A visit to the Republic of South Africa and Botswana: a modern country with a relic from the past.

Abstract: In a global health and communication focused society, it is evident that there is a growing need for health care professionals, especially nurses, to face challenges beyond traditional nursing care. Cultural awareness and values affect all areas of a person's life, including their beliefs about health and illness. The recent trip to South Africa and Botswana, a land that seemed so far away, was just only 18 short airline hours within reach. The Association of Black Nursing Faculty, Inc., Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., and the Department of Nursing Education (University of Botswana) sponsored the trip to engage in professional dialogue of health concerns of many disadvantaged populations around the world for the 2/st century. Although, this dialogue was an assurance that nurses around the globe do face challenges beyond a traditional nursing practice, it was also an assurance that there was a receptiveness toward teaching and the willingness to engage in health promotion behavior within a dominant culture that influences the lives of many people. In a land of sunshine and scenic majesty, were some of the world's strangest and most dramatic landscapes, nature's richest treasure chest of gold and diamonds with a unique wealth of animal and plant life. This land is also the home of big game, a host of birds, and has a legacy that is one of the most scenically dramatic, healthiest and challenging regions of the world. Key Words: South Africa; Botswana;Nelson Mandela; Soweto; Association of Black Nursing Faculty, Inc. Until the recent visit to the Republic of South Africa and Botswana, Southern Africa, this land had seemed so far away. The trip was sponsored by the Association of Black Nursing Faculty, Inc. under the guidance of the then president, Dr. Joyce J. Bowles, Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, Inc., and the Department of Nursing (University of Botswana). This trip marked the first international summit for Black professional nurses from all parts of the world. The main goal was an attempt to establish partnerships, share common interests and discuss how to meet health needs of emerging majority and disadvantaged populations in the world, including, mainly, the continent of Africa, in the 21 st century. Excited and uncertain as to what we would encounter, approximately 117 registered nurses from around the United States including California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington, DC, boarded a South African 747 jet from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, for an eighteen hour flight to a land on the continent of Africa, that none among us, including the veteran traveler, Retired Colonel Margaret Bailey (the first nurse to be promoted to Colonel in the US Army Nurse Corps) had ever visited. South Africa has made a miraculous transformation, seemingly overnight, from being a proponent of racial segregation to that of an advocate of multiracial tolerance. Looking over the country's recent history, tears are in order when the thought of Nelson Mandela comes to mind. Mr. Mandela spent approximately 26 years in prison for his opposition to apartheid, and until recently, was the president of the same country that first persecuted him. It is an amazing story of how President Mandela managed a peaceful transition of the country from a racial segregated to a democratic country. South Africa is a beautiful country, with its many attractions such as Johannesburg (and Soweto), green vineyards, the rich land of the Transvaal, Capetown, Pretoria, Kruger National Park, and Sun City (South Africa's Las Vegas). The first stop was in Johannesburg (Jo'burg, as it is affectionately called), the city that gold built, and the largest mining, manufacturing and engineering center in Africa. Today, Jo'burg is the center of the most densely populated region in Southern Africa, an area spreading about 100 kilometers from east to west. …