Former president George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, are heading back to Dallas after a week-long stay in Africa to promote their cancer-fighting initiative, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon.
The Bushes on Thursday finished off their trip — which we’ve chronicled here, here and here — by stopping in Botswana to announce the expansion of the program, which aims to combat cervical and breast cancer to that country.
The former president and first lady also met with Peace Corps members stationed in Botswana and visited a young children’s community home in Gabane, a village just outside Botswana’s capital of Gaborone.
That last stop was where Bush was serenaded with “Happy Birthday” — ahead of his 66th on Friday — by a group of toddlers.
“Very nice,” Bush told the pre-school students at the center for sick, orphaned and vulnerable children. “Thank you very much.”
The Bushes spent most of their time in Kabwe, Zambia, where they helped renovate a clinic to screen, diagnose and treat women with cervical cancer. Both George W. and Laura Bush donned work clothes to paint and re-construct the facility.
The former first couple also visited the Zambian capital, Lusaka, on Wednesday to visit an orphanage and to celebrate the opening of a new teaching hospital there
“On our country’s birthday, it is important to remember the blessings of freedom and the blessings of being an American and to give back,” Bush said at the opening, according to a dispatch by Charity Wallace, director of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative.
The Bushes are heading back home today. But for more trip photos, click here. And for a few trip videos, including the “Happy Birthday” clip below, click here.
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