The World Needs a Good Story…
IOWA CITY, IA – September 2nd, 2017
At the end of the first quarter of the college football game between Iowa and Wyoming, the Iowa fans turned toward the towering University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital that overlooks Kinnick Stadium. In unison, they all waved to the sick children at the hospital.
With bright smiles, the children in wheelchairs and hospital beds rolled close to the windows on the 12th floor observatory deck…and waved back. It was a goodwill gesture that was meant to provide hope and inspiration. It resonated deeply because a sick child hits every one of us at the core.
World Children’s Initiative (WCI) has dedicated itself to helping improve the health of children around the world. Like those at the game and those watching on television, that gesture inspired us too. It was especially poignant because, as part of an annual tradition, a group of friends with close ties to WCI makes an annual trip to watch a college football game. This year, fortuitously, the game will be at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 4th, to watch Iowa play Ohio State. WCI saw an opportunity…and decided to add another chapter to this story.
After significant research, WCI decided to collaborate with the University of Iowa on the “Ponseti” project aimed at helping children with clubfoot, a congenital, musculoskeletal disorder. Children born with clubfoot can barely walk leading to significant functional impairment and psychosocial damage. The “Ponseti” method, developed at the University of Iowa by the late Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, utilizes a series of specialized casting to treat and ultimately cure these children.”
This project has the same philosophical bent as WCI: Its focus is to train healthcare providers and MDs to employ this low cost yet highly effective treatment (95% success rate) around the world. These trainees then go on to become “local champions”. These local champions then train others in their region.
As we have done in the past with congential heart defects in children Uganda and East Africa, WCI wants to use this collaboration to develop sustainable healthcare improvements for children in developing areas. Specifically, WCI would like to help implement this Iowa-grown treatment in Nigeria, Somalia and Central Africa.
This story started off with a hand wave in Iowa City. That positive message had a ripple effect that reached WCI. We intend to take that greeting across the world. WCI will amplify the positive social impact of this simple gesture by continuing its dedication to our mission. Please support Project Run: Iowa and help WCI provide opportunities for children in west Africa to play harder and live longer…
