New York to Florida. California to Texas. That’s the equivalent of how far this family of three has traveled on an old bicycle—through villages and grasslands, floods and heat waves—over the past 18 months to ensure their newborn son received a treatment that would change his life.

Setting out before sunrise, they pedaled across savannas, along dirt roads and highways to ensure he never missed an appointment. In the rainy season, the voyage is seven hours one-way; in good conditions, it takes five.

A long road to treatment and a father’s commitment

Juma Mihambo, a farmer in northern Tanzania, remembers the heartbreak he felt learning of his son’s condition. After he was born, villagers treated the family as outcasts, saying their baby, Vicent, was cursed. No one they knew had ever seen it.

But health workers at the hospital where Vicent’s mother gave birth knew what it was. They said a MiracleFeet-supported clinic in Shinyanga could treat his clubfoot, that it was not a curse but a common birth defect. Juma was determined to help his son. “I just knew I would search far and wide to find a treatment,” he recalls.

They have made this journey 17 times since Vincent was born.

Vicent is one of over 4,800 children in Tanzania MiracleFeet has helped through its partnership with the Tanzania Clubfoot Care Organization. 95% of the 200,000 children born with clubfoot each year can be completely treated through a nonsurgical method. It corrects the feet and provides full, lasting mobility—for less than $500 per child.

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