Mutale's cleft palate surgery was scheduled when her aunt learned about CURE through a mobile clinic.
"The mobile clinic is really the way that we get our patients," Kalyo explained. "Zambia is obviously a big country. Patients have trouble; long distances have really become really expensive for them. Most of them really cannot afford travel or medical care. So we go to them."
Kalyo continued, "The most vulnerable people are the ones out in the villages and the huts, and those are the ones that we really, really need to reach."
This difficulty is further complicated by the way that much of Zambian society treats disabled people. Many believe that people who have disabilities or give birth to children with disabilities are cursed. As a result, these families frequently face a lot of ridicule and prejudice. This especially impacts the lifestyles of disabled children.
"They stay at home; they don't even come out in public," Kyalo said. "And so expecting to come all the way to the Lusaka [hospital] would be a lot."
It costs about $1,000 to get one mobile clinic running again. To run enough clinics to cover most of the country, it would cost about $30,000. That's a lot of money, but CURE's team in Zambia has hope.
"We're all praying and asking, ‘God, please open the doors again so we can reach the many children that need our care,'" Kyalo said.
CURE staff also appreciates prayer for the ministry aspect of their work.
"We always need wisdom to be able to reach out to these people," Kyalo said. "You find a woman that, maybe her husband left her because she's got a disabled child, and she has a lot of financial problems. And sometimes they even ask you, ‘Why does God allow this thing?' We need to have the wisdom to touch their hearts and really communicate the love of Christ."
The caregivers also explain the true nature of disability to the patients.
"We help them understand disability. We help them understand the reasons that cause it," Kyalo said. "[It's] not the result of a curse, not because they sinned or anything."
To support CURE's ministry in Zambia, click here.
