Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Please read on as I have updated this information.

 I have recently moved back to my native Zimbabwe, and I'm now delighted to be leading a project that aims to improve childrens lives directly, I'm talking about kids that are born with Club-Foot. If you're not sure what it is, I have included pictures that I have taken of Zimbabwean kids with the deformity.

We are in the process of implementing a sustainable national programme that applies the Ponseti method of clubfoot correction. This method is now recognised by the World Health Organisation as the gold standard for management of clubfoot.

We use serial plaster-casting to correct the deformity in the child, preferably within the first 3 months of life, thereafter we maintain the correction by immobilising the foot in a Brace for 3 months, 24hrs a day and thereafter at night only until the age of 4 years.  This may sound like a long period but, because of the growing child , there is a high likelihood that the deformity may recur up to the age of 4. The child learns to walk at the typical age of approx 12 months.

Quite frequently a tenotomy is also required, ( releasing the achilles tendon) to allow the child to walk on flat feet and not only on their toes.     

This condition affects 1.2 kids per 1000 live births in Europe and in Southern Africa 3.3 kids per 1000 live births, it affects boys more than girls and is bilateral in 60-70% of cases.

Without our treatment, these kids struggle to walk and develop as they should.  They are often un-educated because in Zim kids walk long distances to get to school, which clufoot kids can't manage. This makes work prospects poor, and subsequently marriage prospects are also not good. They are often seen as "cursed" in the rural communities and therefore shunned from society.

This all totally avoidable as the condition is correctable.

We have managed to have 5 international trainers come and educate 40 healthcare workers in Zimbabwe and have established two Ponseti Clubfoot clinics, one in Harare and the other in Bulawayo.

We have successfully treated 53 children who have now moved onto wearing maintainence braces.  These are being produced right here in Zimbabwe. 

Please give generously, or any little that you can afford frequently to allow us to make a real difference to peoples lives in Zimbabwe.

I will keep updating pictures and show you where your money has gone.

Thanks for your support.

Cheers

Ryan

Every raging river begins with one drop of water!! 

All funds will be directed towards the Clubfoot Programme by the good people at ZANE