Bedside ministry goes beyond medicine to transform lives. pg 12
A viral Facebook post and a caring village transformed Tamirat's life.
Dr. Meredith sold everything to serve Africa’s children with cleft conditions.
Check-Up highlights the lives of CUREkids from around the world and those who serve them. The stories capture the physical and spiritual transformation happening around the CURE children’s hospital network. This is possible by God’s grace and the generous partners and supporters dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable children living with disabilities.
Throughout Check-Up, some hospital references use the shortened version of their legal name.
HOW YOUR GIFTS HELP ABOUT CURE
CURE International is a Christian nonprofit organization that operates a global network of eight pediatric hospitals providing world-class surgical and intentional ministry care for children living with treatable disabilities. CURE donors help provide services at no cost for families living in poverty.
Your gifts to CURE International are making a difference in the lives of children across the globe. Your generosity provides access to healthcare and shares the love of Jesus with children and their families. When you give to CURE, your gifts provide life-changing surgical care for children with clubfoot, cleft lip/palate, knock knees, bowed legs, hydrocephalus, and more. Thank you for your partnership and support.
WE WELCOME COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK!
checkup@cure.org CURE International 70 Ionia Ave SW Suite 200 Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 512-3105 cure.org
THANK YOU
CURE International thanks all of our donors, including O’Neil Printing for its support in maintaining print industry standards at reduced costs, allowing God’s gifts and resources to be faithfully stewarded.
CURE International is a top-rated Christian nonprofit organization.
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Your generosity reflects God’s care for His children.
CURE NEWS
Celebrate good news: 5.5 million patients served, a historic groundbreaking, and expanding to serve more kids.
EVERY CHILD MATTERS HOMEBOUND TO HOPE-FILLED
The community that changed Tamirat’s life includes you!
FEATURE STORY FROM BEDSIDE TO BAPTISM
Christ-like care renews hearts at CURE.
ON THE FRONTLINES BEYOND BORDERS
Dr. Meredith Workman left it all behind to change lives in Africa.
VISION PARTNERS A LEGACY OF GENEROSITY
The Clemens family is impacting generations in Uganda.
Sharing God's Greatest Gifts
It’s no secret that God gives the greatest gifts. In His grace, He demonstrates endless generosity and blesses lavishly. And as God’s stewards, we loyally serve Him when we help those who are lacking. In fact, Romans 12:13 encourages us to “share with the Lord’s people who are in need.”
So, thank you! Through CURE, you faithfully share your gifts to bless the thousands of children in need across our eight hospitals in Africa and the Philippines. The benefits are evident in the 350,000+ life-changing surgeries and the hundreds of thousands of people who have committed their lives to Jesus since we opened our doors 25+ years ago.
And thanks to your partnership, we are continuously enhancing our strategic efforts to serve more kids each year. To give children living in poverty access to the healthcare they need and deserve, we’re adding new medical workers who strive for excellence in every aspect of patient care. We’re restoring smiles through a first-of-its-kind center that
BY JUSTIN NARDUCCI President/CEO
provides comprehensive treatment—resulting in lifelong healing—for cleft conditions. And we’re forever dedicated to addressing the emotional and spiritual challenges of living with a disability through bedside ministry for all our patients and their families.
All this is possible because you chose to extend God’s generosity to children entrusted to our care. I’m excited to give you an in-depth look at how your support impacts so many others.
Thank you for joining us in our mission to serve God’s kingdom by providing lifechanging surgical care and sharing the message of Jesus across the CURE hospital network!
below: Ability is at CURE Zambia to correct her clubfoot—and we can't stop smiling about it!
5.5 Million Reasons to Celebrate!
Recently, CURE celebrated two noteworthy milestones in our 25+ years of providing surgical and spiritual ministry care for kids living with treatable disabilities: 350,000 surgical procedures provided and 5.5 million patient visits. Those are big numbers. But what’s even bigger is the opportunity to introduce children to the love of Jesus that these milestones represent.
Every visit a patient makes to a CURE hospital is a step forward in their healing journey. It’s also when God’s love is shared through the caring, compassionate hands of our medical and ministry teams. When children leave CURE’s doors, we want them to have experienced a physical and spiritual transformation—like Halaou.
While Halaou’s feet are becoming straighter thanks to CURE Niger’s clubfoot treatment, her heart is filling with God’s love thanks to the hospital’s spiritual ministry. “Before coming here, I didn't even know about Jesus!” she says.
Balki from CURE Niger's ministry team prays with Lawi before surgery to treat his brittle bone disease.
Powered by the Sun: CURE Zambia Goes Solar
CURE Zambia is now harnessing the sun’s power to help more kids heal. Thanks to the installation of a microgrid solar energy system, Zambia joined CURE Niger as the second hospital in the CURE network to rely on solar power for their day-to-day operations.
The new system eliminates the hospital's total dependence on Zambia's electrical grid, which relies on hydropower and is unreliable due to recurring droughts. This means fewer power shortages (and fewer disruptions in caring for our young patients!), as well as a more stable, cost-effective, and eco-friendly energy source.
left:
Global Prayer Program Launched
Prayer changes everything. That’s why we’d love for you to become a CURE Prayer Partner—a community of friends and supporters around the world who commit to praying for the work of CURE and the precious families we serve. Once each month, we’ll send you an email with ways to pray and update you on how God has worked to answer our prayers! Thank you for partnering with us in one of the most impactful ways possible.
Scan to learn more about how you can become a prayer partner today.
CURE extends a huge thankyou to our faithful partners USAID/ASHA for making this transition to solar power possible. The CURE hospital in Kenya is next on the list to receive a solar energy system, a project scheduled to be completed within the next year.
top: The installation of the solar energy system began in December 2023 and concluded in May 2024.
bottom: A team from CURE, a solar consultant from Build Health International, and employees from solar vendor Riello SolarTech worked together to install the hospital’s solar energy system.
right: Arnold (left) and James (right) show us how they pray at CURE Kenya.
CURE Zambia’s New Ward = More Kids Healed
CURE Zambia is helping more kids than ever before, thanks to the new, expanded children’s ward! With 15 additional beds, the hospital can provide specialized surgical care and share the love of Jesus with 40 percent more children suffering from life-limiting disabilities.
With thousands of vulnerable children waiting for care at CURE Zambia, the ward expansion is one of many strategic projects designed to increase surgical capacity—including adding a new comprehensive Cleft Care Center and more surgeons. We’re grateful for the support of UK-based The Beit Trust, and generous partners like you, who make it possible to serve more of Zambia’s estimated 500,000 children living with severe but treatable disabilities.
Scan to watch the ward go from groundbreaking to life-changing.
top: Patients and staff are all smiles for the new children's ward, which offers a safe, comfortable place to recover postsurgery.
bottom: The Beit Trust representatives (left to right) David Long (Director), Fiona Long, Helen Malcolm, and Alex Duncan (Chairman) at the opening celebration.
CURE Ethiopia Launches Largest Expansion Project Ever
It’s great to be growing! At CURE Ethiopia, the demand for specialized surgical care is increasing and the types of surgeries are becoming more complex. To meet these unique needs, the hospital recently broke ground on a 3-story, 22,000-square-foot clinical services building. The building will include a new outpatient department with 7 exam rooms, a surgical center with 5 operating rooms, a patient ward with 18 beds, and kitchen and laundry facilities.
As the only specialized pediatric orthopedic hospital in a country of 126 million people, CURE Ethiopia provides invaluable services to children suffering with life-limiting disabilities. We are grateful to The ReesJones Foundation for the grant supporting this project, which will allow us to give more of the 5,000 children waiting for surgery the disability-free future they deserve.
CURE Ethiopia Executive Director Adey Abate (far right) and Trevor Rees-Jones (second from right) of The Rees-Jones Foundation join key partners at the groundbreaking of the new clinical services building.
Speech Camp Empowers Filipino Families
Tebow CURE Children's Hospital of the Philippines, in collaboration with Smile Train Philippines, recently hosted a lively two-day speech camp titled “Building Bridges with Words: Empowering Cleft Patients at Speech Camp.” The camp aimed to help patients treated for cleft lip and palate through speech therapy—an important part of CURE’s commitment to providing comprehensive care beyond the operating room.
Through learning activities, playtime, creative projects, and intense speech practice sessions, the camp united patients, caregivers, and speech therapy professionals to assist patients in mastering speech. With the skills learned at this camp—and the loving support of their caregivers—patients treated at Tebow CURE for cleft conditions will continue to develop essential communication skills to ensure their long-term success.
Tebow CURE’s two-day speech camp was jam-packed with activities such as painting, games, interactive learning, and prizes.
HOMEBOUND
Tamirat's Journey to hope-filled
The community that came together to change Tamirat’s destiny includes their local village, a viral Facebook post, and you!
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.
Tamirat, Before
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 that God would provide life-changing medical care through a compassionate community— including 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 neighbor 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
Tamirat returned home able to walk tall in his new shoes.
connected Tamirat’s family with the one place that could help their son: CURE Ethiopia.
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 close to her due date 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 Foundation Children’s Ward, where he played with new friends, heard Bible stories, and learned songs about God’s love.
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.
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!”
“ May God bless you beyond measure. May God repay you for this kindness you have given me and my family.” —BEKELECH
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Laurence Wicks, who performed Tamirat’s surgeries, notes that the impact on Tamirat’s life will extend
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.”.
Dr. Laurence (right) and the CURE Ethiopia surgical staff perform one of Tamirat’s surgeries.
Visit cure.org/tamirat to watch his inspiring video!
My legs. My arms. My body. I will sing to the Lord, to the King of Kings!” “ —TAMIRAT
Tamirat
transformation means a brighter future for his entire family.
(front left) on his first day of school—looking forward with hope.
Tamirat's
While surgery heals bodies, compassionate care transforms hearts. At CURE, we offer both to the young patients who step through our doors.
Acomforting hug. Kind words. Hope. Because of your faithful partnership, CURE can provide those living with or caring for someone with a lifelimiting disability the empathy and support they yearn for.
While we treat our patients' physical disabilities, our commitment to their spiritual well-being makes CURE special. It fills every aspect of our hospitals. All CURE coworkers—from administrative to medical to facilities and support staff—are trained to offer prayer and provide compassionate care. But one particular aspect of our spiritual care is just as transformational as surgery—perhaps even more so.
anything more than what they are subjected to.”
That’s why CURE’s spiritual ministry team members, who are trained in trauma and crisis care, offer one-on-one bedside counseling and prayer to every child and caregiver.
According to CURE’s Chief Ministry Officer, Earnest Kioko, it’s important for spiritual ministry team members to build a trusting relationship with the patient or caregiver. This allows them to work through their feelings while getting to the heart of where they are in their faith journey. The relaxed setting of bedside ministry helps them feel comfortable and more open to discussing the emotional and spiritual challenges they are navigating.
“ We want to help patients and caregivers see beyond just their body and to their soul and spirit,”
—EARNEST KIOKO, CURE's Chief Ministry Officer
1:1 CONNECTIONS
“When children come here, they are really lost,” says Grace Mangwende, CURE Zimbabwe’s Spiritual Director. “They can’t imagine themselves growing or becoming
Through this unique connection, spiritual team members help the patient and caregiver understand their value as dearly loved children of God created in His image.
“Being created in God’s image is more than the body—it’s body, soul, and spirit. Spirit connects us with God. We want to help patients and caregivers see beyond just their body and to their soul and spirit,” Earnest says.
As staff shares the truth of who Christ is, His love becomes more real because of the physical healing patients experience at CURE. “They see Scripture become alive because we have moms
continued
SURGERY CHANGES BODIES.
Christ's Compassion Changes Hearts.
We celebrate the tens of thousands of kids who’ve found a new friend in Jesus and grown deeper in their faith at CURE!
MARC ANTHONY LEARNED TO PRAY
The ministry team at Tebow CURE Philippines taught little Marc Anthony how to pray. Now, he loves to talk to Jesus!
JESUS CAME TO FORGIVE MY SINS.”
“ During treatment at CURE Kenya to straighten his clubfoot, Elvis received a Bible in his language and gave his life to Christ. He said, “Jesus came to forgive my sins and to live with those who believe in Him. I want to choose Him today!”
A GRANDMOTHER
FOREVER CHANGED
While surgeons at CURE Uganda removed a cyst growing on little Helen’s head, her grandmother heard the gospel message from the spiritual ministry team and put her faith in Jesus.
“
“
JESUS WILL HEAL ME TOO!”
Amorth has been in treatment for brittle bone disease for more than two years at CURE Niger—plenty of time for him to learn about Jesus’s healing power. “Jesus will heal me too!” he exclaimed.
I’VE GROWN IN LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD.”
Surgery at CURE Malawi is straightening Chitani’s clubfoot, but learning about God’s love has changed his heart. He says, “I’ve grown in my love for God’s Word and my faith in Him.”
and dads who probably have been praying for so many years for this miracle,” Grace emphasizes. “So when they come to CURE, they experience Christ in reality.”
This Christ-filled reality can lead to a significant spiritual transformation—like it did for CURE patient Edmercy.
EDMERCY: A NEW CREATION
Edmercy was born with a knee condition that made walking painful, prevented her from attending school regularly, and isolated her from her community. By the time she came to CURE at age 14, she felt broken, discouraged, and angry.
CURE Zimbabwe’s skilled surgeons provided the lifechanging surgical care Edmercy needed to walk upright. And while she recovered, spiritual ministry team members spent one-on-one time at her bedside helping her navigate the trauma that had made her feel so dejected. They shared the story of God’s great love and His promise to make all things new.
Because of these bedside chats, Edmercy decided to put her faith in Jesus. “I want the old person in me to die, and I want to be a new person in Christ!” she shared.
Once Edmercy was well enough, the CURE team visited her at home, and Grace baptized her. Thanks to the physical and spiritual care Edmercy received at CURE Zimbabwe, today she walks pain-free on straight legs, enjoying the spiritual and emotional freedom a life with Christ has to offer.
“I want to be a good person,” she says. “I want God to help me in that both my legs are very well like anyone else’s, but that I live a good life as well.”
With support from generous friends like you, CURE’s ministry team can introduce more children like Edmercy to Jesus’s love. Thank you for making this possible!.
Scan to watch Edmercy's story of being made new.
Surgery at CURE enabled Edmercy to walk. Learning about Jesus changed her life forever.
beyond borders
Dr. Meredith’s journey from Arizona to Zambia is changing the lives of children across Africa.
Dr. Meredith Workman’s journey to serving some of the world’s most vulnerable children at CURE Zambia began when she was just a young girl in Ohio. During a mission trip to Zimbabwe at age 14, she felt a clear call from God while reading the biography of Paul Brand, a surgeon who worked with patients with leprosy in India.
“I knew I wanted to serve God with my life in a permanent way,” she recalls. “And then I read that book, and a light turned on . . . This is what I want to do with my life—be a medical missionary.”
While the calling was clear, the journey would be long. The first step? Overcoming her fear of hospitals.
RESPONDING TO GOD’S CALL
Dr. Meredith threw herself into volunteering in hospitals whenever she could. After medical
“
As I went through training, serving children had the most alignment to what I loved— restoring.” —DR. MEREDITH
school and residency training, she completed her pediatric plastics fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio and became a board-certified plastic surgeon in 2013.
“As I went through training, serving children had the most alignment to what I loved— restoring,” she said. “Why does reconstruction matter? It is not about obtaining a result that looks good. It’s not about an after picture. It’s about restoring wholeness to a life that has been affected by disability and disease.”
continued
Through surgery, Dr. Meredith Workman brings restoration to children in need.
Dr. Meredith's Journey to CURE
2019 2022 2012 1995
Attended a mission trip in Zimbabwe at age 14 and felt called to be a medical missionary
Completed a pediatric plastics fellowship, began professional practice, and became board-certified the following year
Accepted a position as a full-time surgeon at CURE Zambia and moved with her family to Lusaka
Opened her own pediatric plastic/ reconstructive surgery practice in Mesa, Arizona Currently serves as Zambia's only pediatric plastic surgeon
She opened her own pediatric plastic/ reconstructive surgery practice in Mesa, Arizona— where she and her husband, David, were raising their four kids. All the while, Dr. Meredith believed her footsteps would lead to working in an underserved region. And her family, living out the Bible verse that has guided their path, were open to the journey.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
—Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
Dr. Meredith learned of CURE’s need for a fulltime surgeon to grow a plastic and reconstructive service in Zambia. So in January 2022, with 18 checked bags and four young kids in tow, the Workmans boarded a plane for Lusaka, Zambia.
“We sold our house, we sold our cars, we sold it all,” she says. “We recognize that this is God calling us to start a new life and to build a new home and to build a new community.”
Dr. Meredith and her family now call Zambia home.
ESTABLISHING ROOTS IN
ZAMBIA
Today Dr. Meredith is growing the plastic and reconstructive services at CURE Zambia. She’s also pioneered the opening of the hospital’s Cleft Care Center, which provides consistent and comprehensive care to children suffering from cleft lip and palate, addressing their physical, nutritional, and psychosocial needs.
Dr. Meredith is committed to building a team that will help standardize this approach to comprehensive care across CURE’s network of eight children’s hospitals, revolutionizing the treatment of cleft conditions throughout Africa.
“I believe all children are born equal, whether they are born in Lusaka or Los Angeles,” says Dr. Meredith. “As a mother, the expectation I have for surgical care is this: would it be good enough for my child? As a surgeon, it’s my job to make sure the answer to that question is always yes.”
Thank you for your generous support that enables world-class Christian surgeons like Dr. Meredith to serve as the hands and feet of Christ with CURE..
SANDRA, AFTER
Transforming Lives One Smile at a Time
Dr. Meredith and the cleft care team she’s building in Zambia will bring new smiles to 250+ children like Sandra each year. Sandra's mom, Carol, says, "Thank you is too small. God should continue to bless Dr. Workman so she can [help] other children."
SANDRA, BEFORE
Moses lived for 16 years with a cleft lip that kept him from speaking clearly or attending school.
Dr. Meredith performed the surgery that gave Moses a new smile!
VISION PARTNERS
Highlighting CURE partners who help heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God
of generosity a legacy
Ken Clemens is pictured with one of the mobile clinic vans his family helped provide. It will bring care to children with neurological conditions in remote Ugandan regions.
Ken & Fran Clemens and family model compassion for future generations with commitment to CURE Uganda.
Growing up as the granddaughter of Ken and Fran Clemens (she calls them Pops and Mommom), Shyanne doesn’t remember a time when her family wasn’t giving back or serving their community in eastern Pennsylvania.
“When I think about Mommom and Pops, I can feel their passion for serving the Lord. Mommom was always caring for people and Pops was always so generous,” she recalls. “My grandparents had the privilege to support organizations dear to their hearts, and I grew up always knowing about CURE’s mission.”
For Ken and his wife Fran, who passed in 2021,
generosity is a family affair—one they intentionally cultivated. They regularly invited their extended family and community to join them in providing much-needed medical care and the love of Jesus to children around the world, something Ken and Shyanne continue today.
“ My grandparents had the privilege to support organizations dear to their hearts, and I grew up always knowing about CURE's mission.” —SHYANNE
Over their more than 20 years supporting CURE, their investment has powerfully impacted many lives—including hundreds of children and their families.
REACHING MORE CHILDREN
Ken and Fran’s longstanding commitment to helping kids heal can be seen all throughout CURE Uganda, where they supported projects like the development of the new surgical center and critical care beds. To honor his late wife’s memory, Ken recently provided two mobile clinic vans to bring medical and ministry care to vulnerable children with neurological conditions in remote regions, work that was near to Fran’s heart.
Ken wanted Shyanne to see firsthand the hospital’s incredible work providing life-saving neurosurgical care for babies with conditions
continued
left to right: Shyanne, her uncle John, CURE Uganda Nurse Pius, and Ken Clemens enjoy visiting with moms and their babies at CURE Uganda
Shyanne prays with a family at CURE Uganda.
CURE Uganda at a Glance
With the help of the Clemens family and many generous partners around the world, CURE Uganda provides life-saving care for children with neurological conditions.
Hospital by the Numbers
*Since 2001
27,000+
Surgeries Performed
like hydrocephalus and brain tumors, so in 2022, he invited her to accompany him on his first-ever trip to CURE Uganda.
“It was tremendous to see the specialized neurosurgeries happening every day, but also to see that the first thing the surgeon does is pray over the child,” Ken recalls.
CARRYING ON A FAMILY LEGACY
Medical Workers Trained
26,000+ 3,000+
Decisions for Christ
200,000+
Reached with the Gospel
Conditions We Treat
Hydrocephalus
Excess cerebrospinal fluid causing pressure in the skull
Spina Bifida
The spine fails to close over the spinal cord
Brain Tumors
Growth of abnormal cells in the brain
Tim Erickson, Executive Director of CURE Uganda, says the visit offered an opportunity to personally thank the Clemens family for their longstanding support. “It was amazing to have Ken here to see the impact of his generosity,” he said. “He and his late wife, Fran, have such a heart for the vulnerable and the spiritual ministry at CURE.”
For Shyanne, the time spent listening to the stories of hopeful and loving moms and praying over their babies inspired her to shift her graduate studies to advocating for improved global healthcare. And she continues to carry on her family’s legacy of service and generosity.
“Visiting CURE, I see how God can work through people, and I sensed that He can work through me.” —SHYANNE
“Through my family, I see a legacy of giving and of service that is being passed on through generations.”.
Scan here to learn more about visiting a CURE hospital—a trip that will change your life!
