Neat and clean

The Batswana are very fastidious. You never see a dirty car or a piece of litter...they have two people walk the roads wearing bright orange jump suits spearing litter, what there is of it, and in general keep the place quite tidy. They even sweep the dirt free of leaves. 

Now that it is Fall, they are out in force sweeping the area, keeping things in order and orderly. This separates them from the Sudanese where there was so much litter that you soon became quite used to it.  It was surprising to see it in the photos I took.

The women here dress very proper, very British if you will, and will walk for km's in shoes with 4 cm heels along dirt roads, across fields, and the like. 

Every town/village/city has at least one large area that is all dirt and used for football (soccer). There is a local interest in fast pitch softball with teams from all over this area competing on the weekend. All sorts of alcoholic beverages are sold at the games so things can be either animated or quite sedate depending on the average alcohol level of the fans. Beer is sold at all events, even in the local amusement parks.

In have returned to attending at PMH for one day a week under a new paradigm wherein I teach, and write very few notes. This seems to be workable as rounds are better, faster, and more efficient. One of the UPenn students has fashioned a non re-breather O2 delivery mask and it has  made a huge impact on the hypoxia of the PCP pts, taking their o2 saturation from the mid 50's to >95%!  The dysfunction is just the same, especially in contradistinction to the secondary hospitals. 

 The med school has a new founding dean and my role there is still to be defined. In the mean time I love what I get to do each day so I can't go wrong. Fortune has indeed blessed me.

Now that I know my way around this part of the country it is beginning to feel more like "home".  This weekend I meet with my mentees in the FP residency. Next weekend is a getaway with Lynne to Tau, a SA game reserve . Then I hit the road for 10 days to make a circuit to Tsabong, Hukuntsi, and Ghanzi. Find them on the Google maps and you'll get a taste of why this is such a sweet gig. All my best.