 |
Project Hope: Aiding Disabled Children in Russia
 |
Olya, age 15, is fitted for her prosthesis. Photos courtesy of Project Hope |
|
Suppose you are a child with a physical disability
and you have no family. You live in a country with limited medical
facilities and resources. Your home is an orphanage in a remote
rural village. Without help, you have little hope of having
meaningful work, the ability to support yourself and perhaps a
family, and a quality of life that many persons take for granted.
What hope for the future could you have?
Entering into this bleak picture is Dean Hesselgrave, CPO, and
his wife Cindy, Greenville, South Carolina. The Hesselgraves
provide leadership for Project Hope, an initiative of the
International Guardian Angels Outreach (IGAO), a not-for-profit
child-placing agency, which attempts to meet humanitarian needs of
orphans around the world.
The Hesselgraves adopted two infants from a Russian orphanage in
December. The children were "preemies," which was why their mothers
placed them in the orphanage. "Life in Russia is harsh, and it's
hard to cope and survive with a weak child," Hesselgrave said. "The
children are much healthier now," he added.
While the Hesselgraves were in Russia, they were asked to visit
an orphanage for disabled children to see if there was anything
Dean could do to help them. "What we saw was very sad," Hesselgrave
said. "Conditions are terrible. Kids aren't well cared for or fed
well. In an orphanage with 82 kids ranging in age from about six to
16, we saw children with missing and distorted limbs, as well as
other deformities. We saw no wheelchairs and only a few crutches;
many children were crawling around on the floor." They saw only one
prosthesis, which was old, poorly fitting, and outgrown.
 |
Valeria, age six, plays with a stuffed toy while he awaits prosthetic care. |
|
"They don't do surgery for these kids," he said.
"The kids are just put in an institution until they are about
16--then they go to another institution." There is almost no public
access for persons with disabilities. "They don't even shovel snow
off the sidewalks in front of the stores--people walk over uneven
ice," Hesselgrave commented.
The plight of the disabled children touched the heart of the
Hesselgraves. "In America even the most disadvantaged family can
get help for their children with orthopedic disorders," Hesselgrave
noted. "For example, there are 22 Shriners Hospitals in North
America that provide orthopedic care free of charge." Hesselgrave
works for the Greenville Shriners Hospital.
With the desire to bring at least some youngsters to the US for
prosthetic care, Hesselgrave evaluated about 40 of the 82 children
in the orphanage. He found that the vast majority needed surgery
before they could use a prosthesis. However, there were four who
would be able to use a prosthesis without surgery.
Through Project Hope, the Hesselgraves were able to bring the
four children to Greenville. Many large-hearted individuals and
organizations pitched in to help provide prosthetic components,
fabrication, physical and occupational therapy, plus housing and
transportation for the youngsters. One individual even treated the
children to an outing to a local theater to see Beauty and the
Beast; a local limousine company provided a stretch limousine to
transport the children, the chaperons and translator who
accompanied them from Russia, and others, about 14 in all.
The children received evaluations and care from a
multidisciplinary team, including a physiatrist, orthopedic
surgeon, and a general practitioner, as well as therapists. The
children also visited an eye care center, where an optometrist
prescribed glasses for two of them.
 |
Back row, from left Vadim, the translator; Natalia and Elena, orphanage workers and chaperons; and Olya, age 15. In the front row, from left, Roman, age 9; Kostya, 14; and Valeria, age 6. |
|
Several prosthetists volunteered their time to
make prostheses, including Calvin Hoyle; Allison Boynton, CP; and
Joel Vanderwood, CPO. Fillauer Inc., Chattanooga, Tennessee, and
several other companies provided prosthetic components, and
Orthopedic Services, Greenville, South Carolina, made its lab
available.
Kostya, age 14, is a bilateral above-knee amputee; Roman, age 9,
has congenital limb deficiency in all four extremities. Olya, age
15, is a below-knee amputee, and Valeria, age 6, is a bilateral
below-elbow amputee. Roman, with quadrilateral limb deficiency, was
fitted with a below-elbow and below-knee prosthesis on one side; on
his other side he has a partial hand and partial foot. He just
turned nine and, with his new prosthesis, walked for the first time
in his life. "Imagine not walking until you are nine years old!"
exclaimed Hesselgrave.
One of the children is being adopted, but he wants to return to
Russia to say good-bye to friends and show off his new prostheses.
A surgeon and his wife have invited one of the other children to
come back to study in the States. All the youngsters will be
receiving follow-up care next year, as they start to outgrow their
prostheses. For these four youngsters, hope for a better tomorrow
has indeed entered their lives.
More About IGAO
An orphan herself, Alexandra Goode, principal founder and
president of IGAO, is a 73-year-old Nazi concentration camp
survivor. Her father and brother did not survive. Alexandra came to
America, where she later married George Goode, an engineer and
entrepreneur. He now serves as chairman of the IGAO governing
board. The Goodes have been married for 50 years and have three
adult children and 18 grandchildren.
For more information about IGAO and its initiatives, visit www.igao.org. 
Table Of Contents - October 2003
|
|
