Top 10 stories & kids from 2018

Provided photo

2018 was an incredibly full year! We celebrated the 20th anniversary of our first hospital, CURE Kenya. We surpassed 200,000 surgical procedures performed all time across all of our hospitals. We said farewell to Tim & Jana Mead, who retired from CURE after 19 years of faithful service. We saw numerous projects completed in Niger, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, and the Philippines. Our co-workers across the CURE network continued to serve faithfully, each with their own incredible stories, and the kids … well, the kids continue to be the reason we’re doing this, and their stories are the ones we’re proudest to tell.

Looking back, there are some stories and some kids’ profiles that garnered a little more attention than others. Here are the top 10—the stories and kids with the most views from 2018:

10. No right to be angry

A selfie selfie

Joel Witwer, one of our storytellers, takes us through an experience with the CURE Niger team that taught a valuable lesson about how our emotions can take us into dangerous territory … and how God has a better plan.

9. Timothy from Malawi

Timothy, on bike he just might be too big for in the playroom

After being hit by a car, Timothy did not receive adequate treatment for his injured legs and could no longer walk. His mom brought him to CURE on her back! With surgery, plenty of follow-up care, and a whole bunch of encouraging get-well messages from you, Timothy is now walking again.

8. Her God sustains her

Brenda receives a kiss from her son, Nivan

She’s a single mom, raising a son who has had more than his share of health problems. You might expect that we would have a lot to offer someone in her position, but as Naphtali Foster captured in this story out of Kenya, Brenda’s joy and faith were a blessing to us!

7. Clubfoot free: Bertha

Bertha and her parents

We see so many of our kids stories related from the hospital. For this story, Avanell Brock, one of our storytellers, had the opportunity to visit Bertha and her parents at their home in Malawi to see just how her treatment for clubfoot was coming along.

6. International Aid equips CURE hospitals

Amanuale, a biomedical equipment technician from CURE, works with Jim from International Aid

CURE’s hospitals rely on medical equipment to do their work, and that’s where our partnership with International Aid comes in. They not only provide a significant amount of the devices in CURE hospitals, but they help us maintain them, too.

5. Where there was death, God has given life

Hadiza, all smiles

Joel Witwer captured the transformational story of Hadiza, a little girl from Niger who had knock knees. When her mother saw her after surgery, she whispered in relief, “She can live now.”

4. Nurse Jhun: Healing clubfoot is priceless

Jhun with a baby with clubfoot

Jhun’s enthusiasm and trademark humility are part of what makes this nurse from the Philippines a valued member of the team at Tebow CURE Hospital. His expertise in applying casts to infants born with clubfoot has even earned him a special nickname.

3. Hadija from Tanzania

Hadija

Hadija came to CURE Ethiopia with a rare condition that made her legs impossible to use. Unable to find treatment in her home country of Tanzania, she came to us in Ethiopia through the help of another NGO. Her condition was so complex that she spent nearly the entire year with us and was just released in December.

2. John from Zambia

John, before surgery (inset) and wearing shoes for the very first time

John had neglected clubfoot, which, by age 7, could only be treated in surgery. He found the care he needed at CURE Zambia, and we found out that he has an infectious smile!

1. Aldrin

Aldrin and Dr. Jun

The story of Aldrin’s transformation went viral, generating news article and videos around the world. Aldrin’s profile topped the views for all of our kids’ profiles, and Dr. Mead’s account of his surgery was our most-viewed story.