The Power of Play: our campaign for an accessible Playground at the CURE Children’s Hospital of Zimbabwe

In May 2022 we celebrated one year of service to the Children of Zimbabwe! Just over a year ago, children in Zimbabwe who needed orthopaedic surgery could only dream. A year later, it has become reality for hundreds. 

Like many of its patients, CURE Children’s Hospital of Zimbabwe is young and filled with potential. By all measures, CURE’s newest hospital — and the country’s first and only paediatric orthopaedic hospital — has far exceeded expectations for its first full year in operation.

The hospital has proven its ability to strengthen the country’s healthcare system by training healthcare professionals, expanding to meet local healthcare needs through partnerships and facility improvements, and making history by attracting world-class talent who will heal thousands of children for years to come.

In its second year, the hospital plans to open an additional children’s ward and expand its services to include care for children with untreated burns and cleft lip/palate. We are confident that the young hospital’s best years are still ahead thanks to donors and supporters such as yourself who make this life-changing work possible.

CURE Zimbabwe strives to serve children who are needlessly suffering from treatable disabilities. With our intense focus on treating children, getting them walking for the first time or allowing them to use their hands again, we work to ensure that we are addressing other needs to make them comfortable and cared for throughout their treatment journey.

As well as offering joy and amusement, play is an essential parameter of normal psychosomatic development of children. Play is so important that it is recognised by law as a fundamental human right. Furthermore, there have been many studies that show how play can be used as a form of therapy for children undergoing treatment at a hospital.

CURE Zimbabwe is going to build an accessible playground for children with motor disabilities, so all children receiving treatment there can use it to play!

The playground will allow children of all ability levels, including those using wheelchairs, to play for years to come.

CURE Niger: Safaatou came to the newly installed accessible playground to do some physical exercise and keep her younger sister Farida company! The ramps make the playground wheelchair-accessible.

It will provide a fun and inclusive playtime for children, who are going through daunting treatment, helping reduce anxiety and stress.

Kelvin (left) is an incredibly playful & energetic boy who came to CURE Zimbabwe for treatment for bowed legs.

The playground will also provide a physiotherapeutic effect for those learning to use their arms, hands, legs or feet again, strengthening their muscles and improving mobility. Thus, we aim to care for these children’s needs physically and emotionally during their time at CURE Zimbabwe.

CURE Zimbabwe plans to provide 600 life-changing surgeries this year*. A safe, inclusive and fun playground will help aid the physical and emotional healing process for these patients. Please join us, and give the gift of play to these children.

*Financial Year 2023: 1st July 2022 – 30th June 2023

Photo of the Melissa Hall

About the Author:

Melissa joined CURE UK in June 2021, heading up Marketing, Communications, and Events. On her visit to CURE Children's Hospital of Zimbabwe in September 2022 she experienced the people and the environment that makes a CURE hospital so special! She makes every effort to communicate this to readers everywhere.