Now the poor can see again
BAWA: DOCTOR VOLUNTEERS TIME TO PERFORM CATARACT OPERATIONS FREE OF CHARGE
NGO donates millions of rands to refurbish eye clinic, buys state-of-the-art technology.
Aspectacular view of lime-green tinted mountain tops surround us as we drive towards Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga.
But upon my arrival, I was introduced to a queue of about 20 elderly and adult patients who did not have the privilege of even seeing my face, let alone the scenically rich view surrounding their community.
Seated on a long steel bench in green or orange hospital gowns outside the theatre, they had come from surrounding areas to see ophthalmic surgeon Dr Sachin Bawa and his team – specialists who took leave of purpose from their day jobs to perform cataract surgeries free of charge.
A cataract is a cloudy mist which forms in the lens of the eye, with the most common cause being a senile cataract, which is age-related and mostly affects people after the age of 60. Other causes in younger people could be steroid medication and diabetes.
Nurses first screen the patients at the eye clinic and those who appeare to have completely lost their vision are taken in for a quick rapid Covid-19 test before proceeding to queue for their surgeries.
With many of their relatives waiting with blankets, gowns and warm slippers in their hands, it is clear many bore the cold morning weather to make it first in line.
What these patients do not know is that the reversal of their blindness is due to the nonprofit work of the Tshemba Foundation – a local organisation which contributed millions of rands in refurbishing the eye clinic and purchasing the state-of-the-art technology.
The organisation brings local and international doctors of all disciplines and offers them the opportunity to give back to the Tintswalo Hospital and clinics for the population of Acornhoek and surrounding areas.
“A specialised service we offer is cataract surgeries because it’s so life changing and so immediate. You can change a person’s life in 10 minutes from being totally blind, which affects their whole family,” said the foundation’s chief executive Barbara McGorian.
What used to be an old house on the property was refurbished and equipped to be what is now the busy eye clinic. What is now the high-end theatre was initially a store room, said McGorian.
“We spent millions on the project. The state-of-the-art equipment is better than what some doctors have in their own private practice. The idea is to bring doctors from overseas so they can feel comfortable with the equipment which is worldclass,” she told Saturday Citizen.
I spotted an elderly man in an orange gown sitting on a bench outside with his murky eyes staring into the distance. Assuming he is completely blind as he tightly held onto his wooden walking stick, Ramsay Mohlala, 70, however, convinced me that he was not.
“I have no issues with my eyes. I can see over there, but it looks like there is just a bit of smoke. My eyes don’t affect me that bad. I can see things up close but not too far,” said Mohlala as he points to the ground a few metres in front of us.
“They are just going to wash off the smoke from my eyes. I feel fine about that. I just need the smoke to be wiped off my eyes,” he said quietly in my ear.
Mohlala is from Mafihleng village and was accompanied by his daughter, who had stayed behind at the eye clinic with his belongings.
But watching him nearly bump into walls and doorways as a doctor grabs his arm, I realised the “smoke” he spoke of was far more foggier than he described. “He is totally blind. He can’t see anything,” his daughter eventually explained to me.
Next to Mohlala sat a quiet woman with a black Puma mask on. “Josephine Mhlongo” was written on her file, but with the incorrect date of birth.
Since she could not see well, she is not aware of this error until I point it out.
I could tell from her silence and her arms crossed that she was nervous about the upcoming procedure.
“I have had this surgery three times before in my right eye at Tembisa Hospital in 2017. It did not go well at all. When they injected my eye, I felt the worst pain. It turned out they didn’t do the surgery well and I had to go back and do it twice again.”
This time, the 67 year old was getting the left eye operated on as it was totally blind. While her right eye had cleared after the 2017 surgeries, she said her vision suddenly blurred when she was walking home some time last year. “I couldn’t see anything. I had to ask pedestrians in the streets to help me find my way home. My eye just suddenly stopped functioning.”
Catching a 20-minute taxi drive from her home in Islington village, Mhlongo was one of the first in line, arriving at the hospital with her 18-year-old daughter at 5am.
Expecting to find a tall, old Cuban man, I am surprised that Dr Sachin Bawa is a 41-year-old South African ophthalmic surgeon from the Vaal.
Bawa had flown in that Thursday morning from Johannesburg and, while he arrived just after 11am, he was already in the cold theatre room by 12.45pm awaiting his first patient.
He had left his family and his private practice at Linksfield Hospital to volunteer two days to perform around 40 free cataract surgeries.
With Mhlongo under him, he explained each process while indicating which machine he would use and why. “The cataract
You can change a person’s life in 10 minutes from being totally blind.
Barbara McGorian
Chief executive at Tshemba Foundation
is behind the pupil,” he says.
“We do micro incision procedures through a 2.4mm incision and we fragment the cataract with an ultrasound machine and then remove the cataract through the same machine to insert the artificial lens through the incision.”
About 15 minutes later, Mhlongo was rolled out of the theatre while another patient was quickly rolled in.
Unlike her previous surgery, she was surprised that this procedure was quick and painless. “I felt nothing. Is it over already? How come I felt no pain?”.
It was a jovial mood at the eye clinic on the mornings of Friday and Saturday, when patients finally removed their bandages, with many correctly pointing out the number of fingers held up in front of them by nurses.
It took several days for Mhlongo’s vision to improve but she was looking forward to finally being able to read her Bible. She was put on a vigorous treatment of steroid eye drops to speed up the healing process and relieve pain.
But the surgery was of the most importance to her granddaughter, Thobile Nkuna. She was the only person who lived with Mhlongo in her house but she’d be leaving for Tshwane next year to study medicine.
“I’m so happy I no longer have to worry about my grandmother. I would take care of her and cook for her as the steam from the pots was bad for her eyes. I’m very excited,” said Nkuna. –