When I first began working in the hospital, I thought it was a coincidence that five of the patients I saw one day all had July 15th as their birthday.
The following day, I noticed again that several of my patients had July 15th as their birthday. I asked one of my Tanzanian colleagues why this was so. It turns out that when a child or adult patient does not know his/her own date of birth, the practice is to write down July 15th. It's not uncommon for a quarter of the 30 patients I see each day in the HIV clinic to have July 15th listed as their birthday.
Imagine never knowing your own birthday! Maybe someday in Tanzania, July 15th will be a national holiday to celebrate the forgotten birthdays of so many people in this country.
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