International (MNN) ― This year, over 200,000 children in developing countries will be born with clubfoot. For these children, it means a lifetime of hardship.
Clubfoot is a congenital deformity in which the child's foot or feet are twisted and point down and inwards, often making mobility difficult or nearly impossible. In the developing world, if a child can't walk, he can't go to school, and if he can't go to school, he can't work.
For families who are poor already, this is only one more burden that often results in abandonment and poverty.
CURE International's Clubfoot Worldwide program is working to change that.
They train national medical personnel to perform simple, corrective casting procedures and provide treatment funding for those who can't afford it.
The executive director of the program is Andrew Mayo. He casts a vision: "We really have within our grasp the ability to eliminate clubfoot as a disability in the world--especially the developing world--partnering with physicians and other organizations in each country to create a network of treatment centers."
CURE is a Christian organization committed to the physical and spiritual healing of disabled children in developing countries. Their mission is to offer hope and compassion through their medical services. As a team, they want to be able to show the life of Christ through the work that they're doing in correcting clubfoot.
