Celebrating 365 Days of Transformation at Zambia’s Cleft Care Center

One year ago, hope arrived for children born with cleft lip and palate in Zambia. 

The country’s first-ever comprehensive cleft care center opened its doors at Beit-CURE Children’s Hospital of Zambia (CURE Zambia), providing consistent, life-changing care for kids suffering with cleft lip and palate. No longer dependent on sporadic visits from volunteer surgeons, children now have access to year-round care—including surgery, speech therapy, nutrition support, and more. 

Today, we celebrate 365 days of transformation!

Raising the Standard of Care

Dr. Meredith Workman, Zambia’s first full-time Pediatric Plastic Surgeon, leads the cleft center. Her arrival at CURE marked a turning point, making it possible to develop a plan for providing continuous, comprehensive cleft care that addresses all aspects of healing. 

Dr. Meredith notes that in the US and other nations, cleft care begins early with nutrition and psychosocial support before surgery and ongoing specialized care for speech, hearing, dental health, and social development long after surgery is done. Now, children in Zambia can receive the same standard of care. 

“It’s been life-changing at CURE Zambia to have the ability to do surgeries whenever they are needed, yes, but also to have all the other members of our cleft care team here to come along and offer support needed,” she says. “We’re not just repairing a lip. We’re investing in a child’s future. Comprehensive care gives them the tools to thrive in every aspect of life.”

Celebrating a Year of Transformation

Since opening in April 2024, more than 190 cleft lip and palate surgeries have been performed at CURE Zambia. The cleft center has also added new services and specialized staff, including two speech therapists, nutritionists, and clinicians who can provide dental and orthodontic care. This means every child served receives the ongoing support they need to address postsurgical issues with nutrition, hearing, and speech that are common in cleft cases.

This comprehensive care is life-changing for kids like Anthony. He was raised by his brother and sister, who couldn’t afford the necessary surgical care. So, Anthony lived with a severe cleft lip and palate for more than 15 years, enduring significant challenges beyond just his appearance. He had trouble hearing and speaking—and he experienced isolation as a result. 

When he arrived at CURE Zambia, he told us, “I just want to talk and hear well like everyone else . . . People laugh at me and use me as a bad example in my community.” 

Dr. Meredith’s surgeries to repair Anthony’s lip and palate were just the first step in his healing journey. One of the cleft center’s new speech therapists, Dyness Chanda, worked with him to improve his enunciation so he could communicate more clearly. 

“Because he lived with a cleft lip and palate for so long, Anthony’s speech was marked by a limited range of sounds, difficulty producing certain consonants, and a nasal tone caused by air escaping through his nose,” Dyness recalls. “But after two weeks of intensive speech therapy, he now has normal resonance and clear articulation, making it much easier for him to communicate and be understood.”

In addition to clinical care, Anthony benefitted from the Christ-centered care he received from the spiritual ministry team, who shared stories from the Bible and affirmed his worth and value in God’s eyes. Since returning home from CURE, Anthony has even begun attending church—something he wouldn’t do on his own before. 

“CURE helped us recognize God’s goodness,” Anthony says. “Let me tell you, God has eyes and ears; He sees and hears us all. I used to cry to God almost every other night because of what I looked like, but God answered. I am a testimony.”

Building for the Future

​​One year in, the impact of the cleft center is definitely something to smile about—and the work is far from over. Building a sustainable future for cleft care in Zambia involves training the next generation of surgeons to carry this mission forward. Two pediatric surgeons completed cleft fellowships at CURE Zambia last year, and plans are in place to develop a more formal residency training program at CURE in the next few years. 

“There isn’t a plastic surgery residency program in Zambia, and talented doctors must go abroad for training, where few spots are available,” Dr. Meredith says. “So starting a plastic surgery training program is something we are excited about.” 

Once the program is up and running, Dr. Meredith hopes that each year, CURE Zambia will participate in the training of two plastic surgeons who will go on to bring much-needed services beyond the walls of CURE. 

The team is also equipping healthcare workers in remote areas with essential cleft training. By empowering these early responders, families receive earlier intervention—feeding support, nutritional aid, and help for mothers—leading to better health and timely surgery. 

Over the coming years, CURE will scale this multidisciplinary approach happening at CURE Zambia to hospitals across our network so that more children with cleft conditions can receive the complete care they need to smile—and thrive—in their communities.

*Because of our partnership with Smile Train and their contribution to each cleft surgery, your gift is multiplied to bring new smiles to even more kids!