The Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal 2013: Smile that says I have a future Instead, children affected by these disabilities have often turned to begging, as their conditions left them unable to get to school or later to find work or make a marriage. An estimated 100 million children across the globe are desperately in need of corrective surgical procedures. "We knew that by performing relatively simple operations, we could give these children a real future," Prof Lavy says. That alone would be enough. But from the start, we also wanted to make sure the hospital would have an impact on medical education and opportunities in Malawi, too - by training local doctors in surgical skills which they could, in turn, pass on. Chris Lavy's interest in Malawi was ignited by a gap-year trip around Africa, and became fired up in 1992, the year he qualified as a consultant in orthopaedics at University College Hospital London and also married his wife, Vicky, a GP and palliative-care specialist. The couple have three sons altogether. We took a one-week holiday in Malawi, and came back with a plan for a longer sabbatical, which became a decade. The country was clearly crying out for doctors; there were 12 million people, but only one anaesthetist, and no orthopaedic surgeon at all when I first arrived. The Lavys joined a programme run by the Christian Blind Mission, which tackled impairments including blindness, deafness and other physical disabilities. We learnt that there were at least 10,000 children with curable physical impairments - but we only had the resources to operate on one a day. It became frustrating because we could have been helping so many more. Thirteen-year-old Blessings, whose legs were so terribly bowed that she could hardly stand, was one of Prof Lavy's early patients. Her problem had been caused by Blount's disease, when the inside of the tibia bone stops growing but the outside carries on. Outreach workers identified her as a good case for treatment, and the doctor carried out a "simple" two-hour operation to straighten her legs. "When she came round from the anaesthetic to see her legs - straight - in two plaster casts, she cried with happiness," he says, beaming too. And when I saw her later for a check-up, I noticed she had pierced her ears and wore delicate jewellery - clearly she knew now that she could think about boyfriends and a future that included marriage. Research on the social effects of such disabilities is under way, but some conclusions are fairly obvious. Children with disabilities have lower self-esteem, are more prone to abuse and being stigmatised, and are less likely to be educated. They also get less food because they can't compete with siblings at the table or help themselves to fruit or corncobs in the field. Hence the excitement of that "light bulb" moment in the park with Jim Harrison (then professor of medicine at the University of Malawi). "I started writing to anyone I could think of for money," says Prof Lavy. Some came from local sources, but the majority came from a fund set up in the name of Sir Alfred Beit, who made a fortune in gold and diamonds 150 years ago. The Beit Trust is dedicated to helping the people of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and its contribution helped us reach our target of £1 million. Help with running costs and organisation came when Prof Lavy joined forces with Cure International; his fundraising is carried out through its independent UK arm. Cure now runs 10 hospitals across developing countries, including the one built with Prof Lavy. The hospital construction itself was "amazing," he reports, and within two years, he and three other full-time consultant surgeons had begun operating - and transforming lives. The knowledge doesn't just go one way, either. In East Africa, hydrocephalus (when fluid swells around the brain, causing damage and even death) is a huge problem, often caused by untreated infections such as meningitis. Now a pioneering keyhole surgery technique designed in the Cure hospital in Uganda is being taught to doctors from all over the world. Overall, 6,600 medical professionals have been trained in orthopaedic, neurosurgical and other techniques in Cure hospitals. Despite the successes, there is still constant pressure to keep the hospitals going, and to provide those crucial operations. Severe burns are a common problem in the developing world, due to the prevalence of open fires, and they can cause terrible deformities. Children come in with spinal injuries, bone infections and brain tumours. One way in which the Malawi hospital generates income is by treating private adult patients in an eight-bed wing. "Adults pay a fee so the children can walk free" runs the slogan on the front of the hospital. Local people are passionate, too, about their hospital - and generous in their support. Prof Lavy explains: "Patients usually bring their own food into African hospitals, but we decided to provide all our patients" meals. This meant we could guarantee two weeks of nutritional, high-calorie food - crucial for these children, many of whom are also undernourished. What has delighted us is how much of this food is donated by the community: farmers who get a good harvest will drop off sacks of maize and corncobs to us. And although the hospital is run by a Christian organisation, the local Muslim community is hugely supportive in terms of food and financial aid. Hospitals like this must be sustainable locally - and we make every effort to ensure that's true. Inevitably, though, in order to carry on the work and extend it, the charity needs funds. Each life-changing procedure costs about £700. Is it worth it? Earlier this year, a woman brought her 17-year-old son, Esrah, to the Cure hospital in Uganda. Esrah was so disabled by contractures of his hips that he was forced to walk like a dog on all fours, and faced a dangerous future begging on the busy city streets. But his mother had never doubted her son's abilities - so to get him to school, where he was a star pupil, she literally carried him every day. As she was far smaller than him, her neck has been left permanently damaged. In the summer, surgeons operated successfully to straighten her son's legs. For the first time, last week, Esrah could stand upright - and a mother could look up to her own son. And who could not be a little moved to learn that Esrah's expectations of begging have now turned to dreams of attending medical school, so that in time, and in turn, he too can transform young lives? Click here to make a donation to Cure International UK and our other Christmas charities