October, 13 2004

DFL's initiative, Aid to Africa, brings medical relief to SA communities and DFL orphan centres

The team erects a tent which served as an private 'examining room'

A physically tired, but satisfied team of 12 people returned to the Head Office of Doctors For Life International (DFL) on 26 Augustus 2004 after a very blessed medical outreach. Six medical team members from the USA, a dental assistant from Germany, Dr Albu van Eeden (CEO of DFL) together with a combination of volunteers and translators made up the team of 12 people who all shared in the compassion to provide the needy communities in South Africa with medicines and medical treatment. This was done while visiting 5 of the 27 Life Child orphans centres of DFL spead across South Africa with basic health care.

Patients attending the morning devotion before the clinic started

After their brief recovery from jet lag, the USA volunteers joined hands with the rest of the team, ready to start the work with the first 4 orphan centres in Kwazulu Natal. They started the 4 hour drive on 17 Aug 2004, towards to Elandskraal at the day care centre where the first clinic would start. The accommodation turned out to be a pleasant surprise to all as the initial plan was to sleep in tents in an area where there is no running water, toilets or even a bush to hide behind!.

Some of the medical team members posing with orphans whom Doctors For Life takes cares of

On the 18th of August the first clinic was under way. The general program was to start with a devotion in the morning, followed by the clinic, which usually lasted until 8-9 pm. Although not always possible, we would always try to end the day with an educational film in combination with an evening devotion.

Dr. Onie, the dentist, working till late at night

On the very first day of the clinic, numerous AIDS/HIV cases were detected and where possible, some tests could be done to check the status of the patients. Time and was spent with those people who tested positive through counselling, and although this was never pleasant to inform them of their status, it served as an excellent opportunity to share love and compassion to the patients as hope in the light of the AIDS epidemic. It also served as an opportunity to warn people not to spread the disease, educate people on behavioural change, and encouraging choosing a lifestyle that is safe and honourable.

Sunset at Mthaleni, KZN, South Africa

They also brought to us a young girl who had a TB infected foot. It was swollen and had a huge open sore which was oozing puss. Due to the nature of the disease, we had to take her to the nearest hospital (approximately one hour drive away) where she could receive further treatment.

Due to the different medicines and medical equipment donated we were able to treat cases which have not been possible on our outreaches to date. However nothing could prepare us enough for the great number of patients that arrived, and we ended up using much more medicine than anticipated. In total we did approximately 842 prescriptions and treated 259 dental cases (This included checkups with all of our orphans based at these centres)

Children from the Esifuleni community fetching water

Probably some of the most compelling things to hear was the distances that some of these people walked to get to the clinic, sometimes even putting their lives in danger. The surrounding area of Elandskraal was under some tension due to a family/tribal fewd. Although we were never in any danger, we believe that some of the patients had to travel through this dangerous area at night time.

A group of older woman waiting for the doctors

At the next clinic on the 20th of August at our orphan centre at Mthaleni, we managed to cart the older women and men from a local gathering place, approximately 3 miles uphill on a bad road to where the clinic was held. Some of the patients could hardly walk and sometimes even hardly make it into the vehicle. This area was especially challenging because it had no electricity, running water or toilet facilities (as with most of the others though too).

An unusual but handy resting place.

On the dental side of things, we also used a mobile dental unit with which fillings could be done, for the first time. Dr. Onie, the dentist, testified of numerous cases where this particular unit proved itself ideal for field clinics. She was able to save many from teeth being extracted. At Mthaleni, a young girl with extremely bad teeth comes to mind. Her front and bottom front teeth had huge black cavities. With the help of the mobile dental unit which we connected to a portable generator, Dr Onie was able to save 2 of her front teeth. In both Elandskraal and Mthaleni night had crept in unto us almost catching us off guard. Never before did we have to work till so late at night and therefore very little preparation was made for proper lighting. We ended up using almost all the flash lights available as well as candle light to continue the work. Although there was a fixed programme, one of the most difficult things always is to refuse some of them while they waited a whole day to receive medical care. We just couldn’t disappoint them, and it was worth every minute of working later. In one accord everybody felt the burden to simply continue the work until it is `done’, which sometimes meant getting to bed at approximately 12pm and getting up again at 5 am .

Before and after images of a young lady with bad cavities restored by the dentist

Another sad case was an old lady who had a huge growth on her foot which also drained puss continually. Apparently she has offered (by a local clinic) to have her foot amputated but she refused, saying that it wasn't really causing her pain. Her toes looked green from gangrene and all Dr. Karen could do was to give her clean bandages and pray with her.

A huge growth on a woman's foot

The orphans of DFL’s health, was generally very good in all of the centres – most surprisingly especially the condition of their teeth. At each of these centres Dr Onie gave them a basic training session in dental care (prevention is better than treatment) after which they all received a tooth brush and toothpaste. Unfortunately there were those who were not so fortunate and had to undergo a bit of a ‘procedure'...

Waiting patiently...

The toughest area which we served was probably Esifuleni. The roads there are extremely bad reducing the time of travelling to approximately 45 min for only 6 miles. To my knowledge, this is where our most recent orphan day care centre was started. The centre is situated in one of the most remote areas of the Zulu nation in KZN. The nearest clinic (travelled usually by foot) is about 10 miles away. The nearest hospital is approximately 1½ hour drive away. Although we realize that much of our work is sometimes like casting your bread upon the waters, we were especially blessed to see good results of our work in this very needy area. During one of the clinics somebody overheard some of the ladies attending the clinics speaking in their native language (Zulu) saying; "The medicines that they (the DFL team) use are really the same medicines as what the other clinics offer, but because they bring the message of Jesus before they help us, that’s what makes the difference".

Dr. Karen, the MD from New York, USA

With regards to medical care, the team continued to witness cases of scabies, rashes, infections, diarrhoea, joint pains, blood pressure problems, TB, AIDS/HIV, rotten teeth, cataracts etc.

Moving on to the 4th day, 21 August, we visited our orphan centre at Wasbank. The care taker of DFL’s orphans, Rev Gwebu - a pastor of the local church where the orphans currently stay -, told me afterwards how his congregation has grown and how touched the people were after hearing the message delivered in the morning devotion. We continued to work till approximately 8 pm that night after which we ended the day with the evangelical video. I remember how one lady carted a young man into the clinic in a wheelbarrow. When I first saw him I was convinced that he should be approximately 40 years old. To my shock I found out that he was a mere 21 and has AIDS. I watched the lady as they left going up the windy gravel 'road' until she vanished amongst the dust and mud houses. She would walk for a few metres and then put him down to rest, shift her dress straight and then pick the wheel barrow up again...

Dr. Willem Vlok, a South African active member of DFL helping in the Wasbank area

Sunday offered some rest to everybody, preparing them for the full day's journey towards Schoemsandal in Northern South Africa (close to Malelane) where 2 of DFL’s other orphan centres are situated.

One of DFL's orphans in Wasbank

Thinking of Malelane, one word comes to mind; multitudes!. Due the request of the local authority we were asked not to do the clinic at the orphan centre but rather at the community hall next to the Chief’s office making it more accessible to the community. Between the 2 doctors, one dentist and 4 nurses we saw over 400 patients filling the patios and passages of the tribal chief, Chief Shongwe’s local office in the Schoemansdal region. Unfortunately not all could be helped and therefore we saw approximately 200 patients and 60 dental cases. We still get reports back from some of these centres as we continue to go there to visit our orphans, saying how blessed the people were. All glory to God..

Some chlldren playing outside of the field clinic

Beyond soccer...

Many tooth brushes and toothpaste were donated for this outreach, which enabled DFL to hand them out to many orphans and underprivileged children.

One of our staff members spotted this humorous advert and entered it into Getaway's "Funny Signs" competition (published to their website). Missing a few important words can give a completely different meaning to a message, In this case, a dental centre is seemingly offering bad breath, toothache etc. Not a pleasant thought when you think about it...