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Mar142013

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84 steps

posted by at 6:36 am

march-2013-1For most of my life I never even thought about my knees. Standing, walking, kneeling, and carrying things were a normal, unconscious part of the way life worked. Then a few years ago I began to notice pain as I went down steps, especially when carrying a suitcase or box. Once my knee gave out, just collapsed in a hotel stairwell as I was carrying my suitcase down one flight. After a diagnosis of arthritis, I take medication to reduce the swelling in my knees. Now, most of the time I don’t experience any pain or loss of mobility and actually forget that I have arthritis in those joints.

In Sierra Leone this week, I was staying at a hotel that was built into the side of a steep hillside. Between the entrance to the hotel reception area and my room there were 84 steps. When going to the veranda for dining there were 18 more. There were no elevators or handicap access ramps and no other way out or in. Each day I walked at least three round trips, and on my last day I made the trek seven times (more than 1,260 steps). After the first day, every step brought some pain, and by the last day even getting up after sitting was painful and difficult. »Read the rest of this entry

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Mar132013

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CURE Malawi Director Recognised at UK Staff Charity Awards

posted by at 6:10 am

Stuart Palmer

Stuart Palmer

Stuart Palmer, Director of the Beit CURE Hospital in Malawi, was recognised for his valued service at the UK Charity Staff & Volunteers Awards 2013, presented by the Charity Staff Foundation.

The event, which was held in London, on March 7th, celebrates and recognises the outstanding achievement made by staff and volunteers in over twenty different charity roles.

Stuart, who has been leading his team at the Beit CURE hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, since 2005, won the “International Aid Courage Award.” The logistics of doing first-class surgery in Malawi are hugely challenging, with no fuel, vanishing resources, erratic power supplies, and sometimes violent public disorder. »Read the rest of this entry

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Mar132013

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How can a loving God allow suffering?

posted by at 5:54 am

Editor’s note: The following was submitted by Shelia Zia, a nurse practitioner who spent a month at CURE Uganda as a volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering with CURE, visit cure.org/go.

a child at CURE Uganda

a child at CURE Uganda

I’m not sure what the date is, but I do know it is a Friday. I feel more tired today, even though I didn’t go to the hospital. It’s like that, the weariness – it creeps up on you.

We have a new doctor staying with us, an anesthesiologist who will be working and teaching at the government hospital in Mbale, not CURE. We have cooked together the last two nights, pooling together whatever we can find each day in the outdoor market. There are plenty of bananas, avocados, onions, garlic, tomatoes, rice, and dried beans – all safe to eat if washed very well and rinsed in white vinegar. There is really no (safe) meat available unless I buy a chicken to kill and pluck myself. Today I found a man selling three cucumbers, which was an incredible find. I bought all of them.  I have finally gotten used to the smells of the market, a combination of rotting meat and fish, body odor, and excrement.

Each night my new friend returns from her work at the government hospital with more horror stories. They don’t monitor a patient’s vital signs while they are under anesthesia. Ether is used as an anesthetic. Mothers in active labor are sandwiched together like sardines in the hallways and not allowed to cry out. »Read the rest of this entry

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Mar112013

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Notes from Nashipai: Mirrors

posted by at 6:28 am

Every Friday morning at 7:00 AM, a few of us CURE ladies rendezvous at a favorite coffee shop near headquarters. We nonchalantly walk in, arm ourselves with coffee & breakfast, and, unbeknownst to every other patron, sneak off to the safety of the back room. Why? So we can talk about a letter we read from a man we’ve never met. Scandalous, I know, but it’s nothing compared to how scandalous people thought our author, James, was.

None other than Jesus’ half brother, James wasn’t a “beat around the bush” kind of writer, and I doubt Hallmark was begging him for feel-good greeting card ideas. He doesn’t play around on the surface of things, but rather puts his mask on and dives down deep, right off the bat…

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25)

Our gal pal, Beth Moore, who vicariously joins us in that back room and who I could stand to B.Moore like in terms of knowing the Bible, commented on this passage by introducing the idea of “genesis,” the Greek word that might very well trump the “natural” or “own” face in the text. She puts it better than I would ever paraphrase, so…

“If genesis carries the deeper meaning, the reflection in the mirror would not only reveal grime or sore. It would also remind the gazer of his true identity, bringing conviction with an upward spin: I want to be who I was created to be: a bearer of the very image of God. Sadly, however, he goes out and forgets who he really is… We were created to be satisfied with nothing less than the fulfillment of our original purpose.” (Beth Moore – James: Mercy Triumphs)

I couldn’t help but think of our kids in our hospitals. Every negative look they get, every discouraging word they receive, those become the mirrors their families, villages, tribes, and nations give them to reference. Obviously, the problem with those mirrors is that they’re surface level, shallow, and flawed in their ability to reflect truth. They show you only what you think you deserve to be shown.

So which mirror did you choose to look into this morning? Which mirror have you been holding up to others? When we look into a genesis mirror, its thick coating of grace covers up who we were but also shows us who we can be. It reveals our original purpose and our divine potential, arming us with the grace that not only paid our debts but made an investment in our futures.

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Mar012013

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Something Wonderful: Pineapple

posted by at 6:02 am

Yep, look closely, that is pineapple growing right along the road!

pineapple 004

Hmmmm, so strange, but I just wanted to blog. I am “stuck” so to speak. I feel like if I do not keep up the habit of posting regularly, I will totally lose momentum. So, bear with me as I try to collect my thoughts. At this moment and most days, I am missing Niger. Fantastic kids and people that I would meet at CURE Niger as well as Sahel Academy and the familiar. All my pictures of Africa elicit such emotion. »Read the rest of this entry

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Feb252013

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Mead Minutes: Your time to serve

posted by at 6:14 am

Greetings from the Meads!! We are currently in snowy west Michigan. My body is struggling to acclimate to the change in weather. I looked out the window as I prepared my morning coffee to see a layer of fresh snow and a thermometer reading a cold eight degrees. I was cold just looking out! The landscape was beautiful as snow clung to the bare tree branches and covered the ground with a fresh white blanket. We have been gathering warm weather clothing to safely venture outside. A fresh spark plug and gas allowed the old snow blower to function. Ah, winter in Michigan. Part of me enjoys the snow and cold, and another part wishes to return to the temperate climate on the Great Rift Valley. »Read the rest of this entry

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Feb212013

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Josh & Julie Korn: Mourja

posted by at 6:31 am

jkjkMourja is a very tender-hearted girl. It’s rare to catch her without a smile on her face. The first few times Mourja came for art therapy sessions, she made very little eye contact with me and was very timid. When I would ask her what materials she’d like to use, she wanted me to choose for her.

Mourja was born with severe clubfoot in both of her feet. All her life she has gotten around by crawling on her knees. Her knees are calloused the way someone’s would be if they walked their whole lives without shoes. After her first operation, when she had two brand new casts on, we pulled out the paint, and she started painting on one leg while I painted on the other. This was the moment when the ice broke between us. She was sitting on a chair at the table and I got down on the floor so that I would be able to paint the bottom of her cast as well. I don’t think she was expecting that. Here I was, practically nose to toe, hunched over so that I could cover her cast in color. »Read the rest of this entry

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Feb182013

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Patient Story: David Niyobyose

posted by at 5:18 am

David – before treatment

David Niyobyose’s mother died immediately after his birth at home in Nyamasheke, Rwanda. To add to his father, Damien’s, distress, David was born with bilateral clubfoot. No one else in the family had ever seen clubfoot before; however, David’s uncle had heard of the Ponseti treatment available at the local clinic at Gihundwe. David was lucky to be brought to the clinic at one week of age.

At the beginning of the treatment, the father was very quiet. He said little about anything, and especially made no comment about the disability or treatment of his baby. The counselor assumed it was because Damien had only just lost his wife, and visited him many times at home to both support him in his recent loss and encourage him to continue with David’s appointments. »Read the rest of this entry

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Feb142013

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Healing in Uganda

posted by at 6:01 am

Editor’s note: The following was submitted by Shelia Zia, a nurse practitioner who spent a month at CURE Uganda as a volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering with CURE, visit cure.org/go.

Mother and child at CURE Uganda

It is 5am, and I know this because I hear the Adhan, the morning call to prayer coming from the mosque a block away. Here in Mbale, it doesn’t matter that my phone has died and I have no alarm clock. The Adhan or local rooster will wake me every morning. I am in Uganda, at CURE Children’s hospital in Mbale. Today I will meet the two neurosurgeons who perform life-changing surgery every day. The doctors round at 7:30am, then meet in the chapel at 8:00 for morning prayers. There are Bibles on every other chair, tattered and worn, some missing covers. They have been well loved.

I meet the nurses and other staff. They are so kind and humble. One says, “She is here to teach us how to do better.” The truth is, I have much to learn from them. I meet Miriam, the hospital’s Spiritual Director. I ask her what she does on an average day. She tells me, “I sit with every mother and child and just listen. The mama, she has so much sorrow to share. I pray with them, with every one of them.” Miriam expresses her dismay when I tell her we have hospital chaplains, but they only come at the patient’s or family’s request. “Who attends to the spiritual healing?” she asks. “How can the patient heal if the spiritual is not addressed?” I agree with her and I ask her what is most needed, what is the most important thing for me to do while I’m here?  “Hold their babies, love them,” she says. “No one in their village will touch them because they think they are bewitched. They need your heart and your hands much more than your head. Your presence is enough.” »Read the rest of this entry

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Feb132013

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Crowdfunding Brings Life-Changing Surgeries to Children in the Developing World

posted by at 11:00 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Crowdfunding Brings Life-Changing Surgeries to Children in the Developing World

February 13, 2013 – [Lemoyne, PA/San Francisco, CA] – Today, CURE International, one of the largest providers of specialty pediatric surgical care in the world, and Watsi, the first global crowdfunding platform for healthcare, announced a formal partnership to bring life-changing medical care to thousands of children in the developing world.

“Our hospitals around the world receive thousands of patients each year — children needing specialized surgical care,” said Joel Worrall, vice president of cure.org. “We rely on donations from caring individuals to help fund their care. Watsi, with their social approach to funding medical care, will help us bring healing to more children.”

Faith from Malawi

Faith from Malawi (pictured after her surgery) is one of hundreds of children Watsi and CURE plan to serve through their partnership

CURE and Watsi had previously engaged a one-month pilot partnership. During that pilot, CURE sent Watsi profiles for 25 children awaiting surgical care, Watsi posted them on its website, and 400 individuals from around the world donated more than $26,000 to directly fund life-changing medical treatments for all 25 patients. CURE provided the necessary medical care, and Watsi donors received an update about the patient they supported. During this test phase, treatments fully funded by Watsi donors included a one-year-old baby with hydrocephalus, a 6-year-old girl with a burn scar contracture, and a 6-year-old boy with clubfoot.

“Our mission is to connect people to expand global access to health care. We’re passionate about leveraging the power of technology to create change for people in need of medical care around the world,” says Grace Garey of Watsi, “CURE is doing the kind of work we – and our community of users – want to support. We’re excited to see this partnership grow.”

As a result of the formal partnership announced today, CURE and Watsi expect to provide thousands of life-changing surgeries to children who would otherwise lack access to medical care. This innovative partnership is the first of its kind for both organizations. Individuals can visit watsi.org to directly fund a medical procedure.

About CURE International
CURE International has a 15-year track record of providing children with curable, physical disabilities the treatment they need to live normal lives. CURE operates hospitals and programs in 27 countries worldwide, and since opening its first hospital in 1998 has seen nearly 2 million patients, provided more than 138,000 life-changing surgeries, and trained over 6,100 medical professionals. Learn more at cure.org

About Watsi.org
Watsi.org is a website that, in a world where one billion people cannot afford medical care, is revolutionizing the way everyday people participate in the fight for global health by enabling anyone to directly fund low-cost, high-impact medical treatments for individuals in need of care. Learn more at watsi.org

Media Contacts:
Grace Garey, Watsi
grace@watsi.org
510-333-2432

Matt Shandera, CURE
matt@cure.org
717-649-1138

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