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MAKAWAO - Makawao resident Nicole Nakama is educating people in Botswana about AIDS awareness and prevention during her two-year mission in the Peace Corps.

The 24-year-old Baldwin High School graduate currently is stationed in Mahalapye, a town in Botswana, and lives in a government compound, said her father, Leebrick Nakama. She has been in Botswana since May 2008.

Nicole works and volunteers at a health clinic near the compound and does one-on-one counseling and medical record keeping. She educates mothers with AIDS on how to avoid transmitting the virus to their children. She also goes to various schools to educate people on AIDS prevention.

Nicole also gives emotional and moral support to orphans of AIDS victims, her father said.

On Christmas break, Nicole was scheduled to go on a camping trip to Namibia.

Nicole graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2006.