Health train on track in Empangeni
Visiting 'health' train provides medical care at reduced prices and employs locals to assist medical staff.
FOR the next two weeks Empangeni and surrounding communities can receive quality medical help at much cheaper prices than they would normally pay when visiting a doctor.
This is owing to the arrival of Transnet’s health train, Phelophepa, which traverses the length and breadth of the country.
Well-trained medical staff, who work in the train, spend about two weeks at each stop providing locals with eye care, dental care, breast cancer testing, diagnosing children’s illnesses, psychological help and more.
At each stop, local people are employed as translators and clerks to help the medical staff.
For some, this has even motivated them to love helping the sick, like Gcinile Mdletshe who said, ‘After I was helping out in this train, I once worked at a theatre, at Ngwelezane Hospital, and I loved the work the doctors do there so much that I now aspire to work in theatre some day.’
Thanduxolo Zulu, a security guard, said he enjoys working at the train because it gives him an opportunity to travel, to meet people of different ethnicities, and learn new languages.
Train manager a people’s person
Train manager Onke Mzibuko said, ‘I love helping people wherever we go.
‘It’s very important for us to hire the local people to help with translations so we don’t encounter language barriers – and also to create small economic spin-offs for them.
‘To motivate my staff, I always remind them that our focus must be about providing the best medical assistance to those we help, that this is not about us, but those we are here to assist, therefore, they must have passion for what they do.
‘If I wasn’t happy with my work, I wouldn’t still be here for the five long years I’ve worked in this train,’ he said with a smile.
Train leaves Empangeni March 21
Empangeni will be the last Phelophepa train stop in KZN. It heads north to Mpumalanga next.
