Yearly Archives: 2016

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Leslie Calhoun is our new Treasurer

Category:Uncategorized
Leslie, Treasurer

Leslie, Treasurer

Bolivians Without disAbilities is proud to announce our new treasurer, Leslie Calhoun.  Leslie will replace Luana Connor, who proudly served for the first two years of BWD’s existance.  Luana will continue to support BWD as a major champion of our work, and we greatly appreciate her contributions to our cause.

Leslie Calhoun currently works in an SEC registered investment advisor office, Optivest, Inc., where she manages, with her business partner, over $230 million in assets. Leslie serves as the Chief Investment Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and she manages the entire office staff.   Leslie is a registered representative of a broker/dealer called Gramercy Securities.

Prior to Optivest, Leslie worked as an institutional sales trader and market maker for several broker/dealers.  She also has knowledge of both capital markets, insider and restricted shares, and IPOs. Leslie holds various NASD licenses including NASD Series 7, Series 24, Series 63 and Series 65.   When she is not managing assets and fundraising for BWD, you’ll find Leslie running, skiing, hiking and spending time with her two rescued dogs.  


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Patient – Richard’s Botched Surgery

Category:Patients
Richard on his first day

Richard on his first day

When Richard was fifteen, he had a wound on his ankle that wouldn’t heal.  Richard’s father took him to the hospital where they opened the wound and found he had a cancerous tumor in his leg.  The doctors were too inexperienced to operate so they just left the wound open. Richard’s family was too poor to take him to another doctor, so he just waited to see if it improved. After three weeks, it was so severely infected that the doctors had to amputate Richard’s leg above the knee. Richard was then unable to attend school, and he felt felt terrible that he couldn’t work or help to support his family.

After seven years, Richard’s family found out about our partner’s prosthetic Center, FUNPROBO, in Bolivia. However, Richard had to wait until his father could save enough money for him to travel to La Paz for an examination at the Center.

Richard playing volleyball with other patients

Richard playing volleyball with other patients

Once he arrived, he met three other young people with above-knee amputations, and Richard’s persona changed immediately. Richard had not socialized with anyone outside his family for seven years, so he was rather shy, timid and unsure how to behave. Within five days, he and three other amputees, including two beautiful vibrant girls from Tarija and an ex-boxer/model from Cochabamba, Richard was a completely different young man. He cut his hair, purchased a few new clothes, went out for lunch, smiled, joked and laughed like he was getting his teenage years back. At the Center, as part of his physical therapy, Richard played volleyball (VIDEO), did obstacle courses, walked around the block for ice cream and sat in the sun. All of these activities helped Richard to get accustomed to his new prosthesis and to gain confidence on his own two legs. In fact, Richard had so much fun that he didn’t want to leave.

If you think that people like Richard deserve another chance at life, then their only hope is you. Please consider a(nother) donation here to help the ‘next’ Richard.

Richard running the Physical therapy obstacle course

Richard running the Physical therapy obstacle course

Richard practicing walking down stairs on his new prosthetic leg

Richard practicing walking down stairs on his new prosthetic leg


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The prosthetic center in Bolivia has moved

Category:posts
Outside of the new Center

Outside of the new Center

Israel helping to paint with only one leg, and standing on a chair

Our partner in Bolivia has finally found a new location for their prosthetic center  Moving from a tiny, cramped 1000-sq-foot house, which was barely adequate, they have moved into a place that’s twice as large.  The new location is a classic 80-year-old registered landmark house with wooden floors and 15-foot high ceilings. The new building has a spacious area for physical therapy activities, as well as additional dedicated rooms for fabrication. The new building also has a larger office so that volunteers will no longer be falling all over each other to get their work done. The new location offers cheaper rent and a MUCH better location in town – near one of the main squares. After a lot of painting, repairs and hard work, the move took place ten days ago. We are excited to start serving patients when the doors open on January 9, 2017!

The painting crew

The painting crew

Adobe walls start to crumble after 80 years so Matt is rebuilding them with concrete

Adobe walls start to crumble after 80 years so Matt is rebuilding them with concrete

Hallway to back rooms, plaster work and oven

Hallway to back rooms, plaster work and oven

Reception in foreground and workshop behind glass wall

Reception in foreground and workshop behind glass wall

Office, 20' x 13'

Office, 20′ x 13′

Workshop where heavy machines will be - 10' x 14'

Workshop where heavy machines will be – 10′ x 14′

physical therapy, 26'x 13'

physical therapy, 26’x 13′


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Employee Spotlight for January: Bismark Sandoval

Category:posts
bismark-prosthetist-apprentince-reduced

Bismark preparing a patients leg mold

We are excited to announce that Bismark Sandoval has joined the team at FUNPROBO as an assistant prosthetist!  Bismark is Bolivian, and he is now the second prosthetist which means that FUNPROBO can start handling even more patients per month.  Bismark is young, eager, bright and passionate about this great cause. The chief prosthetist, Florencio Calle, has been working hard to train Bismark and help him ramp up his skills quickly so that he soon can take on his own patient load.  We hope that this is the beginning of a new era for FUNPROBO—training local specialists from Bolivia, to serve their own citizens—rather than relying on a single prosthetist, and the efforts of volunteers from other nations.  

Bismark working with Florencio

Bismark working with Florencio

You may also recall in our June newsletter that the internationally-known prosthetist, Jon Batzdorff, started Bismark’s training.  We hope to further Bismark’s education by supporting his tuition expenses when he enrolls in one of the few Latin American prosthetic schools, Don Bosco University in Guatemala, which is famous all over Latin America. After completing his education, Bismark will be one of the few fully accredited prosthetists in Bolivia. To this end, we are starting a special fundraising effort to collect $13,500 to send Bismark to Don Bosco University.

If you want your donations to go to a sustainable purpose, please consider donating to Bismark’s education fund.

 

Bismark receiving a certificate of training from Jon Batzdorff

 


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Clinic keeps expenses rock bottom

Category:posts

One reason we are happy to support the work at the Bolivian prosthetic clinic is that we know that, besides doing great work, they also stretch every dollar as far as possible. Hence, your donation will have maximum impact. The cost of a prosthetic limb is largely driven by labor costs, as well as the prosthetic components that go into a leg. In Bolivia, labor is a major factor in the overall expenses. It is a travesty that the main prosthetic technician, like many workers in Bolivia, only earn a few dollars per hour. And yet in Bolivia, that is actually not too bad.  But even a few dollars per hour adds up in this labor intensive process.

In order to keep the second largest cost (components) down, virtually all components are made in-house in the tiny workshop at the clinic.  There are occasional imports of a limited number of components, but they are always sent as donations.

ABOVE-THE-KNEE LIMB (AK)
The most critical part of an above-the-knee (AK) prosthetic limb is the knee itself. In 2011, Matthew Pepe, our founder, convinced an international organization, LIMBS Intl, to provide the design and training to our partner FUNPROBO, in how to make the amazing polycentric knee.

 

This knee:

  • Is far more advanced than any other knee made currently in Bolivia.
  • Provides the patient a very realistic feeling.
  • Resembles a normal walking gait (especially compared to the traditional Bolivian single axis, or fixed knee, leg).

Last month, two more dedicated BWD volunteers at FUNPROBO, cranked out 20 more knees for the next AK patients.

  • A polycentric knee, when purchased in the US, costs between $700 and $7000, depending on many variables.
  • FUNPROBO’S ‘in-house’ knees can be made for less than $100.

 

shape-and-roll-foot-6-without-costmetic-coversFEET
Feet are another problematic component do to the high load and stress they must sustain day-after-day, and year-after-year. Again, it was our founder who introduced the “Shape and Roll” foot design invented at Northwestern University in Chicago.

  • FUNPROBO has now made 100s of these feet since 2011.
  • Instead of spending $50-$250 on an imported foot, these feet can be made for about $10.

 

CONNECTORS
A third critical and expensive component is called a connector which attaches the prosthetic foot to the lower prosthetic leg.

  • The clinic invented its own connector, which saves $1500/year.
  • These durable in-house connectors cost less $4 to make.
  • These components are made from durable engineering plastics and stainless steel nuts and bolts.

The above measures show the attention to costs that the Bolivian clinic exercises to ensure that all donated funds stretch as far as possible. Your donation will be efficiently used.


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Patient – Juan was Badly Burned

Category:Patients

Juan, an active 41-year-old Bolivian man, worked very hard for 15 years and enjoyed his job as an electrician.  However, one day, while on the job, he got caught up in some live wires which sent huge voltage levels through his body. This tragic accident caused massive burjuan-in-wheelchairns the full length of Juan’s right arm, up his right foot, up his left leg and blinded him in his right eye. Juan was rushed to the emergency department of the local hospital, but the tissue was so badly burned the doctors were unable to save any of the burned extremities; the physicians had no choice but to remove the limbs.

Juan was left with no right arm, only half of his right foot and a below- knee amputation of his left leg, leaving him unable to even stand without assistance. Juan had to move home as he was confined to a wheelchair and unable to do anything for himself, wash himself or do any daily actijuan-ppam-aidvities independently.  Juan was completely unable to work, and he felt like a child again. Juan was forced to rely on his mother for all of his daily needs.  Although he was grateful to be alive, Juan felt extremely depressed and wondered about the point of living. As with many of these amputees, Juan contemplated suicide many times.

Years later, Juan discovered our partner, FUNPROBO, and he went for a first consultation in his wheelchair, accompanied by his parents.  Juan was full of expectations and also very anxious as he felt this was his only chance to get his life back. On the first day in the clinic, Juan was able to get up and walk using an innovative physical therapy aid which is an air-filled temporary prosthesis.  It was the first time he had walked in almost three years. Juan’s face lit up and suddenly you could see his self-esteem and optimism grow as he started to believe he could live again.

In less than a week he was fitted with his final below-knee prosthesis, and an orthosis for the other foot to allow him a stable base to be able to walk again. With this support, he was able to walk short distances assisted only by a cane. He left the clinic vowing to practice and to get back to his previous life.  This past November we contacted Juan again for a follow-up.  He is walking well—no pain, no problems, and his score on our quality-of-life index had vastly improved.

Juan is just one of the 50 amputees helped each year by FUNPROBO – and this can only happen with your donations.


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POST – PPAM Aid – Patients practice walking early

Category:posts

bolivians-without-disabilities-lucas-walking-with-ppam-aid-profile-b

We are happy to share news about our physical therapy training aid, which allows amputees to start walking before his/her leg is ready. This project was made possible in the physical therapy department of our partner organization, FUNPROBO.  One of the clinic’s volunteers, Amy Souster, (sent by BWD) bought a new physical therapy aid which allows amputees to stand up and practice balance and exercise before their prosthetic limb has been attached.

The aid is basically an inflatable bag contained within a metal frame. The patient inserts his/her residual limb into the bag and the entire system is supported by a shoulder harness.  This device gives the patients a great boost of confidence that they can walk again.   This device is called a PPAM Aid, which stands for Pneumatic Post-Amputation Mobility Aid“. Although it is not not well known in the US, nor Latin America, it should be. Now every amputee can practice walking before his or her limb is ready, and therefore, greatly ease the transition to using their new prosthetic limb(s).  The patients also adapt to their final prosthesis much faster if they have first practiced in the PPAM Aid.  

Since that time, Amy has also done her own fundraising, and along with the efforts of Mr. Michael Higginbottom and family, they purchased and donated an additional PPAM Aid system. In addition, they donated the expensive, but necessary, pump system which can maintain the bag at the exact pressure so as not to injure the patient.

If you would like to support purchases of future physical therapy equipment, then you can donate here

bolivians-without-disabilities-lucas-fitting-ppam-aid-3-b


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