To an Island in Africa

Fifty years ago in Africa, she bathed in crocodile-infested waters, lived for months withoutplumbing, electricity, or running water, slept on a cot inches above roosting bats, fell asleep tothe beating of drums and the howling of hyenas, sampled lakefly cakes and fried locusts, andadministered medical examinations to thousands of tribespeople.In 1951, Vivian Mary Usborne, a 31-year-old English doctor posted to remote areas ofTanzania, worked as a member of a team conducting medical surveys under the auspices of theBritish Colonial Service. Every day, Doctor Usborne walked miles through dramatic landscapesin the Northern Province gathering data on common diseases from rural inhabitants on UkaraIsland in Lake Victoria and, later, in the savannas of Sukumuland. In 1953, she treated patientsin mission hospitals in the far reaches of the Southern Province. She journeyed thousands ofmiles throughout East Africa, often alone, by car, train, boat, and small plane, and she paintedthe people and places she observed with only the materials at hand. Here in her own words andpictures is her African experience. Now 83 and recently retired, Dr. Vivian Usborne Child, known affectionately as De Doktah,has been working, walking, and painting enthusiastically throughout St. Vincent and theGrenadines, her West Indian island home, since 1954.