A little charity makes a huge difference

Ephraim Shatalegolo Kgoete is a small-town doctor in Limpopo and a reminder for his fellow medical and other professional men and women that even a comparatively small sacrifice of their time – and income – can make a huge difference to someone’s life.

Kgoete, a general practitioner, carried out a pro bono procedure to remove cysts which were disfiguring the face of 49-year-old village man Thomas Mogale.

Mogale’s cysts began when he was 19 and ballooned in size – through infection, probably – and grotesquely
distorted his face. He called it his “ugly face of shame”. People in his village at Rasebalane in the Mopani district of Limpopo shunned him because of his appearance.

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He was spat at, laughed at and children fled from the sight of him, believing he was a monster.

Even worse, when he went looking for work, prospective employers shuddered and turned him away, leaving him to rely on charitable handouts to keep his family – wife and four kids – going.

Kgoete’s intervention has given Mogale back his face – and his life.

He is now a normal looking man and, perhaps one day, he will get a job to help his family. The little things do really mean a lot.