Kate Bertrand is raising money to sponsor a child's surgery after volunteering in Uganda. (Photo courtesy CURE)
Uganda (MNN) ― For two weeks, Kate Bertrand volunteered with CURE International in Uganda. Now she spends time raising money to sponsor a child's surgery.
This 22-year-old school teacher from Virginia split her volunteering time between the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda (CCHU) and its satellite mobile clinics. Moved by the experience, she's now collecting donations to sponsor a surgery at the CURE Children's Hospital. You can help her by clicking here.
CCHU is the only hospital in Uganda offering specialty care for children with neurological conditions such as hydrocephalus. Click here to learn more.
"The hospital was absolutely beautiful," Bertrand said. "It is clearly a place where children are being healed."
After a few days of volunteering at the hospital, Betrand's team moved to satellite clinics in the northern part of Uganda.
She says her experiences here were the highlight of her trip. At the mobile clinics Bertrand helped cook meals and provide child care for the mothers. What she saw made an impact.
"You meet these mothers, and you hear their stories," Betrand explained. "They work so hard while maintaining a family and a sick child. I was amazed and humbled by their strength and perseverance."
Bertrand says she'll be affected by what she saw and experienced in Uganda for a long time to come.
"I was part of something beautiful," she says. "I'd go back and do it again and again if I could."
CURE International is the largest provider of pediatric specialty surgical care in the developing world. Since 2004, CURE has sponsored more than 2,200 volunteers like Bertrand to serve on short-term trips.
