Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007 - (Page 25)

dances about AIDS prevention for audiences throughout Nata and in the surrounding villages. Most of the performers speak the three local languages of Setswana, Sesarwa, and Kalanga so no one is left out of hearing their message. Mabogo members each earn only $50 a month, and they can now generate income by renting the equipment for concerts, weddings and other gatherings. e clinic midwives now have surgical gowns and eyewear to protect them when they are exposed to blood and body ﬂuids during deliveries. Patients now sit on benches and feel the comfort of electric fans as they wait to be seen by the staﬀ. Patients who used to have to travel to Gweta for simple ear, nose and throat exams can now be examined in their local clinic by staﬀ with new otoscopes. And we have funds to buy clothing, food and toiletries when the village social worker ﬁnds a needy orphan. We’ve gotten responses and donations from unexpected places. Nikki Shaw, a woman in Hong Kong who used to work as a water engineer in Gaborone, saw the Nata web site and used some of our data in her Master’s thesis on water scarcity and its links to HIV/AIDS. She came to Nata and Kgosi Makgesi gave her permission to interview several people living with AIDS and study the village water system and public standpipes for four days. When she went home, she and her husband Tony turned his 40th birthday into a Nata fundraiser: guests brought money instead of gifts and Tony sent us more than $1,000. One of the birthday party guests, a nurse by the name of Sue Parsons, gave her own fundraiser and sent $600 for the clinic. A Canadian couple I met in Zanzibar gave the village $1,000. ey work with Habitat for Humanity and are planning e site to come to Nata next year. beneﬁts us with more than money. A University Presidential Scholar, Elise Boose, stopped here on a nine-month tour of the world’s cultures and we arranged for her to live with some of my Nata neighbors for two weeks. e combined eﬀorts of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Botswana government and other donor organizations are all making a diﬀerence in the ﬁght against the pandemic. It’s been an exciting journey introducing Nata to the global village and we hope that our experience inspires others to do the same. Now, many people around the world can visit the village of Nata and learn about their traditions and meet the heroes who live openly with AIDS. When people see or hear ﬁrst-hand the stories of Nata, they are moved and do amazing things to help us. Our donors like the idea that all the funds go directly to the people of Nata; Everyone working on the project is a volunteer so our overhead is low and we promise our donors that their money goes straight to a person or an organization in need. Our long-term goals are to build an orphan day care center and a support center for people living with AIDS. We are planning to request corporate sponsorships through our website among the many successful Botswana companies that have given to other registered organizations. e people of Nata village are proud to be residents of the ﬁrst village in Botswana to have their own website. My neighbors are happy to participate and share their stories because they have already seen the beneﬁts of the Internet project: new equipment at the clinic, improved transportation to Gweta and improved health for people living with AIDS. We recently spent three weeks without holding a single funeral. Melody Jenkins has been a community capacity builder for HIV/AIDS in Botswana since 2005. Previously, she administered out-patient programs at a community mental health center in Texas and developed programs for the occupational and recreational therapists in Guyana’s National Psychiatric Hospital and training for the psychiatric nurses as a Peace Corps volunteer between 1997 and 1999. Visit www.natavillage.org the Duke Environmental Leadership Program Environmental professionals and business executives can now earn a Master of Environmental Management at Duke University from their desktop! An innovative, two-year degree program dedicated to the diverse needs of mid-career professionals Online and on-campus courses driven by a broad perspective of: Interdisciplinary 1 and global themes Strategic approaches 2 to environmental management Communication and 3 effective leadership Get your feet wet In addition to the MEM degree, the DEL Program also offers Continuing and Executive Education short courses for working professionals. Classes cover a wide variety of topics and are offered throughout the year. 919-613-8082 del @nicholas.duke.edu www.nicholas.duke.edu/del WorldView 25 http://www.natavillage.org http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/del http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/del

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007 Contents President's Note Lafayette Park Note to Readers Commentary Letter from India Commentary Letter from Botswana Letter from Ha Teboho Letter from Jumbi Valley Letter from Mununga Letter from Medellin Giving Back Community News

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.