A Visit to Botswana – President Haldeman’s Reflections
Joan and I spent a few days visiting Botswana in July. We spent time with our two dedicated and hard-working volunteer clinicians, Drs. Mufudzi Chihambakwe and Michael Pretorius, who are doing an excellent job reopening and managing the World Spine Care clinics. They are both actively seeing patients in very cramped spaces. The waiting lists for appointments at the two clinics are months long.
We visited new office space with large, modern, renovated rooms which has been set aside by the government of Botswana for the expansion of the WSC clinic in Mahalapye. This space is large enough to provide for an additional 2 or 3 WSC volunteer clinicians. At the same time, we met with the administrators of the Mahalapye District hospital area, and they are enthusiastic about seeing this clinic open.
We visited Shoshong to determine what is necessary to reopen the WSC clinic in that remote village. A few minor repairs are needed, but the building is in good shape, and repairs have been approved by the health authorities that administer this clinic.
The new volunteer house provided by the authorities in Mahalapye is very comfortable and can easily accommodate three volunteers. We are currently offering volunteer positions in Botswana to expand the services as these clinics grow.
We visited the BH3 clinic in Gaborone, where Dr. Chihambakwe has continued to see patients through the COVID-19 epidemic. We met with the Nursing Matron, who oversees the clinic. She is very thankful for the services provided by Dr. Chihambakwe and the WSC team. This small clinic serves 26,000 people and has only 31 nurses, visiting family physicians, and the WSC clinic staff for 24-hour health services. Without the WSC clinic, there would be minimal or no care for patients with spine and musculoskeletal symptoms and disability.
We met with the administrators of the BH3 clinic, who promised to provide a larger clinical facility for WSC. When this happens, we can bring additional volunteer clinicians to help their patients. The administrators recognized and appreciated the presence of the WSC clinic.
Finally, we spent time with Dr. Vincent Setlhare, the chair of the University of Botswana and part of the WSC team in Botswana. Dr. Setlhare introduced us to the vice dean of the medical faculty. The University has just completed building a new teaching hospital, which is very impressive, and there is a genuine interest in bringing a WSC presence into the new UB hospital, pending the availability of volunteers.
