A New Era in Healing: CURE Malawi’s Surgical Center Opens

Every child deserves the chance to live a healthy, hope-filled life. Beit-CURE Children’s Hospital of Malawi (CURE Malawi) is growing their mission to heal more kids in Jesus’s name with the opening of a brand-new surgical center.

On July 25, 2025, the hospital hosted a grand opening celebration, attended by First Lady of the Republic of Malawi, Monica Chakwera, who praised the center’s significance. “What has been unveiled is not just a structure of concrete and steel but a sanctuary of healing, a pillar of promise, and a message to every child in Malawi that we see you, you are valued, and you will be cared for,” she said.

Thanks to the new space, the hospital will boost surgical capacity by 20 percent to treat an additional 400 children each year. This expansion brings a new era of healing to Malawi’s estimated 400,000 children living with treatable disabilities such as clubfoot, cleft lip and palate, knock knees, and burn contractures.

The project, which took around three years to complete, was made possible with the support of CURE International Canada.

Big Changes, Even Bigger Impact

Basic healthcare throughout Malawi, home to more than 21 million people, is often underresourced or inaccessible. Since opening in 2002, CURE Malawi has established itself as a world-class epicenter of specialized surgical care for children in sub-Saharan Africa, performing more than 2,500 surgeries every year. And thanks to CURE’s generous donors, all care is provided at no cost to patients and their families.

The new surgical center—complete with four state-of-the-art operating rooms, an expanded post-anesthesia care unit, and advanced medical equipment—will improve patient flow and the quality of care.

With the recent addition of cleft lip and palate surgeries to the hospital’s plastic and reconstructive surgery program, the upgraded center is needed more than ever.

CURE Malawi’s Executive Director, Dr. Rhoda Kriek, says the center strengthens CURE’s dedication to providing children the chance to thrive free from disability. “In a world where disability often hinders the ability to live a full life, CURE restores the gift of movement and the gift of laughter,” she says. 

The new center is also 17 percent larger than the previous facility, leaving ample space for educating, mentoring, and training future surgeons and medical professionals—a core part of CURE’s mission. With only three pediatric orthopedic surgeons in the entire country, all based at CURE Malawi, this expanded and modernized space will play a critical role in building national surgical capacity. 

CURE International’s President/CEO, Justin Narducci, says the hospital’s significant impact will be felt for decades to come. “CURE Malawi will be able to conduct more complex surgical procedures, increase the number of surgical procedures per year in the coming years, and provide a platform for training for specialist doctors, strengthening Malawi’s health system.”

More Space + More Surgeons = More Healing

More pediatric surgeons and increased surgical capacity mean more kids will experience transformative surgical and spiritual ministry care at CURE Malawi. Kids like Chikondi.

When Chikondi was born with clubfoot, his dad, Alisen, didn’t question God’s plan. “But deep down, it truly crushed my heart,” he says.

As Chikondi grew, his condition worsened. Walking became extremely difficult and painful, and he yearned to play soccer with friends and wear shoes like other kids. His parents tried countless at-home remedies to correct his feet, but nothing worked—until a chance encounter at their local hospital led them to CURE Malawi.

During his treatment, Chikondi learned about Jesus from CURE’s compassionate staff and made new friends in the playroom. And thanks to a series of casts to gradually align his bones, surgery to correct his feet, and ankle-foot orthoses to keep them straight, his hopes came true (check out his shoes!).

Today, Alisen is hopeful for his son’s future. “I am thankful to God . . . We are going home more hopeful that my son’s life will be transformed,” he said.  

With expanded capacity, modern facilities, and a deep commitment to healing in Jesus’s name, CURE Malawi is equipped to bring restoration to families for many years to come. From the first surgeries in the new center to the countless stories of children like Chikondi, the message is clear: healing is possible with CURE.

Learn about CURE’s network of eight children’s hospitals across Africa and the Philippines.

Explore CURE Malawi. 

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