KFC and a Blazing Hot Sun: Eye Clinic in Mookgophong

For our last day of clinic we drove south, to the small town of Mookgopong (or Mookgophong, depending how you like to spell it--we saw it both ways on maps and signs, and t-shirts around town. During apartheid days, and depending on who you talk to now, it's also known as Naboomspruit).


Jim Blessman contacted a pastor there, and the two organized a clinic in the community church. People trickled in from all over town. We enjoyed seeing a diffrent patient population--instead of wave after wave of schoolkids, we mostly saw older townspeople. One beautiful lady was ninety-eight years old!

They waited in the hot summer sun, waving fans patiently, and chatting to pass the time.

Our team changed for clinic that day. Steve and Janice joined us. And Ollie stayed back at the Blessman ranch, waiting for a ride to the airport in Polokwane. He was leaving us for several days, taking advantage of his time in South Africa to visit old friends on the east coast.

Mark took up a position under a large shade tree outside, signing people up for exams. Inside, Janice and Karen measured vision:



Steve quickly learned how to put drops in the blinking eyes of skittish patients:


Leslie fired up the Retinomax one last time:


Greg and I wrote out prescriptions for glasses, and checked the older folks for eye diseases:


The ladies passed the time with some good stories:



It was HOT under that heavy metal roof. By 2pm we all needed a break.

Our interpreter, Kuda, suggested KFC! We all had a good laugh over that--none of us, not even the Kentuckians in our group, had eaten there in twenty years or more. And here we were in Africa discovering our love for the Colonel's secret recipe, all over again. We enjoyed every bite:


The afternoon went a lot faster, and soon we were finishing up the last few patients:



We couldn't thank the volunteers enough for all their good work:




Tired and satisfied with our eye mission, we headed back to the Blessman ranch to pack. We were ready for some R&R, and couldn't wait to explore more of the sights and sounds of Africa.