Botswana Global Health Initiative

Botswana Global Learning Internship Program

Hands-on global learning, cross-cultural training, and community-based work opportunities.

Intern in Botswana

If you're an undergraduate or graduate student studying public health, agriculture, forestry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, engineering or social sciences, and have a passion for community-based work, you're a great fit for the Botswana Global Learning Internship Program.

  Undergraduate or graduate. Students from all majors/colleges welcome.

During the program, you’ll work as part of a team of interns and professors on projects related to:

  • Understanding local cultural practices and beliefs
  • Impact of infrastructure on everyday life and health
  • Education and health infrastructure and services
  • Community food and nutrition
  • In-clinic and outreach services provided by the local community clinic and health outposts, and related topics.

Be sure to read:

Supported by the Robert & Sara Rothschild Endowment Fund, the Botswana Global Learning Internship Program is a collaborative effort by Oregon State University’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences, the College of Nursing, University of Michigan (UM), and the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Botswana to offer students “hands on” global learning, cross-cultural training, and community-based work opportunities.

Summer 2023 newsletters from the field

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2023 botswana weekly newsletter week 1

Issue 01 - June 29

  • Ministry Of Youth, Gender, Sport, and Culture – Gaborone
  • Community wellness day
  • Kgotla meeting - Maunatlala
  • Setswana word of the week
  • Spotlight of the week
  • Meet Our Team!

  Download issue 1

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2023 botswana weekly newsletter week 2

Issue 02 - July 7

  • Segotlo Sa Dijo Cultural Event
  • Maunatlala Totem Walk
  • Program Implementation
  • Setswana word of the week
  • Spotlight of the week: Ivan Estrada

  Download issue 2

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Issue 03 - July 8 - 14

  • Goo-Moremi
  • Masupe Special Olympics
  • Setswana word of the week
  • Spotlight of the week: Courtney Jost
  • Program Updates

  Download issue 3

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Issue 04 - July 15 - 21

  • Kwa Nokeng Lodge
  • Program Updates
  • Setswana word of the week
  • Spotlight of the week: Mikala “Marky” Kowal
  • Photo Gallery

  Download issue 4

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Group photo

Issue 05 - July 22 - 29

  • Mashatu Game Reserve
  • Program Updates
  • Setswana word of the week
  • Spotlight of the week: Divya Reddy
  • Photo Gallery

  Download issue 5

Program Reports

This report summarizes the findings of the work that the Botswana Global Health Internship Program team carried out in June-August 2019 in Maunatlala, Botswana. We worked in collaboration with key stakeholders of the Maunatlala community, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport, and Culture Development, Republic of Botswana. This report has benefitted from suggestions from our community partners, staff at the Maunatlala Clinic, Maunatlala Community Library, Masupe Primary School, and Maunatlala Junior School. The report also includes suggestions from members of the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport, and Culture Development. We sincerely thank all our collaborators for their work and support.

This report summarizes the findings of the work that the Botswana Global Health Internship Program team carried in July 2018 in Maunatlala, Botswana. We worked in collaboration with key stakeholders of the Maunatlala community and the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Republic of Botswana. The report has benefited from insightful suggestions from the staff at the Maunatlala Community Library, Maunatlala Clinic, Masupe Primary School, and Maunatlala Junior School. We also list here the key recommendations that we made after completing a pilot work in 2017 in Maunatlala. In addition, we provide a brief summary of the impact of our initial work in the village.

After traveling to Botswana to conduct public health fieldwork, Victoria Adams changed her major, joined a sorority, and gained an immeasurable amount of confidence.

Experiential learning challenges and inspires OSU students to tackle problems facing our state and the world. Generous donors make many of these experiences possible.

“My time in Botswana helped me understand a whole new worldview,” says MPH student Lauren Welch. “It changed me in ways I didn’t know I could change. I went into the experience expecting to come away with a greater understanding of health on a global scale, but I ended up returning with a million more questions.”

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Botswana 2018
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Botswana 2018

Info

Detailed info about the program is available in Botswana Global Health Internship Program (pdf)

Tentative Program Dates

TBD for 2023

Location

Maunatlala, Botswana

Application

TBD for 2023

Apply through Botswana Global Health Internship Program at OSU GO.

Contact

For more information contact:

[email protected]
541-737-6405

Challenging the Status Quo in Global Health: Lessons from Reciprocal Community Engagement in Botswana

This presentation explores the processes of engaging communities throughout the research process – from conceptualization of the problem/issues to implementation and evaluation. Sunil Khanna shares lessons that he has learned while conducting long-term community participatory research in a rural community in Botswana since 2017.

Understanding community priorities and engaging community stakeholders involves constant negotiations between the researcher and the community. It is a “balancing act” of three sets of expectations - those of the community, the researcher, and the funding agency.

Sunil discusses how the complexity of achieving balance between the ideals and the reality of community participatory research can be realized using a reciprocal community engagement approach, especially in the context of global health.

Summer 2022 newsletters from the field

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Issue 01 - June 29

  • What we've been up to lately
  • A little more about Botswana
  • Meet Our Team!

  Download issue 1

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Issue 02 - July 8

  • An update from one of our teammates
  • Meet our program coordinators!
  • A closer look at the projects our students are working on

  Download issue 2

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Issue 03 - July 18

  • More About Our Program
  • An Update from Jess Fujinaga
  • A Brief History of Botswana & Maunatlala Village
  • Project Spotlight: Mainstreaming Disability

  Download issue 3

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Issue 04 - July 25

  • An Update from Kevin Luyamba
  • Wildlife of Botswana
  • How We Spend Our Free Time
  • Project spotlight: Positive Youth Development

  Download issue 4

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Botswana weekly newsletter issue 5

Issue 05 - August 3

  • An Update from Isabel Griffin
  • Our final days in Maunatlala
  • Traditional Botswana Cuisine
  • Project spotlight: Sexual Reproductive Health & Gender-based Violence

  Download issue 5