For children, a hospital can be a frightening place. The unfamiliar environment, new faces, and the prospect of painful procedures such as injections and blood tests can be deeply intimidating. As a specialist orthopaedic and plastic surgery hospital, Beit-CURE presents young patients with unfamiliar and often overwhelming sights, including metal frames on limbs, heavy plaster casts, and children wrapped in layers of bandages recovering from skin burn surgeries.
Many conditions we treat require careful monitoring and long recoveries, so some children stay in the hospital for weeks. For them, pain and worry often overshadow the healing process. Yet for one former patient, Sophie Bango, her time at our hospital sparked a lifelong vocation.
From Patient to Nurse: A Journey of Resilience and Hope
Fourteen years after her first visit, Sophie returned to Beit-CURE on December 3, 2025. She originally arrived at our hospital as a child between 2005 and 2006 after injuring her hip when she fell from a tree. This time, she came not as a patient, but as a qualified nurse, ready to encourage the children in the hospital and their caregivers.
Sophie’s treatment and recovery lasted months, demanding strength and patience. She remembers feeling afraid at first, but the nurses’ care left the deepest impression.
“While I was here, I really appreciated how the nurses cared for me and made me feel comfortable. I started to think that I would be happy if I became a nurse too,” she recalled.
After leaving the hospital, Sophie dedicated herself to her studies, determined to turn her experience into something meaningful. She later trained as a nurse at Daeyang University and now serves as a Nursing Officer at Thyolo District Hospital, caring for patients with the same kindness she once received at our hospital.
Inspiring Hope for Children and Families
Looking back, Sophie urged children and guardians to keep hoping. “Don’t let your hospital stay define your future. Life continues after discharge. And to parents and guardians: your belief matters. My parents believed in me. If I made it as a former patient, your children can achieve their dreams too,” she said.
Sophie’s message resonated deeply with many guardians in the ward. One guardian shared her story: “People in my village told me not to bring my child here. Some even accused me of causing my child’s injury. But since my child began receiving treatment in 2019, I have seen real progress. Hearing Sophie’s story encourages me to support my child and gives me hope for her future.”
The guardian’s story revealed the tough choices families make to seek care, often facing doubts from others. Sophie’s journey addressed those fears and demonstrated what belief, patience, and support can achieve.
Creating Futures Beyond the Hospital
Since 2002, Beit-CURE has performed over 36,652 life-changing surgeries for children with treatable conditions, including trauma, clubfoot, knock knees, bowed legs, and burn contractures. Our hospital makes this care possible for many families.
Stories like Sophie’s show what becomes possible when children receive not only safe surgery but also compassion, encouragement, and hope. With your support, Beit-CURE can continue to transform fear into healing and help more children imagine a future beyond the hospital walls.
Help more children build a future beyond the hospital here.
