Julia Masango was getting ready to spend the night at the Oakmoor station in Tembisa so she wouldn’t lose her place in the long queue of people seeking medical help from the Phelophepa Train.
She arrived at the station at 2am thinking she would make the cut to the eye clinic, but there were already people who had been queueing since 2pm.
“I can’t read. I can’t watch TV, my eyes get teary when I do. I can’t wait to see the doctor,” said the 55-year-old Masango, adding she cannot afford glasses.
The Phelophepa Train is a state-of-the-art mobile clinic providing eye, dental, general health and psychology care. It is also equipped with a pharmacy.
Run by the Transnet Foundation, there are two trains which are manned by full-time employees. The permanent employees are assisted by temporary staff recruited from the communities in which the train stops, providing skills development and employment opportunities, especially for the youth in those areas.
Retired nurses are brought on board to help with taking vitals, such as blood pressure, for the patients who visit the clinics daily.
According to the foundation, the train – which started as a three-coach eye clinic in 1994 – has grown to reach 375 000 people every year and has assisted more than 20 million people since inception.
The train spends 35 weeks each year on the rails visiting 70 stations to provide health, oral and vision screening programmes and basic health education.
The eye clinic only takes about 130 patients a day. Despite the long wait, Masango was excited that come Thursday, she would be among the first group of people who would be assisted.
Just a few metres away from her was 42-year-old Kelebogile Makhafola, who couldn’t renew her driver’s licence because of her poor vision.
“I can’t afford glasses. I’m job-hunting. Now, I don’t even have a valid driver’s licence, the one thing that is an advantage for me when looking for a job.”
Dubbed Trains of Hope, the Phelophepa trains have made their stop in Gauteng’s high-demand areas since July 29.
One train is at Oakmoor Station and the other at Vereeniging Station in Sedibeng.
Bheki Mendluna, the train manager at Oakmoor Station said there’s a growing demand for men’s health and mental healthcare services as queues swell at Phelophepa Trains with people visiting the psychology clinic and men screening for prostate
cancer.
Mendluna said dentistry services comprising extractions, fillings and cleaning services are also in high demand. Cervical, breast and prostate cancer screenings are also available on the train.
“Over the years, people are opening up about mental health. The psychology clinic would have no turn out but over the years there has been a great increase in the demand for the services provided at the clinic. People are taking care of their well being.”
Mendluna said the increase in the number of men who are coming for prostate cancer screening was also encouraging.
He said the old method of doing the prostate exam through the rectum also discouraged men from screening early.
“We do the screening via blood tests, which take about a week for us to get the results. So, this also encourages men to come for screening,” he said.
He said healthcare services offered by the trains compliment and help clear some of the backlogs at public clinics and hospitals.
With 1 200 patients being prescribed glasses a week since the trains stopped in Gauteng, Mendluna said many more are left without the gift of seeing clearly because of the limited time and resources at each stop.
