Botswana (part 2)

............We recently graduated our 2nd class in November. This picture is getting dressed up in full graduation regalia. The dark-haired guy is Dr Gill and his secretary Nancy (like most systems, we have a nameless, faceless woman does all the best work and receives no credit for it). We will have our third graduation in June. We got our lender back yesterday and will pick up about 15 transfer students because our name and reputation is starting to recover and students want to come into our 3rd and 4th year clinical rotations because they are now well run, thanks to Dave. The students have been patiently waiting until they could borrow. The "closing"or sale is important because it cuts our ties with the Serslands, who remain our friends but have become associated in the business with dishonesty (because of the mud-slinging hostile takeover) and our business will do better with them out. We avoided all of that by being "silent" partners and will probably stay in the background shadows. We are now equal partners with Dave Gill................

...........This picture is of Jeff Sersland signing the diplomas at the graduation. A proud and touching moment as these students are now training in American residencies and will go on to successful practices. Not that many kids finish in this crooked and shoddy system, so every graduate that gets a residency (some "graduate" only to fine out they can't get a residency slot, there is no state where their school is licensed for them to train or practice) is a victory. ...........

............This was the graduating class in November. Several are missing, with conflicts such as honeymoons and overseas travel. On the left is Jeff Sersland, in the back is Dave Gill, I am the one you cannot see, and next to me on my left is Dave's son, who is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and interested in being part of our school some day. So the school is slowly turning around and has new ownership and a new direction. Wendy and I are currently "out" a million dollars (with the interest we will pay before we have the debt paid off, I am now working in SIX hospital, Hayward is back). Gill is "out" about the same amount. The cash flow is trending toward positive. The "closing" is soon, allowing us to look forward and not backward. What does this have to do with Botswana? Well, Dave was part of a Caribbean school a few years ago (St.Eustatious, I am not making this up) that had a contract with the Botswana government to educate doctors for that stable and prosperous South African country. The contract expired and was not renewed after Dave left that school when it lost it's academic integrity in favor of the quick buck. The Botswana's have contacted us to negotiate a contract with us because they like Dave's style. We will start with at least 50 student in the fall and the government there pays in advance for a whole year. That will definitely straighten out our finances. There is actually money to be made here. There is also fun to be had, and the sense that we are making a difference in educating doctors to take care of people. Also, the Belize government recently tried to give us the new hospital in San Pedro as they are so corrupt and inept that they cannot make it work. So maybe Wendy and I will achieve our original goal of finding something fun and interesting to do in retirement in a tropical paradise. Time will tell.........





................our little corner of paradise. We are going down April 11-16 for the first time for fun in a year. We are staying in town at Coral Bay, not here. We will undoubtedly spend an afternoon or two "by the pool".....