From Sheila Sultan Zia, RN, BSN, MN, FNP
- P.O Box 76
- Talent, Oregon 97540
- (541) 951-8737
- ziasheila@yahoo.com
- http://cure.org/my/sheila-zia/#
- Blog: http://willingheartwoundedhealer.wordpress.com
- Afghanistan is about 6000 miles away. According to the World Health Organization, in Afghanistan, a country of over 28 million people, the population has only a 35-44% chance of living to the age of 60.
- 20% of children die before the age of five.
- I have been accepted to join a medical team with CURE International in Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving the end of October. I will be there for 30 days. I feel called to Kabul, not only because it’s the birthplace of my father and siblings, but because it is also the land of the people my mother dearly loved.
- Afghanistan has a severe shortage of trained nurses and doctors, particularly female practitioners for the overwhelming medical needs. The health of women and children in Afghanistan is among the worst in the world.
- I was shocked after watching the documentary film “Motherland Afghanistan” which shows the terrible conditions there. The maternal and infant mortality rate in Afghanistan is one of the highest in the world.
- CURE’s hospital opened in Kabul in 2005. Through its’ training programs for doctors and nurses, CURE is helping to improve the level of future care. CURE Kabul uses short-term medical professionals like me to care for patients and to help train the Afghan medical staff.
I will care for infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I will work with children with cleft palate and other disabilities who are there for life changing surgery.
Nazar Bigum Before Surgery And After Surgery
One child helped through CURE International is 16 year old Nazar Bigum. born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. A social outcast her entire life, she'd never went to school, cannot work, or marry and have a family. She cannot eat or drink like everyone else. She has difficulty speaking and being understood. She has no friends. Her family is shunned because they have a “deformed” child. Nazar had her surgery on February 28, 2012, and has her follow-up appointment with CURE International later this year.
Sheila Zia will help women safely deliver their babies.
Diljan.
On a cold winter day, a 28-year-old pregnant woman named Diljan and her husband arrived at CURE International Hospital of Kabul in desperate need of medical care. She was suffering from shortness of breath and could barely move. The hospital staff quickly learned that this was not an unusual pregnancy for Diljan.
She had endured six previous pregnancies which all ended in miscarriages due to complications associated with pulmonary hypertension. In each, case she had received only very basic medical care.
Thankfully, this time Diljan came to CURE. The expert care she received allowed her to safely deliver a healthy, beautiful baby girl. After many years of pain and heartache, Diljan and her husband’s dream of having a child had come true.
Other recent information about Afghanistan can be found at these links:
- http://cure.org/hospitals/afghanistan/#about
- http://globalbreakthrough.net/blog/air1-radio-station-pays-for-cleft-palate-repair-in-afghanistan/
- http://beyondthebox.org/one-mans-fight-against-maternal-mortality-a-motherland-afghanistan
Mission:
- CURE International transforms the lives of disabled children and their families in the developing world through medical and spiritual healing, serving all by establishing specialty teaching hospitals, building partnerships and advocating for these children.
- Since 1996, CURE has performed more than 84,000 surgeries and seen more than 1.3 million patients._ CURE International is the largest provider of pediatric specialty surgical care in the developing world. Its hospitals specialize primarily in treating children with orthopedic and neurosurgical conditions such as hydrocephalus, cleft palate and clubfoot.
- _ CURE International operates 11 hospitals in Afghanistan, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia.
- _ CURE International launched CURE Clubfoot Worldwide in 2006 to eliminate clubfoot as a lifelong disability in the developing world. More than 10,000 children have been treated so far.
- _ CURE International has provided specialized training in orthopedics, neurology and other medical disciplines to more than 600 national medical professionals.
- _ CURE International incorporates a faith component into its overall care program that’s culturally relevant and sensitive to its patients.
- _ CURE International has been given a four-star rating from Charity Navigator − the highest rating given to a nonprofit organization to show exceptional financial management − for seven consecutive years.
