Hands on training, Making a difference

The second primary goal to the Vietnam Medical Mission is to fit prosthetics to the unfortunate. There are still hundreds of thousands of patients in Southern Vietnam that have lost one or more limbs due to; Trauma, Moped accidents, land mines during the "American" war, and silent land mines that still remain from the war. These patients are very talented at producing homemade prosthetics which could be made from a tree stump and an old tire for example. Even the "professionally" made prosthetics are crude, some weighing more than 15 pounds. They do their best with what they have, but quality of life suffers as you can imagine.
Our team manufactured and transported enough material to fit over 200 prosthetics. These are light weight, strong and durable. The Temple team, having no expertise at fitting prosthetics, get a one day hands-on training. The learning curve is rather steep. By the second day in the prosthetics lab, the student works with a biomedical engineer faculty/student to assist in the fitting. We do whatever it takes to make this goal a success. Measuring, sawing, drilling, and sweating!!! There is something very special about participating in an activity which makes an immediate difference in the life of a patient. We are able to alleviate the pain from a crude prosthetic, improve the patients ability to perform activities of daily living, and most importantly, allow patients to experience as close to a normal, functional life as possible!!!!
Jordanis and his team have MADE A DIFFERENCE in this Patient's Life!!!