Zalika in Niger
When facing hardships of any kind, knowing you’re not alone is one of the greatest forms of comfort. This was the case for Haoua, whose daughter Zalika was born with clubfoot.
The fifth child of Haoua and her husband Saley, Zalika is the first case of clubfoot in her family. Because the family had no prior encounters with clubfoot, Haoua felt alone and guilty about her daughter’s condition — until a relative referred her to a Hope Walks’ partner clinic that offered treatment for clubfoot.
Upon arriving at the clinic with her daughter, Haoua was surprised to find that clubfoot is more common than she thought, affecting about one to four of every 1,000 babies. Other aspects of her clinic visit that surprised her were the hospitality she received from the clinic staff and finding out that the treatment would be provided completely free of charge.
“You Christians are different from us. You have love in you and you love everybody,” she said. “We are grateful to the donors and staff.”
Haoua wasted no time enrolling Zalika in treatment. She was committed to following through with all of Zalika’s appointments and always showed up to the clinic with a smile. Today, Zalika has completed the correction phase and now keeps a brace on at night to maintain the correction.
