A seemingly simple infection can shatter a child’s dream and alter their future. This is what happened to Winifore, whose goal of one day representing his national football team was in danger of being cut short because of a mishandled condition at a local hospital.
Winifore developed an infection below his left knee at a young age. Doctors treated the visible signs of the infection, but it spread to his bones and eventually caused his left leg to bow outward.

“I could not walk and had to drop out of school. My life was painful and hopeless,” he remembers.
As Winifore watched his friends on the playground and football pitch, he saw his dream slowly fade. He couldn’t run. Even worse were his deteriorating relationships with the other kids, who discriminated against him.
“They said I couldn’t play with them. They said I was disabled. My heart was filled with rejection,” shares Winifore, his eyes downcast. “The other kids laughed at me.”
CURE Malawi Offers Hope
Thankfully, Winifore visited a mobile clinic CURE held in his village in Northern Malawi, where doctors shared the good news that his bowed leg was correctable with surgery. The bad news was Winifore could not afford the long trip to CURE, located in Blantyre in the southern part of Malawi.
Filled with hope and faith that Winifore’s disability could be treated, his family was forced to use desperate measures to facilitate the trip. “We sat down as a family and decided to sell our cow just so I could afford to travel to Blantyre to get treated at CURE,” reveals Winifore.

Winifore’s Healing Journey
Accompanied by his uncle, Winifore arrived for treatment at CURE Malawi and began the long, grueling, and complicated treatment and rehabilitation process. It is a period when doubt, anxiety, and even fear can infiltrate a patient’s mind. Winifore was no exception.
“When I was taken to the ward and saw another child’s leg in a frame, I was shocked and frightened,” he remembers. “It was something I had never seen before, and I began doubting if I would ever play football, let alone walk again.”
But Winifore worked through his fear with the help of CURE’s compassionate staff. “After surgery and seeing my leg in a frame, I asked the doctor if I would be able to return to school or play football again. He eased my fears by assuring me that I would be able to excel at both. This gave me a new sense of hope!”

By God’s grace, through the tireless and dedicated work of CURE’s medical personnel, Winifore gradually healed, completed his rehabilitation, and returned home.
In August, CURE Malawi sponsored Winifore’s trip back to Blantyre so he could share his testimony at our first-annual fundraising dinner. “I hope to become a doctor one day to help those kids struggling like I was before CURE came in,” he said. “Of course, my passion is football, and my childhood dream has always been to become a goalkeeper for the Flames.”
Malawi’s academic year starts in September, and Winifore can now return to school! After life-changing surgery at CURE, Winifore’s future is now full of choices and possibilities.
All medical and ministry care is provided at no cost to children and their families, made possible by the generous support of CURE partners and donors.
Make a gift that demonstrates the love of Christ to more children like Winifore by providing the surgical care they urgently need.
Learn how CURE Malawi provides surgical care to the most vulnerable children.
About the Beit-CURE Children’s Hospital of Malawi
Established in 2002, Beit-CURE Children’s Hospital of Malawi is the only hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa recognized by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Located in Blantyre, the teaching hospital comprises 58 beds, three operating theaters, and performs over 2,100 life-changing reconstructive and orthopedic surgeries each year for people suffering from treatable disabilities. In addition to world-class clinical service, CURE Malawi ministers to the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their communities. The Beit Trust, a UK-based charity, provided the initial funding for this facility as a gift to the people of Malawi.