"Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart- it's all a person has." -Hubert H. Humphrey

Our sugar packets have insightful quotations on them and I've been collecting them daily so the title of this blog is from a packet I got last week. It fact, quote are incorporated in a number of places and there's something uplifting about seeing them throughout the day.

Something interesting popped into my head yesterday but I forgot to write about it. Since we've been here we've heard so much about how Motswana (They aren't called Botswanans like you might think) really care about their neighbor and will go out of their way for people they don't even know. And we've seen it as we've gone around the city and in our interactions with quite a few people. But despite this idea of camaraderie they are very worried about crime. There was a letter on our table about preventing theft in the apartments and it's not just locking your doors when you're gone, it's locking them when you're there which is not really something I'm use to. I just find it a little strange that a place that seems to have such a community, help thy neighbor, greet everyone you see attitude can have such a concern for theft. You would think that not stealing from your neighbor would just be implied. Maybe I'll ask someone to explain this to me.

(Pic: the 4 of us were crammed in the back of Pearl's car but you can only see Mandy & I in the pic haha)

Today was me & Kate's second day at Baylor. When we got there Dr. Ryan sent us off to a lecture which was really interesting. It was the KITSO training (Kitso means knowledge but is also an acronym) about Pediatric and Adolescent medicine dosage and adherence. Dr. Ryan was explaining that at Baylor adherence to taking medications is one of the biggest problems because if they fail to take their medicine at the right time they can develop and immunity and lower the longevity of their life. Dr. Partha who also works at Baylor and gave the psychosocial part of the lecture discussed ways to approach the disease with young children. He suggested describing the medicine as a way to help the child's soliders become stronger because there is a bad guy that makes them weak but when you take your medicine correctly he goes to sleep. This is essentially telling the truth about the disease, it attacks (the bad guy-HIV) a person's CD4 cells (soliders) and makes the child ill but if they take their medicine the viral load is lessen (putting the bad guy to sleep). He also expressed that full disclosure can be an important aspect of a child's medical and psychological health because they don't have secrets and have access to clinical, familial, social support that they may not if they don't disclose but he made it very clear that public disclosure is not usually that beneficial because of the stigma associated with the disease. Overall the presentation was insightful and I'm glad we were able to attend. It was interesting to be the only two white people attending though I'm not sure noticed initially. I felt bad that we had to leave as soon as he was done, it would have been nice to mingle with some of other people in attendance to see what kind of work they do but Dr. Partha said it was mainly pediatricians and doctors attending.

When we got back we helped Stu finish taking pictures of x-rays and labeling them. I'm amazed at how sloppy doctors write. I mean I knew it was bad but you would think they would at least make the name legible so that you know they could find the right file?! I did my best and now that project is completed. We also briefly met with the social worker and basically set up a meeting to meet with her and the psychologist tomorrow to discuss possibly creating the curriculum for parenting/caregiver groups that they have wanted to start. Then we had another lecture to go to called Better Medicine for Children, If Not Now...When? by Stuart MacLeod, a member of the World Health Organization. He was mainly discussing the lack of clinical testing of medication on children and how this can be detrimental. In the past 75% of drugs on the market had not been tested on children and yet were prescribed to them just the say. That's pretty scary if you ask me! I was getting pretty annoyed though because being "on time" is completely relative here. I could have showed up to the lecture 30 minutes into it and I don't think anyone would have cared, except maybe Dr. Ryan. People were coming in and out during almost the entire thing and it made it very difficult for me to focus on what he was saying. I felt completely distracted the entire time but as I looked around, it didn't seem like anyone else was phased by it. I can get being laid back but I guess to me it just felt really disrespectful to

have people showing up 40 minutes into the lecture and making so much noise while someone is trying to give a presentation. When we met with Dr. Ryan again he had talked to Mmpula about a pamphlet project they wanted us to work on so we have a meeting with her tomorrow morning to discuss what she needs from us. So it looks like we will be put to you!

I'm so tired anymore. I really think it's the lack of sunlight in the evenings because it just makes me think it's bed time. I laid down for a little after work but never really fell asleep. It's always pretty loud. The walls are thick but the doors are not at all so you hear every little thing. I think the other reason I was so tired today is because I was basically up from 4 something to 6:45 because the outside door kept slamming from the wind. I almost went crazy and knocked it down!! I hope it doesn't do that tonight.

Tonight Thato and Pearl took us to Square Market to get some groceries. Mandy and Kate have to pack their lunch unless they want to eat fat cakes and chips every day lol and I decided I wouldn't mind packing mine from time to time to avoid having to eat the same 6 items for lunch and dinner nearly everyday for a month! So I got some bread, peanut butter, jelly and chips to take with me.

(Pic:Here's Mandy and her sweet treat! I got 2 ice creams also but I'm saving them for later!)

Again, I don't have many pictures but there wasn't really anything to take pictures of today so I'll try to get some tomorrow because I know this is much more fun to look at when you can see the things I'm doing! I'm going to go shower and relax some before I head to bed. I may try to hit the sack again early in hopes that I will get a good nights rest!