break but I hope that I keep this outlook and continue to learn and grow in my remaining weeks here.  We have a trip coming up to a diamond mine which will be interesting considering that is the basis of all of Botswana’s economy and I believe I will visit my host family in Mochudi again soon.  While I would like to take a hot shower again, I am going to make a promise to myself that I will do everything in my power to appreciate and learn from everything that happens in the next few weeks.  That’s not to say I still don’t miss home though!! 

P.S. My next big trip I am planning is to Mozambique for Easter break but hopefully I can figure out a weekend trip before then!