Tamirat’s Journey of Transformation

When Melese and his wife, Bekelech, welcomed their seventh child—a son—one word came to mind: miracle. It’s why they named him Tamirat, meaning “miracle” in Amharic, the language spoken in their Ethiopian village.

Tamirat was born with bilateral clubfoot, a condition that causes both feet to curve inward. It affects bones, muscles, tendons, blood vessels . . . and so much more. For a child with untreated clubfoot, everything is limited: mobility, education, opportunity, the future.

But Melese wasn’t thinking about any of that when he first saw his son. “I had never seen a child with this kind of condition,” he recalls. “It was something miraculous. I decided that God would help us. I was waiting in expectation that God would do a miracle.”

Melese and his wife never imagined God would provide life-changing medical care using a local musician, a viral Facebook post, and you!

A Community Responds

As Tamirat grew, his clubfoot condition became more severe. While his parents worked the family farm and his siblings went to school, Tamirat remained at home. Hope for a miracle faded.

“It hurts me when I see children do things I can’t do,” he recounted with sadness. “I want to go to school. I want to work and be capable like other children in my village.”

One day, as Tamirat accompanied his mom to the local well, a concerned villager took his photo and shared it on Facebook, where it was seen and shared by a local artist with a large social media following.

From there, it drew the attention of the local government and one of CURE’s partner organizations, Christian Blind Mission (CBM), which connected Tamirat’s family with the one place that could help their son: CURE Ethiopia.

“People say it takes a community to raise a child,” says Adugna Hirpa, program manager at CBM. “At the same time, it takes a community to treat a child, to change the destiny of a child.”

A Life Transforms

After his community came together to pay for the long journey to Addis Ababa, Tamirat arrived at CURE in July 2023 accompanied by a caregiver who volunteered to stay with him. His mother was heavily pregnant with baby number eight and could not travel, and his father had to remain home and work the farm.

Tamirat’s five-month stay at CURE included regular castings to encourage his feet to straighten out, followed by two surgeries to complete the repositioning of his feet. He enjoyed recovering in the Rees-Jones Long-term Ward, where he played with new friends, heard Bible stories, and learned songs about God’s love.

Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Laurence Wicks, who performed Tamirat’s surgeries, notes that the impact on Tamirat’s life will extend far beyond the operating room.

“If you treat a child, then when they become an adult, they can have a family, they can work. You’ve given back years to them and their community,” he says. “I like the idea that [we are] not just treating a child to solve an immediate problem, but so that they can have a good life ahead of them.”

A New Journey Begins

After he was discharged, Tamirat returned home walking on newly straightened feet and looking forward to a future full of “firsts”—from wearing his first pair of new shoes to attending his first day of school.

When we asked him what he remembers about his treatment, Tamirat smiled and broke out in a song he’d learned at CURE: “My legs. My arms. My body. I will sing to the Lord, to the King of Kings!”

As Bekelech smiled through her tears, Melese expressed his gratitude to the community that helped transform his son—a community that includes you: “May God bless you beyond measure. May God repay you for this kindness you have given me and my family.”