Reflections on Gaborone

Friendly, caring people. Relaxed atmosphere despite being a city. Great food, warm to hot climate - no rain. Roads not too busy but driving skills very pooooooor. Would feel the necessity for an armoured 4 wheel drive if living there more permanently.

Botswana is one of the economic success stories of Africa. Modern government buildings dominate the main area of Gaborone and the sounds of construction echo across the capital. Small, neat, concrete residences are interspersed among much larger more affluent homes. There are however still a proportion of very poor families who reside in tin shacks.

The HIV epidemic permeates every aspect of life in Botswana. Average life expectancy has risen in the last few years from 34 to only 37 years despite availability of antiviral drugs (prior to HIV life expectancy was 60 years) Billboards display catchy health messages on major roads, such as the "ABCs of HIV" (Abstinence, Be faithful, Condomise). Despite these health promotions only a little progress to improve the life expectancy situation appears to have happened.

Botswana includes people of many different cultures speaking a variety of different languages but English is the language common to most. From the age of 10 years education is in English and the tv programmes almost exclusively so. There are very few advertisements on the TV. Shopping channel does exist selling exclusively South African products which are very similar to those marketed on our shopping channel in the UK.

Contrast between rich and poor but where in the world is there not.