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KENYA
Victoria Hand Project partnered with St. Luke's Orthopedic and Trauma Hospital in early 2020 to provide upper-limb prosthetic care to amputees across Kenya. Learn more about our partners here.
Partner Organization Name:
St. Luke's Orthopedic and Trauma Hospital
Location:
Eldoret, Kenya
Phone:
+254 701 021134
Website:
Click Here
HISTORY
In February 2020, VHP team members traveled to Kenya to train St. Luke's staff on the 3D printing, assembling, and fitting of the Victoria Hand and the LimbForge arm. This was VHP's eighth international partnership!
The project in Kenya began as a pilot project which highlighted two patients from Kenya, Ijabu and Bin-Amin. We created short videos of these patients (below) to show the need for prosthetic care in Kenya. Ultimately funded by a generous anonymous donation, Victoria Hand Project was able to fully expand to Kenya, establishing a permanent partnership with St. Luke's to continue to serve the community. Both Ijabu and Bin-Amin were fit with their own Victoria Hands during the initial training trip! Read more about their stories here.
We look forward to our continued partnership with St. Luke's and helping many more people across Kenya!
Ijabu is a young girl from Mandera, a part of Eastern Kenya near Somalia. Ijabu had a boil form on her hand and the doctors recommended she have her hand removed. Since prosthetic care is very expensive she has had to learn to only use her left hand in her daily life. Doing tasks requiring two hands was very difficult or impossible for her. The Victoria Hand has helped her complete tasks requiring two hands, and raise her self-confidence. Read more about Ijabu and watch her recieve her new Victoria Hand on our Stories page!
Below is Ijabu's patient profile that was used for the Kenya Expansion Pilot Project.
Bin-Amin is a young boy from Northern Kenya who had an unfortunate accident when playing with his friends. He fell onto burning goat dung and had serious burns. This resulted in him losing his hands and part of his feet. Bin-Amin was transported to a hospital in South Eastern Kenya where he was able to receive care for the burns. Bin-Amin's life has forever changed and he requires help from others in his daily life. After receiving the Victoria Hand, Bin-Amin is more independent and does not need to rely on others as much. Read more about Bin Amin and watch him receive his new Victoria Hand on our Stories page!
Below is Bin Amin's patient profile that was used for the Kenya Expansion Pilot Project.
THE PILOT PROJECT - EXPLAINED
We wanted to demonstrate the need for prosthetic care in Kenya by highlighting the stories of Ijabu and Bin-Amin. This was done through a pilot project occurring in 3 phases. This includes phase 1 where we showed the need, phase 2 to demonstrate our capabilities to help, and phase 3 to show the on-going positive effects.
Phase 1: Demonstrate the Need
VHP worked with local Kenyan filmmakers to document Ijabu's and Bin-Amin's lives without a prosthetic device. The videos above show them doing day-to-day tasks and the difficulties that occur, and express the need for care in developing countries such as Kenya.
Phase 2: Fit Patients with the Victoria Hand
Following phase 1 and fundraising, VHP traveled down to Kenya to fit Ijabu, Bin-Amin, and two other patients with the Victoria Hand. The VHP team worked with the local clinicians at St. Luke's to fit the patients with custom-made Victoria Hands, and trained them on how to create and assemble the hands themselves.
Phase 3: On-going Positive Impact
We followed up with Ijabu and Bin-Amin 1-2 months after they have been fit with the Victoria Hand. This will help highlight how the amputees have become empowered with a prosthesis. Watch the videos of them receiving their new hands here!
With our pilot project completed, we continue to support St. Luke's through fundraising, training, technical support and more! Each donation we receive, no matter how great or small, helps us get prosthetic arms to amputees in-need through our partners. Please consider Donating Today to make an incredible impact on someone's life.