Women in the Sciences

A Professional Dream Takes Place

"While there are many people who can help, ultimately it is the responsibility citizens of Botswana to equip themselves with the tools to help themselves. In a way I feel like I'd be a disappointment if I left my country. I just wouldn't find my experience rewarding if I was successful here and Botswana was the way it is now. I wouldn't be happy, because people are dying and they are my people."
Neo '02

Neo knew when she came to the United States from her native Botswana that she would enroll in a pre-medicine program of studies and pursue a career in medicine. But she did not know that one day she would be admitted to Harvard Medical School - a difficult feat, particularly for an international student - and be committing herself to returning home as a medical doctor to contribute in her country's efforts against its severe AIDS crisis.

Neo's political and academic experiences at Wellesley helped her to realize this mission. She attended a number of conferences at the College on issues pertinent to Africa. Through her student associations, she also helped host lectures, film-series and student debates that fostered vigorous discourse on the issues that confront the continent. Neo also joined an organization called Botswana Students Against AIDS for which she participated in a clothing drive for families in Botswana affected by AIDS.

An important moment came for her in 2000 when as a member of the Wellesley African Students Association she helped organize a conference with students from Harvard, MIT and Northeastern University. The conference, entitled The Youth as a Vehicle for Progress in the 21st Century: Forging Links Towards an African Renaissance, featured panels on various leadership, technology, youth activism as well as healthcare issues confronting the continent. The Deputy Chair of Harvard's AIDS Institute, Dr. "Rick" Marlink, spoke about the AIDS crisis in Botswana, where 36 percent of the adults are HIV positive. Tale said his and others' comments deeply affected her.

Throughout her college career, "AIDS kept coming up, over and over," she says. "It made me understand what I could do as a patriot and as a concerned person." Eventually the social awareness and youth activism turned into an academic interest. She sought an opportunity through the Harvard AIDS Institute to participate in HIV/AIDS research at home. The research internship was funded by Wellesley and conducted at a lab jointly sponsored by the Botswana Ministry of Health and the Harvard AIDS Institute to conduct multifaceted studies on the HIV viral subtype HIV-1C prevalent in southern Africa. The internship allowed her to study biomedical research strategies for preventing transmission of HIV from mother to child, and also gave her thorough exposure to governmental and professional intervention efforts currently in place. The experience gave her hope, and it confirmed for her what she knew she must do.

"While there are many people who can help, ultimately it is the responsibility of citizens of Botswana to equip themselves with the tools to help themselves. In a way I feel like I'd be a disappointment if I left my country. I just wouldn't find my experience rewarding if I was successful here and Botswana was the way it is now. I wouldn't be happy, because people are dying and they are my people."