Letter to the New York Times. Written Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Never Published.

As soon as I started CPR on the 43 year old woman blood sputtered from her mouth and nose: she was dead. Yet her core was still warm - she must have passed within the hour, but nobody noticed us, the two physicians and one medical student covering the medical wards and ICU at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana. During the morning rounds, two more women, (one only 19 years old) required prompt resuscitation; with one nurse left to cover over 100 patients, she had had no time to call for help before the patients crashed. These are just a few of the many silent victims of Botswana's 5 week long strike. While the public sector continues to demand a 16% increase in salary to match the increased cost of living and President Ian Khama refuses to listen, people are dying from insufficient care.

Botswana, an African success story known for its peaceful democracy, its tolerance toward its religious and ethnic minorities, and economic prosperity, is now experiencing the repercussions of the worldwide recession. The government's response to the people's demonstrations, however, are threateningly undemocratic. The media, managed by the government, has divulged falsificated news about the popular unrest, suggesting that "everything is fine" while the country is teetering on the brink of social upheaval. News of teachers killed by their own students are censored from the public news; figures of preventable deaths are adulterated to promulgate an appearance of stability while unattended patients die without anyone noticing. Foreign reporters from neighboring countries are prevented from crossing the Botswana border to report more tersely on the issue.

The New York Times, with its large readership and its well earned fame for being a thorough and objective newspaper, needs to bring the situation in this Southern African country to the attention of the American people. Only fear of negative international press will make Khama consider engaging in a conversation with the Unions to reach a compromise. Until then, all workers within the public sector will continue to stand by their cause despite the government's threats of termination. I hope my country will intervene peacefully to protect democracy in Bostwana, and I hope my voice will be heard from far away through these words.

Noemi Spinazzi, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, MS4