Thethiwe Mahlangu woke early on a chilly morning and walked through her busy South African town. Minibuses honked to pick up commuters, and smoke from sidewalk breakfast stalls hung in the air.
Her eyes had been troubling her. Instead of going to her nearby health clinic, Mahlangu headed to the train station.
A passenger train called Phelophepa is now a mobile health facility. Phelophepa means “good, clean, health” in Sesotho, an official language in South Africa.
Once per year, doctors, nurses, and optometrists (eye doctors) come aboard to deliver healthcare to about 375,000 people. The train circulates throughout South Africa to meet the needs of many people in the country who can’t get regular medical attention.
When the train project began in 1994, many people in South Africa still lived in rural villages with little access to hospitals. The train began as an eye clinic. But it soon became clear that people needed all types of medical care.
Thousands of patients line up at nearby clinics in Tembisa, only to face long lines and shortages of medicine. About 84% of the population relies on the public healthcare system. And hospitals are stretched beyond their limits.
“You can sit there from 7:00 a.m. until around 4:00 p.m. when the clinic closes,” says Mahlangu. “When you ask, they say we must go ask the president to build us a bigger hospital.”
So locals welcome speedier care from the two 16-carriage health trains.
It’s not that the government can’t afford to help. The health department has a $3.6 billion budget. But the governing party, the African National Congress, has not ruled wisely, allowing healthcare officials to keep much of the money for themselves.
For South Africans seeing the train pull into town is a relief.
Mahlangu walked away with a new pair of glasses—all the better to see the train when it pulls into the station next year.
Soup Kitchen Goes Mobile
The only food pantry serving hungry folks on weekends in Charleston, West Virginia, almost closed shop. Manna Meal has used St. John’s Episcopal Church since 1976, but the term of use ends this December. The pantry and soup kitchen asked at various churches and nonprofits, seeking a new site to call home.
“No one wants us in their backyard,” says Manna Meal CEO Amy Wolfe. Since there was no available building, Manna Meal decided to take its ministry to the streets.
The organization bought two new food trucks. Those vehicles will allow them to go fully mobile this fall. Manna Meal will likely continue to serve about the same number—two meals per day for around 700 people. But a food fleet should help the soup kitchen and pantry cover more ground to make sure those people’s hunger needs are met.
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” — Isaiah 6:8
Why? When massive obstacles seem to block our path, the Lord often provides new and creative ways for us to serve others.
