 |
Project Hope Belize—A Dream Realized
By Robbie Jackson "The 'spirit of the start' is the most marvelous
moment at any time for anything, because in the START lies the seed
for all things that must follow." - Louis Khan,
architect
Belize, Central America, 2004
Anyone who has ever attempted to start from nothing to build a
dream knows the challenge of "the start." Where do we begin? What
will it take to complete the project? For Sonrie Ministries' team
of prosthetic volunteers, providing prosthetic services in a
developing nation which had never had any services for amputees -
and taking that dream to the ultimate goal of establishing the
first prosthetic clinic in Belize - was full of obstacles and often
seemed impossible. I still remember the day I asked Rob Kistenberg,
CPO, FAAOP, director of Clinical Services, to consider what it
would take to make artificial limbs onsite in Belize. Rob's list
was lengthy, but we both felt it was not only "do-able" - it was a
need we could not ignore.
Impossible Dream Begins
As with most impossible dreams, it began with one person - one
person in desperate need of hope. Adrian Camara, then 23, of Orange
Walk Town, Belize, is a transfemoral congenital amputee - born
essentially without legs. By means of a worn skateboard, or by
"walking" on his hands, he traveled to his job as a laborer,
stirring boiling vats of corn for a local tortilla factory. We met
Adrian while in Belize on a mission to help children born with
facial deformities. Adrian captured our hearts with his courage and
ability to make you forget about his dramatic disability as he
leaped from a chair to the floor to dropping onto his skateboard
and wheeling out the door.
 |
Robbie Jackson (left), Adrian Camara, Rob Kistenberg, CPO, FAAOP, savor the achievement of a dream as they pose outside the new permanent home of Project Hope~Belize. |
|
His only desire was to have a set of artificial
legs so he could be on the same level as other people and not
always have to look up into the tropical sun as he interacted with
friends. "I want to be able to look at every man in the face, just
like anyone else," Adrian told our team.
Back home in Texas, we contacted Rob, who was then an instructor
of prosthetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center (UTSWMC) in Dallas. Rob said we could have Adrians limbs
fabricated at the school, but we would have to do it on weekends
and after school hours. Three days later, arrangements were in
place for Adrian to stay in the US for eight weeks of fabrication
and fitting at UTSWMC. Adrian returned home to Belize, not only
walking on a new pair of AK limbs, but also with the desire to
share his hope with other amputees in his country. Together, Rob,
Adrian, and I began to search for a location in which we could set
up a small prosthetic lab and try to fabricate artificial limbs in
Belize. Thus was born Project Hope~Belize.
Solutions to Challenges
Soon the automotive shop of a technical school in Orange Walk
Town became the site of our first prosthetic mission to Belize. It
was late August 1996, and we were filled with conflicting emotions.
Our idealism of the dream was clouded with doubt: Could we do it?
Could we actually set up a prosthetic lab in a borrowed automotive
shop on the edge of the jungle, and could we make artificial limbs
onsite in Belize? Would we find patients? How would we get the
basic equipment and supplies we needed into the country? The
"spirit of the start" began to take shape, and challenges soon
found solutions as we traveled to Belize loaded with supplies,
equipment, and hope.
Our hard work and determination to fight through jungle insects
and eye-blinding sweat paid off as limb after limb began to take
shape. After an exhausting five days and nights of work, seven
amputees walked away on new custom-fabricated artificial limbs,
full of hope for a better future. These were the first artificial
limbs ever constructed in the nation of Belize, and we were amazed!
The seeds of new hope for amputees in Belize had begun to sprout,
and we returned home full of plans for a better and more productive
mission the following year.
Work Grows
We continued to schedule yearly volunteer missions to Belize,
working during the heat of August each year because we were forced
to work when school was not in session. Brave volunteers from all
over the US joined us on this new adventure. Not only did our teams
face tropical heat, summer insects, and passing hurricanes, but
also we were frustrated with the growing list of patients left over
at the end of each mission. More had to be done. Children were
beginning to arrive at our clinics in need of continuing care that
we couldn't provide through one two-week mission per year. We had
to find a way to provide ongoing limb maintenance, with new
fabrications every three-four months. We started looking for a new
location for our growing work.
In 2002, a grateful patient offered the use of a vacant house
for our mission site, and we gladly accepted. In February 2002, we
held the first of three missions that year in the little borrowed
house and fabricated artificial limbs for more than 50
patients.
To provide ongoing limb maintenance while Sonrie teams were not
in the country, local technicians would have to be trained to care
for amputees. Rob used each mission to begin teaching Adrian how to
repair the limbs we were fabricating and how to make new amputees
ready for limb fitting. With Rob's continuing instruction and by
working alongside Sonrie prosthetic teams, Adrian was soon able to
provide new patient evaluations, prepare new amputees for limb
fitting, and make daily repairs to existing limbs, using the small
kitchen in his home.
Permanent Home at Last!
Again, our growing pains meant we had to find a more permanent
solution to our burgeoning list of patients. A permanent facility
had to be found to house our lab and provide care our patients
needed on a daily basis.
For two years we solicited funding from US corporations and
foundations with the idea of building a permanent facility to serve
as a prosthetic lab. When we were unable to raise the funds
necessary for construction, we decided to find an existing facility
we could rent with the option to purchase as funds were found. In
October 2003, a suitable house near the main bus terminal in Orange
Walk Town was available for rent, and we happily moved our
equipment and supplies into the space. Project Hope~Belize had
found a home - maybe not permanent - but it was ours! December 2003
was the first mission ever held in the facility, and 15 new
patients received artificial limbs. Many more patients now had a
place to come for necessary repairs, and new patients could be
evaluated in a comfortable space.
In April 2004, thanks to a grant from the Dorothea Haus Ross
Foundation, the house was purchased and the first prosthetic clinic
in Belize was formally dedicated. Ongoing funding from LANDMARK
Structures, Ontario, Canada, and Fort Worth, Texas, helps support
quarterly prosthetic missions, and the Belize Social Security Board
provides in-country patient support. We continue to solicit
donations of supplies and equipment for ongoing needs, but
prosthetic practitioners and technicians now can travel to Belize
at their convenience and find a well-equipped prosthetic lab with
lots of waiting patients.
Changing Lives
Sonrie Ministries provides all prosthetic services at no cost to
patients, and all financial donations go directly toward providing
artificial limbs in Belize. As a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization,
all donations are fully tax-deductible and we welcome donors to
join us on this truly remarkable journey.
From one person looking into the sky for hope to a facility now
providing hope to many amputees, seeds of a humble beginning have
produced marvelous things for the people of Belize. Hope is
restored, lives are changed, and nothing is impossible if we stay
the course and follow the dream.
For further information, contact Rob Kistenberg, CPO, FAAOP,
director of Clinical Services, robcp@oandp.com; 352.262.8600; or Robbie
Jackson, president, j_robbie@hotmail.com; 817.461.9573.
Financial donations may be sent to Sonrie Ministries Inc.,
P.O. Box 120212, Arlington, TX 76012. Robbie Jackson is President, Sonrie Ministries Inc. 
Table Of Contents - January 2005
|
|
