Fulfilling dreams
Some girls dreams are different than others. Here in Central America unless you are well off a prosthetic is a wild dream. Unless you find us. This is number 35 in 8 months.
RE: Fulfilling dreams
I understand from Reddit that you do this as / through an NGO in Central America. It would be really interesting to learn more about this project, is there a website?
The printed prosthetic looks amazing. Not intending to diminish these prints by any means but just interested from a technical perspective: What functionality do these prosthetics provide for people who have e.g. lost there complete hand? Is this some sort of mechanical "move in desired position withthe help of your natural hand" or do these devices have even any advanced capability?
Cheers
Chris
I try to give answers to the best of my ability, but I am not a 3D printing pro by any means, and anything you do you do at your own risk. BTW: I have no food for…
RE: Fulfilling dreams
These are body powered. The hand model uses wrist movement to close the fingers and thumb and springs open them again. On a lower arm loss unit it is elbow movement. Upper arm loss use shoulder movement. People work with these. Hold on to things, use them to hold eating utensils and we are working with one person to get him back to work welding despite losing part of his lower arm. One guy drives his motorcycle and another who has lost both lower arms drives his car. In this location they are life changers and in a few instances I would say life savers.
Kids here are bullied and tormented mercilessly for any physical difference. They will often quit school and withdraw completely. Yet with a prosthetic the other kids will often decide they have something really neat and new and they experience a huge change in life. I've watched it happen right in front of me as a kid who hid his hand and hid behind his parents around people has become a confident person who even hunts with his slingshot to put food on the family table. A big life and outlook change.
This young lady and her family were quite emotional because it's a life changing event for them. There is no safety net here, not much social assistance and culture can be hard on anyone "different". But that priece of plastic changes how people regard them and opens up futures for them they didn't have. I remember one lady who was so thrilled because it made sweeping the house, gathering firewood, cooking and washing dishes so much easier. In the first world there would be aids available but here there is none. One of the double amputees is able to feed himself instead of being fed by his daughter. He can also write with a holder we make. Most amputees will face discrimination as adults regarding employment, social acceptance, etc. But that piece of plastic can really change things for the. In some places the prosthetic poses acceptance challenges at first but when people see the improvement it brings those walls can come down.
Don't remember posting on Reddit but maybe I did! I'm not the only one doing this in the world but the only one here in this area. It's estimated there are 1.5 million people in the world who need prosthetics and about 90% never will get one. We do what we can. We are a USA based non profit we have a minimal website but post a lot on FaceBook. My personal page there has most of it and we have a group page that requires joining. It was public but thanks to the new rules you lose control over public groups and we have had trolls be a problem. Look me up under Eric Lamoray there.
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Ah and I'll add one other thing. Yes, there are a lot of designs out there for advanced robotic type prosthetics but there is an issue in our type of setting. They need batteries and water intrusion. You just don't run down to the corner store here for a box of batteries is you live out in a rural setting. For one thing the store may be a days travel away. another is cost. For one of these people batteries are a luxury and having to literally choose between feeding you family and buying batteries the choice is obvious. Then there is water intrusion. These designs are not really meant to exist in a tropical jungle setting. It rains, a great deal and you may be out working in the rain or walking in the rain. Then there are often streams and rivers to be crossed and sometimes you go swimming whether you mean to or not! o mechanical is really the only option.