Winding Down

I ended my work at the hospice today and the patients seemed kind of betrayed that I was leaving. All of them wanted me to stay longer and thought things would return to the way they were before I had arrived. I assured them that they were in good hands and that eventually I'd be back as a doctor to see them all alive and well in a few years. They thanked me for my work and the T-shirts I had given them (I gave them the rest of my Pitt T-shirts before I left) and two even cried when I left. Reflecting on my work at the hospice, I feel like I really did some good and accomplished a lot while I was there. Just through chance events, I was able to basically take over the nursing department and change things to make them more patient-oriented. I also was able to get Peter the Prick fired. Yeah, that's right...he got whacked. I'd love to sit here and tell you that it was all my doing, but I really think my complaints were just the tipping point. I went out to dinner with some friends from the hospice last week and they informed me that he was being "borrowed" from a company that basically lent their workers to NGOs who needed help at certain positions. I was able to obtain his bosses email address and sent her out a quick email explaining the problems I was having and the resignation letters accusing him of embezzlement. At the same time, he was being investigated by the company that oversees the hospice for claiming workshops had been held (which cost thousands of dollars), when in fact they had never actually been run. My email coupled with this accusation led to his demise…OK well the accusation alone would have led to his demise but let’s pretend I played a large role. So, while I wish I could say I was completely responsible for him being shipped back to the Philippines, I really only slammed the door on him on his way out. Either way, I have no remorse.

Everything is really slowing down around here as we leave for America in 11 days. We have basically seen all of Gaborone and have very few events left for us, although this weekend we go to Victoria Falls and Kasane which I've been looking forward to the entire trip. A big surprise will be reported on this trip when I get back, granted everything goes as planned. We did get to attend a U.S. Embassy party for the 4th of July that was a pretty good time. Hot dogs and Hamburgers never tasted so good. Being here for so long, I definitely appreciate American food and the American way of life much more than I have before. More on this at the end of the trip.