It may not have come in a robin's-egg-blue box, but Penn officials are nevertheless thrilled about a recent $2 million donation from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation to the Botswana-UPenn partnership.
Tiffany & Co. announced last week that it is granting the University $2 million to go toward building an HIV treatment center and research facility on the grounds of the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana. The Botswanan government is also contributing to the building.
Those involved are "very excited and extremely appreciative," said Harvey Friedman, director of the Botswana-UPenn partnership.
The partnership focuses on building capacity in Botswana to deal with the ongoing HIV/AIDS problems.
Having a building "is a major leap forward," Friedman said. Currently, the program is working out of two spaces: a converted house and a converted garage. "Space is really tight."
The planned four-story building, of which Penn will occupy a portion, will house a general pediatric-outpatient clinic, an adult HIV clinic, educational and research facilities, offices and on-call spaces. It will be the main outpatient building for the hospital, which is Botswana's primary public hospital.
The grant - the largest by far in the program's seven-year history - began with Penn approaching Tiffany & Co., according to Provost Ron Daniels.
"We saw that there were terrific potential synergies between Tiffany's work in Botswana and our own ongoing work there," he wrote in an e-mail.
"It simply would not have been possible to have contemplated this program but for Tiffany's involvement."
Tiffany & Co. has a vested interest in Botswana because the largest industry in the country is the mining industry - imperative for the company's fine jewelry.
"If there is something we can do to make an impact on AIDS, we're helping the workforce in Botswana," said Fernanda Kellogg, president of Tiffany & Co.
The company, she said, believes in Penn's vision for health care and AIDS treatment, and thinks the partnership "was a perfect opportunity."
The donation by Tiffany & Co., Penn President Amy Gutmann said, "represents their very profound sense of social responsibility," as well as an endorsement of the work that the Botswanan government is doing to confront the AIDS epidemic.
And while there are no specific plans for future philanthropically funded opportunities in Botswana, Penn officials are open to the possibility.
Philanthropic donations "allow us to move forward in big leaps," Friedman said.
"It's about as humanitarian as it gets, what we're doing there . We hope this is just the beginning."
