Weightlifter studies abroad in South Africa

MARQUETTE — An NMU Olympic Training Site weightlifter is back in Marquette, training for competitions, after spending part of his summer on a study-abroad trip in South Africa.

Brian Budd is an NMU senior from downstate Okemos who intends to go to medical school after graduation. He spent a month in South Africa this summer, learning about the country’s free public health care system and health problems in the region.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS estimates that more than five and a half million South Africans are living with HIV or AIDS.

Budd is in training for the National University Championships, which are in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the end of the month.