Prostheses and orthotics

We understand how vital access to prosthesis and orthotics is to people with disabilities sustained as a result of conflict. Children with limb loss - like Sapalo, whose story you can read below - have additional needs, and require ongoing care to refit the socket as they grow up.

We provide training and build capacity around P&O production, as well as providing targeted support to young people.

P&O Rwanda

In Rwanda, we’ve undertaken research to better understand the need for P&O care, and ascertain how far existing services are meeting that need. Now, with our partners Imperial College London’s Appropriate Technology Group for Prosthetics and Orthotics, the National Council for People with Disabilities Rwanda, and the Rwandan Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission, we’ll use our findings to support and develop P&O service provision. 

Case Study - Sapalo’s Fund

Sapalo was playing in his uncle's house when he saw a large rat dash across the room. He looked for something to hit it with, grabbing a lump of rusting metal that was sat on the table. He threw it at the rat. 

A bright heat engulfed him and he was thrown to the floor. Disorientated, he tried to get up, but he couldn't. Unknown to him, the lump of metal he'd picked up had been the explosive warhead from a rocket-propelled grenade that his uncle had found and brought back to the house with the intention of safely destroying it. The blast destroyed both of Sapalo's legs. Later that day, they would be amputated just below the knee. For a year following his accident Sapalo remained without prosthesis or rehabilitation, and was unable to access education.

Angola is ill-equipped to support the many people injured by UXO. One prosthesis centre in Luena was making 150 prosthetics a year in 2012. By 2017, that figure was zero - the result of Angola’s struggling economy restricting access to equipment and materials. 

With the help of MAG, Legacy of War Foundation provided prosthetics and arranged fitting, as well as an adapted tricycle to help him get around. Sapalo is now back in school.

P&O Syria and Turkey

In 2019, we partnered with Find a Better Way Foundation  to train 33 Syrian P&O technicians who oversaw more than 200 challenging cases. Our ‘training the trainers’ approach means these technicians will be able to cascade their learning to new trainees, reducing dependency on external educators and strengthening independent P&O development and education in the Middle East.