Penn nursing students to provide community service - in Africa

All University of Pennsylvania nursing students must complete a "Nursing in the Community" course, which places them in various clinical settings to gain hands-on experience.

But instead of working at a Philly-area hospital or clinic like most of their classmates, eight students were headed to Botswana yesterday, where they will spend the next month in hospitals, clinics and orphanages.

This is the second year that Penn nursing students have traveled to the HIV-ravaged Southern African nation for unique on-the-job training, said Kathy McCauley, associate dean for academic programs.

Those making the trip will stay in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, where they will work with students from the University of Botswana.

McCauley said that Penn's nursing school jumped at the chance to partner with the University of Botswana.

"We thought, 'Wow, this would be a great experience for our students to learn and work with the people of Botswana,' " McCauley said.

Botswana has been a democratic nation since 1966, when Great Britain ended its occupation, and has one of the fastest-growing per-capita incomes in the world. The country has been hard-hit by epidemics of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

"They have a 30 percent infection rate of HIV," said Don Payette, one of the students who departed yesterday. "Twenty percent of the country's children will be orphaned within the next year because of the high rate of death among their parents."

"I had always said that during the first half of my life I'd go out and make money and travel, and in the second half I'd make a difference," Payette said. "Now I'm traveling and making a difference."

The group didn't leave empty-handed. Each student hauled to the airport a 50-pound box of medical supplies, desperately needed by the African country.

The students raised $20,000 for the supplies by starting an online PayPal account and reaching out to family and friends. They also received help from companies including 3M and Cardinal Health, and the nonprofit organization IMA World Health.

"It's fabulous that they took such initiative," said their professor, Marjorie Muecke, the school's assistant dean for global health, who will join the group in Botswana.

Inside the boxes are stethoscopes, medicines and basic medical supplies, including gloves and masks.

"It's stuff that, to us, we don't even think twice about," said Megan VanBuskirk, 21, a senior. "But they really value it because they don't have easy access to it, or it just isn't available to them."

For Blair Kraus, 20, and Megan Turnbull, 30, the opportunity to go to Botswana was one they couldn't pass up.

"I've been trying to go to Africa for five years now, and since Penn's program is in just its second year, it's exciting to be one of the first groups to do this," Kraus said.

"I found out about the program before I even applied [to the school]," said Turnbull, who is working toward her second degree. "It's one of the reasons I came to Penn."

Turnbull, who lived in the West African country of Togo for two years, said that adjusting to a different culture would be a good experience for the group.

Lydia Warner, 28, agreed.

"It's not just about going to another country and giving what I can give," she said. "It will help me grow as a nurse and care for all sorts of people with all sorts of backgrounds."