Eight University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing undergraduates raised more than $20,000 in medical supplies for clinics in Botswana, where they will work for five weeks this summer to provide more than 1,000 hours of nursing care to local residents as part of a Penn nursing course.
 
The eight Penn Nursing students and two instructors left for Botswana on Thursday, July 23rd. They carried with them eight 50-pound bags, filled with medicines and medical supplies, such as thousands of tablets of aspirin, antacids, antiseptics, and antibiotics.
 
Working in small clinics and an orphanage, the students will use the supplies to provide nursing care, like basic education and wellness care, blood pressure and diabetes monitoring, wound care, and medication management for persons with chronic illness and HIV/AIDS. Any unused materials and supplies will be left in Botswana.
 
The Penn Nursing students are all undergraduate students enrolled in N341: Nursing in the Community: Clinical. Supervised by an American nurse and partnering with nursing student peers at the University of Botswana, they will have regularly-scheduled and supervised clinical practice in clinics in Gaborone, Botswana. They will also perform a group project while overseas. One early idea for a project has been to create HIV/AIDS emergency kits for schools and other public organizations.
 
The students are supported by Penn Nursing, the Penn-Botswana Partnership, and the University of Botswana Department of Nursing. Their supplies (as well as the money to buy supplies) were donated by IMA World Health, Cardinal Health, 3M, Dolby's, and friends and family. 

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