S-45. The Health Train

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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Robin Basselin.

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And I'm Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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South Africa is a large and beautiful country. It has many major cities and large rural or country areas. And each province of this large country is connected by a very developed train system.

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South Africa's national train system was created in 1910. This national train system was a major technological development. For over 100 years, these train lines have continued to work and run. However, in the past 30 years, train travel has decreased in South Africa. The lines are still used to transport goods and resources. But less people are riding trains. To many people, trains seem like an old technology. But one South African organization is using this old technology in a new and inventive way. Today's Spotlight is on South Africa's Phelopheba, or "Good Clean Health", train.

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The Phelopheba Healthcare Train Project began in 1994. The idea was simple: use the country's existing train lines to bring healthcare to the rural areas. The name for the project, Phelopheba, means "Good Clean Health" in two rural African languages. And this is exactly the goal of Phelopheba - to provide good, clean healthcare to those who need it.

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The Phelopheba project was started by TransNet, the company which runs South Africa's train system. The project is also supported by other governmental and private organizations, and even individuals.

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In the beginning, the Phelopheba train had only three basic train cars. These cars were used to provide eye care for rural and often poor patients. However, over the years, Phelopheba has grown. Today, the Phelopheba train has 16 train cars. With this extra space, Phelopheba provides eye care, dental or teeth care, mental health counselling and basic healthcare education and services. The train also has a car that makes eye glasses. Another car is a pharmacy. It gives patients medicine. Most patients that visit Phelopheba have no other way to seek healthcare. So, these basic services change the lives of many patients.

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61-year-old Maria Lesige is one example. When Phelopheba visited her area in 2009, Maria walked many kilometers for their eye care. While waiting for care, Maria spoke with World Vision News reporter Gretchen Wilson. She said,

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"I want the train to help me with my eyes. I can not see far away. I see just near."

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So Maria waited. And finally she did receive Phelopheba's free eye care. She also received new eye glasses made by workers on the Phelopheba train. After receiving her glasses, she told Gretchen Wilson,

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"I am happy. I see you very, very, well. Now I thank Phelopheba - they helped me. And the people of Phelopheba, I love them. And God bless them."

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Maria Lesige is one of thousands of thankful Phelopheba patients. Every year, 180,000 people receive healthcare through Phelopheba. This is a huge number. It is especially large, considering that Phelopheba has few workers. It employs 30-45 part time medical students. And it has less than 20 full time doctors and workers. However, it is not just the number of people they treat that makes Phelopheba successful.

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Phelopheba is also successful because of their power system. You see, Phelopheba's healthcare and living cars use a lot of electricity. However, they often travel to rural areas with no electricity. So, one of Phelopheba's cars contains a power producing generator. This generator can power the train as it sits still for up to five days!

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Phelopheba is also effective because of the way it is organized. Phelopheba only goes to areas where it is invited by the local people. And Phelopheba requires a lot of work and involvement from the community. Months before Phelopheba arrives in an area, the community's work begins. Dr. Lillian Cingo, the manager of Phelopheba, spoke with the organization "Initiatives of Change". She told them about the process.

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"We speak to the village chief, the healers and officials. We ask them to choose three local people. These people will lead the process of preparing and informing the community."

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Phelopheba also asks that the community choose 15 community members to serve on a managing group. This group makes major decisions about the Phelopheba visit. They also help choose other individuals from the local community to be involved later when Phelopheba visits.

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When they arrive, Phelopheba provides 50 to 60 paid jobs for chosen people in the local community. These workers help translate the local language. They also organize lines and process money.

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Another 15 to 20 community members are chosen for a very special honor - they are chosen to be trained in basic health and hygiene. Phelopheba calls their five day training program an "Edu-Clinic." And the "Edu-Clinics" are a major reason why Phelopheba is successful. There is only one Phelopheba train for the many local communities in rural South Africa that need services. So Phelopheba can only visit each local area once every year or two years. But with training, Phelopheba helps the community to serve its own people. They train community leaders in ways to prevent diseases, identify diseases and even treat basic diseases.

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All these parts of the Phelopheba program work together to make the program sustainable and effective. Dr. Cingo told "Initiatives of Change" the key to all that success.

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"We put the community in charge. That is why it works."

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Many people and organizations around the world have noticed the success of Phelopheba. In 2008, Phelopheba received the United Nations Public Service Award. And South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu says Phelopheba is,

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"A shining example of providing healthcare, giving power to the local people and using technology is a developing country."

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Very soon, the Phelopheba program is going to be able to serve more people than ever before. In April of 2010, TransNet announced that they are investing in a second healthcare train - Phelopheba II. The leader of Transnet told Engineering News,

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"The idea is to re-create the very successful model of Phelopheba I. The second train will greatly increase the number of areas served. It will also increase the number of times the healthcare services can be offered to patients."

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With a simple idea, Phelopheba is serving many people in need. Their model shows that new technology is not always the answer to the world's problems. Instead, they prove the endless power of combining old technology and new ideas!

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The writer of this program was Robin Basselin. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find this program and others on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net. This program is called "The Health Train." We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!