The site preparations had begun in June, with some hard labor from Doug Brandvold and Grant Winter who helped clear all the garbage and level out the future site for the clinic.  The contract for construction of the portacabin was won by Team engineering in Gaborone, who did a fantastic job building to our exact specifications.  Unfortunately miscommunication led to

Site preparation with Dr. Doug Brandvold and Dr. Grant Winter

Team delivering the portacabin with no intentions of hooking it up to services – power and water.  The day they were to finish (2 days before we were to open) I had to convince them to hook up the power, and had to run and scrounge armoured cable from a Mosque construction site in Mahalapye.  Back at the site Dr. Becky Carpenter and I began to help dig a trench for the power cable but were brought to a halt when we hit a water pipe (there are no warnings or drawings to indicate the location of water pipes).  After sealing the leak and calling water utilities to come and turn off the water, another worker managed to hit the main water pipe to the entire clinic facility.  Although this caused a considerable flood, the strike managed to hit the pipe exactly at the main water shut off valve that the water utilities had not been able to find after 3 months of looking.  Eventually it was all repaired, but a 2-hour electrical hook up kept everyone at the site for an entire day.  That was Monday.

Setting up the Shoshong portacabin after delivery and digging the trench for the electrical cable (before the water pipe was hit).

Cleaning up after putting the pickaxe through the Shoshong clinic main water supply and flooding our electrical cable trench.

Tuesday morning we went to the village Kgotla – the main meeting place for the village, where we were on the agenda to speak along with the chief and a local MP.  We sat through long speeches in Setswana until it was my turn to introduce WSC to the village.  My words were met with great enthusiasm, but we could not stay to chat as we had to gather and move all the furniture and supplies that had been collected over the past several months in anticipation of the opening.  Again, through miscommunication, some of the furniture that was ordered through Mahalapye Hospital had not arrived (in fact it had not even been ordered) so we instead took our camping tables and some home furniture for something to work on.

Introducing WSC to the village of Shoshong at the Kgotla (village meeting) the day before we opened the doors of the clinic

 By the end of the day, we had brought most of the equipment to the clinic, and had a final load of furniture in the trailer ready to go for the drive to the clinic the following morning.

We arrived at the clinic Wednesday morning with our translator Temo who has been working with us at the Mahalapye clinic since January and is familiar with our protocols and forms.  We have been very lucky to have someone who is so competent, hard working and personable.

Within 10 minutes of arriving villagers started to crowd around the front of the clinic.  As I unloaded furniture and set up the clinic Becky began to book patients and Temo began to interview.  By the time the first patient was ready for an exam, 29 new patients had been booked, we had run out of intake forms and had to tell the rest to come back Friday to book.

Dr. Becky Carpenter booking new patients

We saw 7 new patients on the first day while also trying to get everything working and set up properly.  We still have a lot of little problems to resolve but enough is together to run the clinic as we slowly fine-tune and decorate.

Temo Keorileng, our translator and assistant, interviewing a patient.

One of Becky’s first patients presented with a specific set of signs and symptoms.  The patient was happy to learn that a diagnosis of menopause was completely normal and timely for a woman her age and was eager to learn more about it – something we take for granted as general knowledge made for a big relief in this woman’s day.

The pace and environment in Shoshong is peaceful, the people are warm and quick to smile and laugh.  If the first day is any indication, this will be a productive and pleasant site for the future of the clinical, research and education programs that WSC is developing.

Thanks to everyone who helped move this project forward, in particular the volunteers who have come to Botswana to help on the ground – Sarah Potthoff, Doug Brandvold, Grant Winter and Becky Carpenter.

Dr. Munro at the Sevika Hospital

Dr. Don Munro from Orillia Ontario arrived in Sawai Madhopur on January 8th 2012 to provide care in the WSC Sevika clinic for 3 months. He is the first volunteer to arrive in Sawai Madhopur since the clinic was established by Dr. Outerbridge in March 2011.  Dr. Munro worked very hard to overcome many obstacles and advance the development of the Ranthambhore project. At the same time he was able to treat many patients and help further develop the culturally specific model of care and treatment protocols.

The Prakratic Society is currently building a new 100 bed hospital in Sawai Madhopur and will be providing clinic space for World Spine Care. Dr. Goverdhan Rathore, director of the Prakratic Society and Sevika Hospital expects the hospital to be finished by October 2012, after which the World Spine Care clinic will resume operations.

World Spine Care would like to thank Dr. Munro for donating his time, experience and expertise to the Ranthambhore project. His unique skills, innovative thinking and problem solving abilities were invaluable to the success of his pioneering work.

Examining a patient on the table donated by Elite Chiropractic Tables at the WSC Mahalapye District Hospital Clinic

The Botswana Ministry of Health is generously providing a new structure to house the Shoshong WSC pilot project. This facility will take several months to research, plan and construct. In the interim the World Spine Care Mahalapye District Hospital clinic gives WSC the opportunity to test protocols, learn about the culture and language, learn the hospital systems and staff that will be integrated into the Shoshong project as the Mahalapye Hospital will be the referral hospital for the Shoshong clinic. The WSC Mahalapye Hospital clinic will remain as a tertiary spine care center once the Shoshong spine care clinic is active.

Belongings arrived safely

The Botswana Ministry of Health was very generous in providing World Spine Care with sufficient housing for the principal volunteer clinician, visiting volunteer clinicians, students, and researchers.

The World Spine Care residence

The future Volunteer accommodation

The first month in Mahalapye was spent on house repairs, cleaning, and clinic organization and preparation.

Kitchen repairs