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.
