In line with its vision, DFL has initiated several humanitarian projects over the years to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people in Africa. These projects aim to save lives, alleviate suffering, and promote personal dignity. A recent article in Devoted, an online magazine, highlighted some of the impactful work being carried out by DFL.
To read the full article online, CLICK HERE.
A Doctors For Life team stepped in to help take care of those affected by the KwaZulu-natal floods in the Nhlungwane Extension. More than 57 families have been displaced in the Nhlungwane area and have taken refuge in the local community hall. Another 40 families are living in a large tent in a nearby area. Many are still missing.
The floods destroyed homes, roads, and other infrastructure making access to healthcare difficult. Living conditions and the lack of clean water has resulted in the outbreak of infectious diseases. In addition, patients with chronic health conditions are unable to source long term medications. The need for clean water, food and clothing continues.
Doctors For Life arranged an eye surgery outreach in a remote region near the border of South Sudan and Sudan in January 2022. The team included two volunteer ophthalmologists, Dr Carl-Heinz Kruse and Dr Brian Church.
Approximately 700 patients were screened with a total of 135 operations. Most of these surgeries were done on people who were blind due to cataracts.
People, for whom their blindness was not surgically correctable, received audio Bibles in their local languages.
Such a large number of people presented for help that the team was unable to screen and operate them all. Surgical supplies and medication were left to enable local medical staff to continue doing approximately 120 cataract operations after the outreach team returned home.
We would like to thank all those who participated in the South Sudan outreach. Your input was invaluable for the success of the outreach. Participants included Samaritan’s Purse, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Diocese of El Obeid and a number of other international organisations and individuals who prefer to remain anonymous. The World Children’s fund also contributed to the work done in Juba, South Sudan. We would like to thank our main partner, Medical Mission International, and our facilitator, GlobeWorks International, for your continued support and assistance. Without your input the outreach would not have been possible.
Lastly, a big thank you to our sponsors in South Africa who contributed to the provision of medical consumables and other materials used. These included Surgical and Ophthalmic Supplies (SOS), Vertice, National Medical Supplies (NMS), Envision, Dr Jonathan Pons (MME), Apex Vision, and other donors of the audio Bibles. The Ophthalmological Society of South Africa (OSSA) has also played an enormous role in assisting us in the recruitment of some of South Africa’s best ophthalmologists. The OSSA has generously given us access to their annual congresses across South Africa since 2010. We have been blessed to work with approximately 50 of their members who are qualified specialists. Work has been undertaken in needy communities in approximately 8 African countries.
A special thank you to these specialists, including Dr Carl-Heinz Kruse and Dr Brian Church, who were part of the South Sudan team. We have been given an opportunity to join the OSSA congress again between 8-12 March 2022.
Doctors For Life International (DFL), in partnership with Medical Mission International (MMI), assisted Angolans with free medical care in 2008. The main goal was to cure blindness through cataract surgery. The campaign was in an area in the south of Angola, where cataract surgery have not been performed for as much as 3 decades due to the civil war (ended in 2002).
Most of patients DFL operated on, had bilateral blindness (blind in both eyes) for many years. Their reactions to being able to see again was filled with emotional; mixed with shock and pure joy! The their sometimes animated reactions were priceless. Hit the “like button” if you enjoyed watching them see again. In addition to surgery DFL also provided dental procedures and general medical treatment to over a thousand people during this 2008 outreach.
DFL have completed approximately 9 similar medical campaigns in various regions in Angola alone since 2003. Other countries where DFL assist medically include (but are not limited to) Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and South Africa. Consider supporting our work by contributing to these campaigns.
Visit our website at www.doctorsforlife.co.za or email us at [email protected]
Doctors For Life International (DFL), in partnership with Medical Mission International (MMI), assisted Angolans with free medical care in 2008. The main goal was to cure blindness through cataract surgery.
The campaign was in an area in the south of Angola, where cataract surgery have not been performed for as much as 3 decades due to the civil war (ended in 2002). Most of patients DFL operated on, had bilateral blindness (blind in both eyes) for many years.
Their reactions to being able to see again was filled with emotional; mixed with shock and pure joy! The their sometimes animated reactions were priceless. Hit the “like button” if you enjoyed watching them see again. In addition to surgery DFL also provided dental procedures and general medical treatment to over a thousand people during this 2008 outreach. DFL have completed approximately 9 similar medical campaigns in various regions in Angola alone since 2003.
Other countries where DFL assist medically include (but are not limited to) Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and South Africa. Consider supporting our work by contributing to these campaigns.
Visit our website at www.doctorsforlife.co.za or email us at [email protected]
Doctors For Life International (DFL) has been actively assisting the needy communities in South Africa during the Lock-down period. To date DFL have hand delivered essential parcels to about 1000 households in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
These parcels contain 5 litre bottles of aQuelle spring water, packs of 500ml aQuelle flavoured water, hand sanitisers and masks. It also includes COVID-19 info brochures translated to Zulu. The parcels are distributed by
DFL volunteers and much time is taken in educating the families and children on hygiene and Coronavirus information. “It is a wonderful opportunity to show compassion to those struggling during this trying time. The people are so thankful where-ever we go” he said.” DFL would like to thank aQuelle, Emseni farming, Medical Mission International (MMI) and DSS for their assistance and donations to help make these outreaches happen.
In September 2019, Doctors For Life conducted a large medical outreach to one of the most remotest areas in Sub-Saharan Africa – the vast Zambezi Delta region of about 18,000sq/km in Mozambique. The focus was curing blindness through cataract surgery but included various other types of eye surgery.
Total number of surgeries were about 136. Organisations and companies that supported DFL included: Medical Mission International, Good Shepherd Hospital, Mercy Air, YWAM (JOCUM) Marromeu, The Kingsley Holgate Foundation (through their sponsors Land Rover, Barrows and Nandos), TEREOS Sugar company in Marromeu, Surgical Opthalmic Supplies (SOS) and many ot her individuals.
A big thank you to all of them, without whom this mission would not have been possible. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Mozambique ministry of Health, in particular the minister, as well as the Ministry of Health of the three provinces Sofala, Inhambane and Zambezia. A special thank you to the medical specialists, nurses and volunteers who gave their time and expertise to help the needy free of charge.
Kingsley Holgate’s crew have loaded up their expedition Land Rovers and headed for Mozambique with their sturdy ‘Ma Robert’ inflatable pontoon boat in tow, to assist the non-profit Doctors For Life International (DFL) team in conducting free, life-changing, cataract operations in the Zambezi Delta, as part of DFL’s Aid to Africa programme.
The Kingsley Holgate Foundation is taking its Mashozi’s Rite to Sight programme to a new level with this campaign, called ‘Vision Mission’.
In keeping with using adventure to improve lives, the Kingsley Holgate Foundation’s focus on helping those with poor eyesight was started more than a decade ago by Mashozi (Gill) Holgate. ‘I remember the day clearly,’ says Kingsley.
‘We were on our 23° 27 Capricorn round-the-world-by-Land-Rover Expedition, in South America close to the Piranha River, in the company of a team of rangers. They told us that they were about to evict an old man who had lived all his life in a local village because he was becoming a danger to himself and others – he’d nearly burned down his hut several times whilst trying to light his stove. We went with them to the old man’s hut and sure enough, there he was, fumbling with a box of matches. The problem was – he couldn’t see properly.
‘I don’t know what made Mashozi think of it, but she suddenly rummaged in her big expedition bag, brought out a pair of her own basic readers and popped them on the old man’s nose. Miraculously, they were the perfect strength. A look of complete surprise came over his face, followed by a big, toothy grin as for the first time in years, he could see clearly again. There were claps and cheers from the rangers as the old man confidently struck the match, lit his stove and made us each a cup of coffee. The rangers allowed him to stay in his home and that was the start of our Mashozi’s Rite to Sight programme, named in her honour. Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength; after careful eye tests, we’ve distributed over 200,000 pairs of reading glasses to poor-sighted, mostly elderly people in remote areas all over Africa and beyond. The instant gratitude from the recipients and the immediate difference it makes in their lives is heart-warming.’
DFL has performed 2,500 eye surgeries throughout Africa over the past decade, helping to reverse blindness and dramatically change lives. This Zambezi Delta Vision outreach is in response to a call for help to assist blind people in the Marromeu, Luabo and Chinde areas. DFL and the Kingsley Holgate Foundation are transporting two mobile operating theatres to Marromeu on the banks of the Zambezi River, along with a team of volunteer doctors and nurses from South Africa and eSwatini, with the aim of conducting at least 200 cataract surgeries during August.
‘We are incredibly honoured to be a part of this humanitarian mission,’ says expedition leader Ross Holgate. ‘We know the Zambezi River well and our role will be to provide ground support. Using our three Land Rovers and the ‘Ma Robert’ boat, we’ll be criss-crossing the Zambezi Delta, conducting our normal malaria prevention and Mashozi Rite to Sight spectacle-distribution work, and at the same time, assessing patients that need more stringent, corrective eye surgery. The DFL doctors will train our expedition team on what cataract symptoms to look for and we will transport patients and their family members by water and road to the operating theatres, and then return them home after their eye surgery. It’s going to be a lot of hard work in difficult conditions with tricky logistics; just the amount of expedition kit, including the bolt-together ‘Ma Robert’ boat and medical equipment that’s being transported 2,000 kilometres to the Delta, is quite unbelievable.’
Also supporting this humanitarian effort is the non-profit Mercy Air group, which recently played a vital role in providing emergency air support after Cyclone Idai devastated central Mozambique, rescuing hundreds of victims and transporting tonnes of food, drinking water, medical supplies and personnel to flood-stricken communities. For this Zambezi Delta mission, Mercy Air is providing a helicopter and aeroplane to transport cataract patients living in inaccessible villages to the operating theatres by air.
‘The capabilities of our tried-and-tested Land Rover Discoverys and faithful old Defender 130 are really going to be needed,’ continues Ross. ‘These are the same vehicles that took us safely to Africa’s extreme easterly point in dangerous Somalia in 2017 and completed the 17,000-kilometre transcontinental Cape Town to Kathmandu expedition last year, making short work of below-freezing, high-altitude and snow-filled mountain passes. Then in April this year, they delivered tonnes of malaria prevention supplies and clean drinking water to flooded communities near Gorongosa National Park that were badly affected by Cyclone Idai.’
– 3 Expedition Land Rovers
– 2 Mercy Air aircraft
– 2 Doctors For Life mobile operating theatres
– 1 large, inflatable pontoon-type ‘Ma Robert’ boat and tender
– 22 personnel
– 10 tonnes of equipment
– 2,000Km of rough roads
– 230Km of coastline and 18,000Km² of swamps, floodplains and savannah in the Zambezi Delta
– 200+ cataract operations
– 1,000 recipients of Mashozi’s Rite to Sight eye-testing and spectacle distribution.
Text and images: Kingsely Holgate Foundation – Link to article
Link to article –
In total we did 67 cataract eye surgeries on the first 2 days of the outreach being May the 14th and 15th. Two ladies told me that they had lost hope of ever seeing again after they had become blind. But this morning their sight was restored. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share the gospel with them!
At the end of the third day (May 16) we had completed 112 cataract surgeries. We were at the hospital from 7am until 6:15pm. By Gods grace all went well with the operations but not without a few challenges: Two of our medical machines, a keratometer and statim sterilizer packed up but thankfully the work can continue. We also ran out of some medical consumables but managed to procure more to finish our work.
We had a blessed meeting with the Directorate of Health for the Inhambane province in the afternoon who expressed their appreciation for our work. They said the people are poor and needy and that we bring them hope. The country and health sector is in need of finances and resources and the outreach has already been broadcast on Mozambique national television. Mario Rocha said that after the devotion with the patients that many of them said see Gods hand in receiving their sight back. All glory to God.
Today (May 17) we had two special surgery cases: a 1 year and a 4 year old child who were completely blind from cataracts. Children can be born with cataracts for various reasons. It is vitally important to remove them as soon as possible or the child could remain permanently blind. The outcome of these kinds of operations can be somewhat uncertain due to the child developing lazy eyes etc. We are thankful we could do these surgeries to give them a chance to see. Both eyes of both children were operated on.
Thankfully Dr Pons brought a few special lenses along on the outreach without which these two surgeries would not have been possible! We have another child scheduled for tomorrow May 18. The good news is that Pieter Bos managed to get the Statim instrument sterilizer working again. We are aiming to do about 38 cases today and TV Mozambique came to do more interviews and filming in theatre for broadcasting.
Inhambane, Mozambique, June 2017
Mrs Angelika Böhmer
This was our third outreach at Inhambane hospital over the past four years and we have built good relationships with the local staff during this period. On our first outreach we were met with a degree of mistrust but this time we experienced a hearty welcome and excellent cooperation from our old friends there. Unfortunately, since our last outreach the local surgeon has left. This makes our intervention even more urgent because no cataract surgeries are done on a regular basis at the hospital anymore and the backlog becomes increasingly larger over time.
Our team consisted of surgeon Dr. J. Pons from the Good Shepherd Hospital in Swaziland assisted by two of his ophthalmic nurses and an administrative lady, four helpers from our clinic at Zavora and two of us from South Africa.
We spent long hours in theatre and were able to do 130 surgeries in five days. The team from Swaziland was very well organized for this mammoth task and it worked like a well-oiled machine! We thank them for their hard work and commitment and financial and other contributions!
I’d like to mention a few highlights: Teresa* (age 34) had become blind due to cataracts some time ago. As a result, her husband left her even though she was pregnant. Her 9 year old son had to do many of the chores and even tried to do some jobs to earn a little bit of money. Life was very difficult for them. After her daughter was born she had to take care of her without being able to see and so a community worker brought her to the hospital. The morning after the surgery there was quite a commotion among the patients and spectators when for the first time this young mother was able to see her little baby who was then already about four months old. It’s easy to imagine what a difference the outreach made in the life of this little family.
One of the patients who came for screening was Paolo*, a boy of 10 years old who had a cataract in his left eye. The hospital made an anaesthetist available so that Dr Pons could operate. Children of this age cannot have surgery under local anaesthetic and on other outreaches we have to send them away. We were very happy that we could help him and the next morning he was overjoyed when he could see.
Another highlight for the team was our accommodation and we want to express our heartfelt thanks to the people who made it available to us.
Much more could be said but space is limited. We thank God that we could do the work and that the gospel was preached. We pray His blessing on both.
* Names changed for privacy reasons.
by Miss Mirjam Rüttimann
During the weekend of the 28th to the 30th of July 2017 I was on duty at the maternity ward of the DFL clinic in Zavora and was called to the ward for a delivery. During this time Dr. Deborah and a friend of hers, Rebecca from Germany, were visiting us. They had told me to call them if there were labour cases and so I called them that evening.
While we were busy preparing for the delivery another lady arrived. We only have one bed for deliveries so I put her into the maternity ward. When I checked how far she was with the labour I realized that the baby was laying feet first and this by full cervical dilatation! That’s a fearful diagnosis if one is out in the bush because it means that the lady needs a caesarean immediately. The chances that the baby would survive labour with feet first was not very high. I decided to immediately transfer her to the hospital in Inharrime but as we were preparing the transfer she started to push and the next moment the baby’s legs were out. So we had no chance to transfer her to the hospital and I could just pray that the child would survive the labour. I took the child by the legs and the next moment the child was born. The baby was crying and everything was fine.
Then as we were waiting for the placenta we noticed that something was wrong. I checked again and found that there was another baby coming. It was twins!! I have never had a twin labour in my life, only through a caesarean. Everything went so well that we only can thank God! He is the best doctor and with Him everything is possible.]]>