Zambia (MNN) — CURE International can no longer
run mobile clinics in Zambia due to a financial crisis. The executive director for CURE's ministry in
the country, Peter Kyalo, said this makes it much more difficult to reach
people who need medical help.
"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.
