A Ugandan child suffering from spasticity issues so severe that her mother had to carry her everywhere was among the first recipients of one of more than 200 specially designed wheelchairs that two Christian ministries are delivering to a children’s hospital in Uganda.

The Christian nonprofit CURE International, which operates eight pediatric hospitals across Africa and the Philippines, is collaborating with the international disability ministry Joni and Friends to provide wheelchairs to children with disabilities at CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda.

“We started issuing them at the end of June,” Tim Erickson, executive director of CURE Uganda, told The Christian Post. “And this one girl, she was probably around 3 or 4 years old, she had some spasticity issues, and she just kept grabbing onto my arm.” 

“And her mother was just so delighted,” Erickson added. “[Her daughter] was getting a bit larger, and she was having to carry her everywhere. Just seeing the joy of this mother receiving that great device stands out to me.” 

Joni and Friends donated the wheelchairs to CURE, known as Cub wheelchairs, which are designed to grow alongside the individual and provide support for sitting upright. According to Jason Holden, the chief operating officer at Joni and Friends, the wheelchairs also have an all-terrain system, which is helpful for children living in austere environments in Uganda.

The international disability ministry typically provides wheelchairs to people with disabilities through its Wheels for the World program. Through the program, inmates in prison-based restoration centers throughout the United States restore used wheelchairs or mobility devices collected by or donated to Joni and Friends. 

For the wheelchair project in Uganda, Joni and Friends had around five different staffers involved, including a planning team that worked with Cure International to ensure the ministry’s needs were met. 

“We are grateful to work with like-minded organizations,” Holden told The Christian Post about the ministry’s collaboration with CURE International. 

“We do that quite often with others, but this was a really special relationship,” the COO added. “Because CURE's mission to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God beautifully reflects our own calling to serve people living with disabilities through practical support and the sharing of the Gospel.”

Through the collaboration with Joni and Friends, CURE Uganda’s physiotherapy team also received training on how to custom-fit the wheelchairs for each child from one of the disability ministry’s initiatives, known as Joni’s House Uganda. According to its website, Joni’s House Uganda is offering people with disabilities “physical, economic, spiritual, and social support, all in the name of Jesus.”

Erickson noted that the Cub Wheelchairs have had a “transformative” impact on the children CURE Uganda serves, many of whom are living with conditions such as hydrocephalus, spina bifida, brain tumors, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. 

Depending on the severity of a child’s condition, CURE Children's Hospital can also provide life-saving brain surgery, and, in some cases, a child might also require an assistive device.  

“It’s a low-income country, so spending a thousand dollars on a wheelchair is likely more than the family’s income for the entire year,” the executive director for CURE Uganda explained. “The ability to give them a wheelchair like this — you can see in some of the photos, the joy on their faces — the excitement around it is just so awesome.” 

“And getting something like [the Cub wheelchair] can give children the freedom to go to school, for a caretaker to be able to work, and for their children to have mobility instead of having to be carried around,” Erickson added. 

One of the challenges of caring for disabled children in Uganda is that most of the culture sees disabilities as a curse or blames the mother for the child’s condition, according to Erickson. CURE Uganda has responded to this by helping to foster a sense of community among the mothers of children with disabilities and by offering counseling through its pastors. 

The Christian nonprofit serves people from a variety of faith backgrounds, including Muslims, as CURE Uganda has a policy of not denying services to anyone who needs help, according to Erickson. 

“Our whole point is to help them experience the love of Christ,” Erickson said. “It’s a simple message: ‘Jesus loves you, and this is not your fault. God loves you so much that He built this hospital to take care of your child's condition.’”

CURE Uganda offers people the opportunity to accept Christ or deepen their relationship with Him by providing mothers and caretakers with the chance to attend chapel in the afternoons. Pastors also stop at the bed of each patient and ask if they can say a prayer for them. 

The ministry also keeps in touch with those who want to continue devoting their lives to Christ by connecting them with one of over 30 different pastors and churches within its network. 

“So, it's seeking their permission. Some people don't always accept, and that's fine,” Erickson said. “But we're providing an intentional daily opportunity for people to experience the Gospel.”