Home-town girl makes it big in the Big Apple :: Mmegi Online

A Motswana academic, Professor Ditsapelo Mpotokwane-McFarland, has just been designated as Fellow to the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAM), a prestigious organisation in the United States of America that supports equitable healthcare for all. Professor Mpotokwane-McFarland, who teaches at Adelphi University in New York, was also named ‘Professional of the Year’ by the ‘Strathmore Who is Who Worldwide’ for having exemplified leadership and achievement in her profession. Following is an interview that Mmegi had this week with the high-flying professor regarding her journey in academia

Mmegi: Please tell us about your upbringing in Tonota.

Ditsapelo Mpotokwane-McFarland (DM-M): My childhood in Tonota was as simple and happy as could be. I was raised by my grandmother as our parents were employees at the Jubilee Hospital in Francistown. At my grandmother’s home, I grew up with my mother’s cousins as one happy family. As the oldest child in the family and like many Batswana children, I had the responsibility of helping with the care of my siblings.

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