CUREkids

While here, it has been amazing to see how all the NGO's are working together to promote real change for impoverished people here. They have no government to take care of them, they have no social system backups. Poverty is real and has real consequences for many. Unemployment is so high. And yet people are very happy still. It is now evident that many of those organisations that are always lobbying for money back at home actually have such tangible effects here where it matters. I think CURE does such an amazing job of linking donations to directly affect individuals here at the hospital.

One of our housemates is Amanda. She works for CURE as a CURE Kids Coordinator, which essentially looks like a photojournalist here. It is her job to discover the stories of the kids at CURE and publish them online. This allows donors to give to children in real time. For example, people can donate money towards a specific child's surgery and write messages of encouragement to a specific child in the hospital. They can follow children's lives even after their surgery, so that even though a child may only be here for one week then be discharged, if they come back a year later for follow-up, their story will continue and anyone who has interacted with the child online will be updated on his or her condition.

The cost of most surgeries generally comes to about $2000 USD (administrative, direct and indirect costs). If the money isn't raised upfront for a particular child, this doesn't mean they don't get treated. This figure just serves as a ballpark measure in the budget to show people what it costs to treat a patient.

A verse that comes to mind is this one, James 1:27:

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

CURE makes it easy to visit the orphans and widows here in Zambia (and around the world), even if you are not physically in the country. The online gallery of kids allows you to get to know the individuals here that have been treated. It allows you to pray for them specifically, see the impact on a specific life your donation will have, and send notes of encouragement to the mothers and the children themselves.

This makes it so easy to follow people and learn about what makes them unique. Not only what their medical condition is, but also who they are as an individual. Jesus gives us an example of getting to know the hearts of people. He went to Zacchaeus and made his story known. He went to the woman at the well and made her story known. The woman who washed his feet. He gets to know individuals. In fact, His compassion is so great that He came to the world as man to know men and allow men to know Him. Jesus said:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14

If you want to check out some of the stories of the children here specifically at the hospital in Zambia:
http://cure.org/curekids/list?country=zambia

And throughout all of the hospitals under the CURE umbrella:
http://cure.org/curekids

This is Rabecca, a 2 year old hydrocephalus patient, and her mother. Rabecca shrieks with delight any time you say her name. She had a VP shunt placement surgery this past week and is still on the ward recovering. (Photo by Amanda Goble, CURE Kids Coordinator)

-Mason