Zambia (MNN) ― Zambia's unemployment rate is near 50%, and 86% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to U.S. government figures.
Day-to-day existence is the struggle for food and water, let alone addressing medical needs like hydrocephalus, cleft lip and palate, spine deformities, clubfoot, and other crippling orthopedic conditions that require highly specialized attention.
These conditions are treatable, but without CURE International, they have nowhere to turn for proper care. Even with CURE's presence, sometimes a hospital is too far for a family to go. So CURE takes the hospital to them via mobile clinics.
Kimberly Bennett is the CURE Advocacy & Zambia Field Communications Specialist. She just helped wrap up another orthopedics mobile clinic in Zambia last week as part of a team assisting Dr. Giorgio Lastroni, CURE Zambia's consultant orthopedic surgeon and medical director.
They set up at the Mtendere Mission Hospital in Chirundu--a small town in Zambia's Southern Province near the Zambezi River, just across the border from Zimbabwe. While the hospital has an excellent team of Italian and Congolese doctors, most of their surgeons are general surgeons and are not able to perform complex or highly-specialized surgeries.
This time, among the normal run of patients they helped were two people, a man and a woman, who had been bitten by crocodiles while bathing in the Zambezi River--a fairly common scenario.
All in all, Dr. Lastroni saw over 20 patients in Chirundu and operated on 5. "I don't know if all the cases we worked on were a success," said Dr. Lastroni as they drove back to Lusaka, "but we definitely gave it our all."
Stories like these keep CURE Zambia moving forward. This year marks the 5th anniversary of CURE Zambia's official opening. Since CURE Zambia opened its doors in December of 2006, their teams have performed 4,500 surgeries, 32 annual mobile clinics, numerous community awareness seminars, a new ENT & Audiology clinic, and medical training sessions.
Why do it? It is an expression of God's love. While not overtly evangelistic, the staff and support team are followers of Christ, and everything they do is in His name. When the inevitable questions come, there's an open door to share their hope.
Although you may be miles away, or have no medical knowledge to speak of, you can still support their work. Find out how you can pray, give, or go. Click here for details.
