miraclefeet

Approximately 1 million children in the world are living with untreated clubfoot. Up to 80% of those children lack access to treatment. Without proper treatment, many of these children become disabled and cannot walk, run, or attend school. miraclefeet...

[miraclefeet]

Stepping Up: A Clubfoot Dad's Triathlon for MiracleFeet

Jude Sangillo has always been a fighter. His amazing ability to see any challenge as an opportunity and any glass as half full was put to the test when he and his wife found out via ultrasound that their son Andrew would be born with clubfoot. They didn't know a lot about the condition, but soon knew they would be able to deal with the future after learning about the Ponseti Method's proven track record of success.

Jude was moved by the realization of just how fortunate his family was to find the treatment his son needed with relative ease. "Clubfoot exists, but we have access to treatment, and in our country most of the children are treated and live healthy, productive lives," he said. Outside of the US, there are hundreds of thousands of kids who don't have access to treatment.

But there is hope. In Jude's words, "For clubfoot, a cure exists. It's just a matter of us providing the infrastructure and access to that care."

Always looking for a challenge, Jude had been considering participating in a triathlon for the last couple of years. Making a difference in the lives of children born with clubfoot seemed like a great reason to go after his goal. With a very busy schedule and two young children, a few of Jude's friends thought he was crazy. This, of course, just added fuel to his passion. After training for four months, Jude participated in the Escape the Cape Triathlon in Cape May, NJ, jumping of fa ferry into the water, racing past the house where he grew up, and finishing 114th out of 907!

We at MiracleFeet were thrilled to see that Jude's efforts raised over $5,000 - enough to give life-changing clubfoot treatment to twenty children!

Jude sees Andrew's clubfoot as just one challenge out of many he will face in his lifetime. His advice to parents?

"Know that the outcome is going to be positive. It's going to be hard and a long journey but the end goal is that your child is going to be able to walk. Take it step by step, day by day, and you'll see the progress."

Sounds like a champion to us!

[miraclefeet]

Lucy meets Luci - A Community Comes Together for a MiracleFeet Fundraiser

World Clubfoot Day 2016 was a beautiful day in Rhode Island. The forecasted rain held off and friends and family gathered to walk in honor of little Lucy, who was born with clubfoot. Lucy's mother, Jessica Quattrucci, had promoted the event on social media, and was elated when another Luci - born with clubfoot also - showed up with her family after driving three hours to get to the event!

When Jessica was pregnant and found out that Lucy would be born with clubfoot, she was nervous but  relieved to find out that the condition was common. She started researching everything she could and talking to other parents. Jessica soon realized how common the condition actually was when she found out that her cousin was also born with clubfoot.

At the advice of others, she attempted to consult with some doctors before Luci was born, but was unable to find any physicians willing to meet. After unsuccessful treatment locally in Rhode Island, Jessica decided to take Lucy to Boston. With the financial support of family and friends to supplement gaps in health insurance, they were able to get Luci the treatment and surgery she needed for her complex case.

Once she knew her daughter was in good hands, Jessica felt a strong pull to fundraise. "I just wanted to give back and help another child," she said. She immediately thought about a woman in her local community who started an Alzheimer's walk that continues every year and now raises tens of thousands of dollars.

The Rhode Island World Clubfoot Day Walk-A-Thon was launched. Jessica took to the phones with a relentless passion, directly reaching out to local businesses to ask for donations. She wrote letters explaining clubfoot, offering statistics, and talking about MiracleFeet's mission.

A few months later, the walk was happening, Lucy and Luci were playing together, and Jessica had raised over $1,000 for MiracleFeet!

Jessica understands how difficult it can be to deal with a clubfoot diagnosis. With the long nights, endless appointments, and awkward BNB wear, it can be so tempting to throw in the towel.   Jessica's best advice to parents dealing with a clubfoot diagnosis?

"Be persistent."

We are so grateful to Jessica and other fundraisers like her who are changing the lives of children around the world, in honor of their own.

[miraclefeet]

Clubfoot in Liberia: Rising Above the Impossible

When Vinnah Garnea's son, Charles, was born with bilateral clubfoot, her family and her community in Margibi County, Liberia, let her down. Her husband disowned Charles, and her husband's family said that nobody cared about the baby boy. Vinnah's community mocked and insulted her for having a child with clubfoot as a young mother.  

Thankfully, Vinnah was able to bring her son to a MiracleFeet-supported FACORC clubfoot clinic. During her first visit, Vinnah was so relieved to see the corrected feet of children with clubfoot that she cried. After weeks of casting using the Ponseti Method, Charles' feet now appear normal.

"I am so happy. Shame on the people who were laughing at me. Thank you to MiracleFeet for supporting our children. I am so happy; thank you people so much," Vinnah cried.

Her husband later died during the Ebola epidemic, but Vinnah believes that if he had lived, he would have reconciled with his son and paid for him to go to school. Although Vinnah still worries about how she will pay to send her son to school, she knows that now he will be able to walk normally and participate in his community.

Thanks to the Liberia Clubfoot Program (LCP) implemented by FACORC in partnership with MiracleFeet and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, children like Charles and mothers like Vinnah can access treatment and there is hope for people with clubfoot in Liberia.

[miraclefeet]

Walking in the Steps of an Intern in India (Part III)

After a six-hour drive, we arrived at Satara, a smaller city in the state of Maharashtra.  It offered a welcome relief of the sweltering humidity closer to the coast, and a fresh perspective of the region. We met up with a Mrs. Mayura, who runs the miraclefeet-supported clinic there, and her husband for another day of home visits. The day started wonderfully, as we met young Kunal and his family.  Kunal was just rising from a nap as we began talking to his parents and grandparents. His charisma was obvious from the start. After fully waking up, we offered Kunal a chocolate bar that he gladly snatched from Rijo’s (MiracleFeet Program Coordinator) hand and offered a full-face grin in return.

Kunal’s story was a fascinating one. His mother is in her young twenties and has neglected clubfoot. Some surgeries were attempted when she was a girl, but they all failed. Sadly, the family didn’t prioritize the travel time and expense to treatment over “household duties.” Kunal’s mother was afraid her child with clubfoot would suffer the same fate. It wasn’t until she saw the change in Kunal’s foot after casting that the whole family could rest assured knowing that Kunal’s life would be different.

As we stepped outside to take pictures in the sunlight, it became clear that Kunal was no average 18-month-old boy.  He loved the spotlight, strutting around for us to see his progress and wearing a massive smile. Visiting Kunal’s family made it clear to me the impact that miraclefeet and CURE International have in India. The generations to come can be more hopeful than those of the past, as awareness and availability of treatment for clubfoot will only improve with the help of both organizations.  

[miraclefeet]

Walking in the Steps of an Intern in India (Part II)

An hour outside the center of Mumbai lies a small satellite town called Kalwa. We arrived outside the neighborhood and were greeted with a warm smile from Pawan, the brother of our first patient. He led us through an intricate series of narrow walkways that led to a dimly lit single room hut that he shared with his sister, Sangita. Sangita was born with clubfoot. Pawan is the eldest of five siblings and has been working in Mumbai for a couple years when a neighbor told him about clubfoot treatment at Wadia Hospital in Mumbai. He was ecstatic to find a solution for his sister.

In a rural village like Bihar, incredible stigma and prejudice surrounds clubfoot children, adults, and their families. From her birth, neighbors would assure Sangita’s parents that nothing could be done to fix the disability and believed the family must be cursed if they could give birth to such a “deformity.” Knowing all too well these struggles would weigh Sangita down for the rest of her life, Pawan brought Sangita on a train to Mumbai–an incredibly long and expensive journey for the family.

Sangita has a beautiful smile, which she shared often in her nervousness brought on by the visit of foreigners asking her many questions. Her story was a remarkable one. She had untreated clubfoot for the first 16 years of her life before starting treatment. It was clear that both Sangita and her brother were incredibly grateful for the treatment received at Wadia. She shared that she was very enthused to be able to return to her studies, and for all the freedoms that would be available to her now. After stepping outside for some photos, Pawan led us to the next family we would be visiting.  

1 ½ year old Sonakshi slept as we met and chatted with his parents, Dharmendra and Sushma devi. Dharmendra had told Pawan about clubfoot treatment at the miraclefeet-supported clinic. This was the first time that I learned about the most common way that families found out about miraclefeet/Cure-India clubfoot clinics. In the next visit with Manthan and his parents, we found out that they had referred Dharmendra and Sushma devi.

All three families had absolutely opened their homes to us. We were offered many snacks and refreshments in a place where there seemed to not be that many snacks and refreshments available. I left Kalwa thinking about this process of family referral and how that seemed to be the only way a clubfoot child could find out about treatment. It was made clear how low clubfoot awareness is, and how much can be done to improve it.  

[miraclefeet]

A Long Journey for Treatment

In February 2016 a farming family from the countryside near Toamasina, Madagascar, welcomed their second daughter in the world, baby Sania.  It was the doctor who delivered Sania who first noticed that her left foot was turned in, and pointed it out to her parents.  Sania’s mother, Lienne, recalls “I was worried and I cried when I saw that her foot was not normal.  I was afraid that she would never receive treatment.”

When Lienne learned that treatment was available at the public hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Toamasina (CHUT), she was cautiously hopeful.  When Sania was two months old, Lienne made the journey into Toamasina : 3 hours by foot followed by 3 hours in a taxi-brousse.  Lienne’s sister in law who lives in town accompanied her to the clinic to ask if Sania could be treated. Lienne remembers “I was nervous the first day we went to the clinic, but so happy when they told me Sania’s foot could be corrected!”

Sania’s treatment began in April 2016, and after 4 plaster casts to gradually correct the clubbed position, her foot was ready for a tenotomy in early May. She is now out of her casts and will just wear the brace at night now. Lienne looks forward to a changed future for her daughter, and plans for Sania to attend school just like her 9 year old sister.

[miraclefeet]

"I was given a skill that might be useful."

A Clubfoot Mom Gives Back in a Unique Way

Ruth Lee does not take life for granted. She is the type of person who keeps everything in perspective and reacts to uncertainty with an enviable calm.  When Ruth and her husband found out that their third child - a baby girl named Ivy - would be born with clubfoot, they were uncomfortable, but accepting of the journey they faced. When the questions started to swirl in her mind, she would take a moment to gaze at Ivy and realize that her clubfoot had absolutely no bearing on her inherent value. She was a beautiful being, with a purpose.

With all of the information and support from other parents that is available now, Ruth and her husband were able to devise a plan. While the first orthopedic surgeon who treated Ivy did not deal with clubfoot regularly, they were able to find an experienced doctor who helped her through thirteen rounds of casting, a tenotomy, and three months of 24X7 boots and bar wear.

The work of dealing with Ivy's clubfoot has prepared her two older sisters for life in a unique way. From understanding how to answer strangers’ questions to helping with the bedtime BNB routine, they are maturing in their understanding of the world and their view of others in a way other children may never experience.

Ruth came across miraclefeet in her research on clubfoot, and soon after she approached our team wanting to help out. An attorney by trade, Ruth was looking for a meaningful way to use her skills to help children like Ivy who don't have easy access to treatment. As a growing nonprofit organization, miraclefeet is always looking to funnel more and more of the donations we receive directly to helping children, so services such as legal work are often cost-prohibitive. Ruth has generously offered her time and now consults our team on several important projects. We are so grateful!

We appreciate all of our donors and volunteers who find ways to give back in a creative and unique way. Find out more about how you can help here. 

[miraclefeet]

Walking in the Steps of an Intern in India (Part I)

Meet Andrew Braverman–our intern in India. We followed Andrew for a week to get a different perspective on our clubfoot clinics. We hope you enjoy walking in his footsteps during his journey to learn more about clubfoot. 

 Mumbai’s symphony of dissonant traffic noises wailed outside as I walked into the miraclefeet office in Andheri East. I’ve just returned from a visit to Bai Jerbai Wadia Childrens Hospital in the southern peninsula of the city, along with Rijo Joseph, miraclefeet India’s Program Coordinator, and my fellow intern Scott Diekema. This clinic, a single-floored building with an outdoor waiting area, had benches filled with clubfoot patients in various stages of the casting or bracing process. Not unlike a hospital anywhere in the U.S., the silence of the waiting room is punctuated with the occasional cries of an infant or jubilant squeals of two siblings playing a game.  

We met with Sachin Pol, Head of CURE-India’s Maharasthra, and learned a little about the operation there. His office was a small room, decorated with a few wall calendars, a metal cabinet and two desks.  He quickly invited Scott and me to observe the doctors working in an adjacent examination room. As we claim a spot in the corner of a room, the presence of two extra people seems to shrink the size of the place exponentially, and patients start coming in. Their parents carry them in and approach one of the doctors, exchanging patient records, and inquiring into how much the child had been wearing their brace and if there are any complications. Then the doctors would gesture the patient and family over to a single examination table. In the younger children, initial casting could elicited a tear or two, but these worries were soon put to ease as their parents made light-hearted reassurances or Scott’s attempts to make funny faces.

After most children received their check-up or casting, Scott and I got the chance to chat with the doctors a bit. They told us how far most of their patients travel from the outskirts of the city to receive treatment at Wadia, and how troublesome this long trip can be for their working parents. Being my first visit to any clubfoot clinic, this was an eye-opening experience for me. Everything I watched in the span of that hour or so, primarily the procedure, struck me as surprisingly simple. In the confidence of their movements and the conversation we shared, it was obvious that the doctors were professionally trained. However, the procedures they performed on clubfoot patients proved less complicated than I’d expected. 

Children in places like India, where some 200,000 children are afflicted with clubfoot, should not have to live a life riddled with stigma and disadvantage due to their disability when it can be so easily treated with a non-surgical procedure like the Ponseti Method. They shouldn’t have to travel hundreds of miles to find one of these clinics either.  

 Check back with us later this week to experience Andrew’s first home visit in outer Mumbai.

[miraclefeet]

World Clubfoot Day Celebrations with miraclefeet

In honor of the anniversary of Dr. Ponseti’s birthday, June 3rd is respectfully known as World Clubfoot Day. For miraclefeet-supported clinics, it is a day of celebrations. This year, families and clinic staff united for presentations, picnics, and parades.

Beautiful parade in the town of Moshi in Tanzania:

Clubfoot families gathered in Lahan, Nepal:

Presentations and lunch in Maligayang, Philippines:

Mbeya in the Southern Highlands, Tanzania:

A well-organized party in Quito, Ecuador: 

The “Most Gorgeous Scenery Award” goes to...Madagascar!:

Happy birthday, Dr. Ponseti!

[miraclefeet]

SoleMates: Clubfoot Shoe Resource

Are your little one’s feet not quite the same size? Are you an adult with different shaped feet due to clubfoot? SoleMates gives parents the ability to buy, sell, and exchange mismatched pairs and single shoes.

Lisa Sommerhuber, Co-Founder of SoleMates, explains how the idea originated through her personal experience, "My right foot is a wide 5 and my left is a narrow 4. This always turned shoe shopping into a frustrating marathon for me, and I often had to buy 2 pairs to get 1 that fits. One day, I found out that one of my closest friends had my opposite sizes and she loved my spare shoes! When I realized how many people share my frustration, I decided it was time to change our shared story. I want shoe shopping to be fun, social and affordable!"

Since the idea of a community platform was born in July 2016, first exchanges have been facilitated through the Facebook SoleMates Community. By making fitting footwear more accessible, they hope to help maintain and improve foot health. The importance of a good fit should not be underestimated as badly fitting shoes may cause pain and worsen health complications.

“We believe that everybody deserves fitting shoes and an enjoyable shopping experience,” Lisa emphasizes.

You can register your shoe needs and get matched with a shoe swapping buddy by creating a SoleMates profile. To get notified about odd shoe deals and when the marketplace launches sign up to the newsletter on www.solemates.io.

For more information email [email protected].

[miraclefeet]

A Story of Hope

Picture this… A little boy with clubfoot making his way through dirt and trash in the landfill he calls home. Most people wouldn’t use the word luck to describe his situation, but his luck was about to change.

Late last year, Lana Mayes, a clubfoot mum in Sydney, Australia, was watching a news program about an unrelated story and spotted a brief image of this little boy with clubfoot. She knew she had to help. Lana reached out to miraclefeet to explore whether we could help this little boy. But first, he had to be found.

That’s when everything changed. Through technology and fateful timing Tobias was located.

In another stroke of luck, miraclefeet had just begun supporting Ponseti treatment in Paraguay and Tobias became one of our first patients. Tobias’ story was so special that Sydney 7′s Sunday Night went back to Paraguay to film his story.

It’s one you have to see to believe. Watch here.

[miraclefeet]

miraclefeet is a Classy Awards Finalist

We have some exciting news to share. Our program, Global Clubfoot Technology Platform, has been named a Classy Awards Finalist, of the 100 most innovative nonprofits and social enterprises of 2016! We couldn’t be more excited to share the news with supporters like you that make our work possible.

Classy Awards Finalists are a prestigious group of nonprofits and social enterprises selected for their excellence in social innovation and ability to solve a social problem. This year, Classy had 1300 programs across all cause categories submit nominations, and the competition was at an all-time high. The application process was rigorous and intensive, and we were judged using stringent criteria that assesses an organization's potential to solve a problem and innovative solution.

Our program, along with the 99 other Finalists, is now in the running to become a winner. Our fate is being passed on to the Leadership Council, a diverse board of experts and thought leaders who will collectively vote to determine the 10 Classy Award Winners.  

The Global Clubfoot Technology Platform builds upon our Global Clubfoot Program (sustainable partnerships with local clubfoot providers). The technology platform will accelerate the rollout of clubfoot treatment in low income settings, enabling us, other NGOs, and governments to eradicate one the disability caused by clubfoot. We are developing a core platform that enhances patient support and treatment quality through SMS communication/mHealth, e-learning, telemedicine, a low cost brace with sensors, and a mobile native clubfoot data management system. We continue towards our goal to develop tools that can be used by any organization working on the issue of clubfoot, thereby enhancing global capacity to solve untreated clubfoot globally.

So what’s next? Becoming a Classy Awards Finalist means we’ll be traveling to Boston this June 14-16 for the Collaborative + Classy Awards, the largest social innovation event of the year! We’ll have the opportunity to meet and mingle with some amazing folks, like leaders from the United Nations Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Echoing Green, charity:water, and many more. The event ends with the Classy Awards, where the 10 Winners are announced live on stage in a surprise celebration.

As a supporter, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating this momentous occasion by sharing the news on social media. It’s a great honor to be recognized for our efforts and creative solutions that are making a dramatic impact on the world.

[miraclefeet]

miraclefeet Expands Team (Again!) to Reach More Children with Clubfoot

The miraclefeet team has grown quite a bit over the past six years, which has helped us to have enrolled over 15,000 children with clubfoot in treatment using the Ponseti Method. These recent new hires are from all around the world, including India and right here in Carrboro, North Carolina. Please help us welcome these talented people to the miraclefeet family.

Amanda Springer | Communications and Design Manager

Amanda spent the first 14 years of her career in various sales, marketing, and leadership roles.  In 2015, Amanda left her corporate career in pursuit of meaningful, soul-fulfilling work, and opened a private Life Coaching practice in North Carolina. As an adult born with bilateral clubfoot, Amanda’s coaching evolved to include work with adults and parents affected by this condition. Through this, Amanda was introduced to the exciting work being carried out by miraclefeet. She now spends her days helping the miraclefeet team transform the lives of children with untreated clubfoot every day. 

Andrew Durkin | Assistant Program Manager

Andrew has a background in global youth development and health programs. From 2011 to 2015, he worked for a sport-for-development health organization in South Africa and led multiple program design, training design, and curriculum development projects across various African countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania. Andrew has also led the implementation of a substance use reduction program targeting unemployed young men that was evaluated as part of a National Institute of Health (NIH) funded randomized controlled trial in Cape Town.

Meredith Driscoll | Director of Finance and Operations

Meredith has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector, working for over a decade in local and national nonprofits focused largely on eliminating childhood poverty. Her work includes building and launching an after-school program in a high-poverty neighborhood in Washington, D.C., to directing corporate and foundation fundraising for Teach For America in eastern North Carolina. She is passionate about ensuring that children can lead full, productive lives and is dedicated to helping miraclefeet improve the lives of children around the world. 

Natalia Siegel | Donor Engagement Manager

Natalia has a background in youth development and has worked with justice-focused organizations both domestic and international for almost ten years.  A native New Yorker, Natalia graduated from Catholic University in Washington, DC with a degree in politics with a concentration in peace studies.  After CUA, she worked with DC middle schoolers, volunteered in Colombia and non-profit fundraising in Durham.  In her free time Natalia loves exploring all the food and nature in the Tar Heel State.

Robins Duncan | Director of Fundraising & Operations, India

Robins Duncan has been with the Social Sector in India over the last 6 years, working with NGOs like World Vision and Habitat for Humanity and with the UN. He also spent over 20 years with leading Public and Private Sector companies in the Insurance and Financial Services in India like LIC of India, Birla Sun Life and Future Generali, having worked in areas of Marketing, Communications and Administration, building Brands and also leading Strategic initiatives in the Corporate sector. He feels very motivated to take the lead in India and build the Funding and Operational base of miraclefeet so as to create greater impact for children with clubfoot.

miraclefeet continues to be an exciting place to work, and with the generosity of our donors and volunteers, we will continue to help to treat more children with clubfoot around the world.

[miraclefeet]

Google.org Awards miraclefeet One Million Dollar Impact Challenge Grant

Over one million children live with stigma and suffering due to untreated clubfoot. Each year, an estimated 180,000 babies are born with clubfoot, 80% of them in countries with limited or no access to treatment. In low-income countries, untreated clubfoot is a root cause of life-long poverty, illiteracy and abuse. Imagine a world where all children born with clubfoot have the chance to live active, healthy and productive lives.

At miraclefeet, making that world a reality is our goal. It motivates us each and every day. Now, that world may be even closer than we imagined, thanks in part to a $1M Google Impact Challenge Grant from Google.org. This grant will enable our team to further develop and scale our technology platforms to enhance patient support, improve treatment quality and utilize e-learning and telemedicine.

Launched in May of 2015, the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities is a $20M project supporting nonprofits that use emerging technologies to create access and opportunity for people living with disabilities.

“At Google.org, we support organizations that offer innovative solutions to complex challenges. We’re thrilled to back miraclefeet as they help build a world that works for everyone,” says Brigitte Gosselink, Head of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities.

Our collaboration with Google.org is focused on developing our Global Clubfoot Technology Platform. This platform comprehensively addresses clubfoot treatment in low resource settings by providing the tools, capacity and momentum needed to reach our goal of treating every child born with clubfoot. We can now scale our platform of tools and resources, which include: 

- The award-winning miraclefeet brace that costs only $20 and was developed in conjunction with Stanford, Clarks Shoes, Suncast and in-country partners.

- An SMS system that encourages brace compliance by providing tailored messages with medical reminders to parents.

- The clubfoot patient platform—an information management system to increase the use of data at the clinic level.

- Brace sensors that can monitor brace compliance instead of relying on self-reporting. This data will be integrated into the clubfoot patient platform so that actual brace usage is part of the patient record.

- Mobile-native learning modules, being developed in conjunction with Stanford to make training of new health care providers more efficient with tablet-based educational materials.

- A telemedicine and doctor-to-doctor platform that will be developed so rural healthcare providers can consult with more experienced doctors in the large cities for follow-Up appointments and brace checks.

At miraclefeet, our goals are ambitious but attainable. Like Google.org, we believe that with innovation and effort, we can and will make untreated clubfoot a thing of the past.

[miraclefeet]

miraclefeet Awards and Accolades

The start of 2016 has led to some fantastic buzz for miraclefeet. The Triangle Business Journal selected mirclefeet as a winner of its highly competitive Health Care Heroes Awards. We’ve been told the judges reviewed more than 100 deserving candidates and we’re thrilled to be recognized for our hard work among such a talented group of health care innovators.

Additionally, The Triangle Business Journal has recognized Executive Director, Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld, as a winner of the 2016 Women in Business Award, which recognizes women in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area who have proven to be dynamic and outstanding leaders with established track records of significant accomplishments in business and community service. That sounds like Chesca to us!

Speaking of Chesca, we love this cover story featuring our work in Endurance Magazine, and we’re so grateful to you and all of our supporters for helping us Run Down Clubfoot! 

[miraclefeet]

Clubfoot Interview: Meet Our Interns in India

The miraclefeet team is a large family of founders, staff, partners, donors, and interns dedicated to eradicating untreated clubfoot globally. Interns help make it possible to tackle a variety of responsibilities and still keep costs low. We are fortunate to attract and benefit from some of the best interns from all over the world. Currently, we have two amazing interns from Germany, Patrick and Felix, doing some work for us in India and we wanted to share their experiences.

miraclefeet: Where is your internship in India?

Patrick and Felix: Our internship in India is in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra. During our month long stay, we have the opportunity to spend time at the Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children, including one visit to the hospital with Kristine Urrutia, Director of Philanthropy, at miraclefeet.

miraclefeet: What was your first impression of the miraclefeet-supported clinic?

P&F: Our first impression of the clinic was surprising and positive at the same time. On our first visit, we arrived at the entrance gate of Wadia Hospital where the security guard smiled at us and guided us along a road that led further into the hospital. There was a lot of construction going on around the hospital, which is why the families and children of the clubfoot clinic were waiting outside the hospital under a small roofed terrace. So, that was surprising for the two of us who are accustomed to the well-established waiting rooms in European hospitals. However, it gave off a nice atmosphere. Families were sitting with their children on the benches smiling. There were some children laughing and playing on the terrace together, while others were getting their casts removed. It was a very lively atmosphere.

Our host at the hospital was Sachin Pol, CURE India’s State Manager for Maharashtra. When he took us into the actual facilities it was astonishing how basic and small it was. Everything was happening in just two rooms, as the actual clubfoot clinic is undergoing construction work. In the smaller room there was a doctor doing the Pirani scoring, and in the other there were two doctors and a nurse doing the casts.

miraclefeet: Is there a child or family that has made a great impression on you both?

P&F: Yes—there was a girl who has unilateral clubfoot and was getting her first cast done during our visit. She is 11 years old, which is older than most of the patients. The thing that struck us about her was the fact that she was from a different state and had traveled approximately 6 hours by train for that one, 15-minute treatment. Moreover, as the family could not afford crutches, she had to be carried the whole time. So it was amazing to see the lengths that some families have to travel in order ensure the health of their child.

miraclefeet: What have you learned from the clinic staff?

P&F: The clinic staff taught us about the significance of communicating and the importance of the bracing process as many families tend to stop bracing when they see that the feet are fully corrected. They do not consider, or realize, the danger of a relapse if they do not complete the bracing process.

miraclefeet: What is one thing you would tell someone who has never heard of clubfoot?

P&F: We would highlight the fact that it is one of the most common birth defects in the world and that treatment supported by  miraclefeet only costs $250, and it does not even involve any surgery. So, the fact that you can enable a child to walk properly and give a much brighter future to their lives for just $250 is something amazing.

Thank you Patrick and Felix for your hard work and dedication to raising awareness for clubfoot treatment in India. We appreciate your time and effort! If you’d like to keep up with all of our news and updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

[miraclefeet]

miraclefeet India

“If you are a girl born in rural India, life is going to be very tough. If you are a girl born with clubfoot in rural India, you really have no hope.  We need to change that.”

These are the powerful words of Kunal Premnarayen, a miraclefeet Board member. Kunal played a pivotal role in a recent, exciting development for our organization. We are now established as a stand-alone non-profit in India, under the name miraclefeet India. Our goal is twofold–to raise funds to support treatment of clubfoot in India through our local partner Cure India, and to raise awareness about the condition so every family knows that clubfoot can be treated.

In India, untreated clubfoot is a highly visible problem.

Many adults are left with no options other than to beg on the streets for a living. Everyone we speak to is exposed to the personal and societal effects of untreated clubfoot on a daily basis, so the issue especially resonates with donors.

Momentum is building!

Through our four-year partnership with Cure India, we currently fund 12 Indian state-wide programs that expect to enroll about 4,000 new children in treatment within the next 12 months.  With a staggering 35,000-50,000 children born with clubfoot every year in India, we still have a long way to go toward reaching our shared goal – an India in which every child born with clubfoot is treated.  

Kunal, who was born with clubfoot and treated non-surgically, went on to become a nationally-ranked tennis player. Thanks to him and his Mumbai-based team’s energy, passion, and commitment, the initial response to miraclefeet India has been incredible. We have already secured $100K in pledges from major philanthropists and corporate donors.  Our goal is to raise all the funding needed for India within the country itself. This great step toward achieving sustainability will also become a model that we can apply in other countries.