Protashow shut the gates at the front porch so the kids wouldn't get into the work area.
Which then turned out to be pretty hilarious because the kids were staring in at us like we were a zoo exhibit.
Part of the clinic on Thursday was weighing each child, which they do like this.
Picture from afar of the 5 and under clinic group.
Of course Chris took a short break from fabrication to hold some babies.
Then back to work modifying.
John working on eye fabrication.
John got his fabrication of all 18 prosthetic eyes to the point of painting, which he would begin on Friday. He does the painting of the eyes back at Ron and Dee's house to keep out of the dust and for better lighting.
Carolin and Amanda did some major sock sorting and organization, which was very helpful! We have a good inventory now on what prosthetic socks we have and what we have used up for purchasing supplies for next trip.
The cart of models ready for laminating with a growing stack of models.
John talking with Lance. (I think this is the only picture I have of Lance.) He is a pastor in Colorado who also started a non-profit coffee shop that benefits New Day Orphanage. More info on Cilundu Coffee can be found here. Lance also does amazing videography and generously made an informational video about Prosthetic Promises with interviews from everyone. We will be posting that soon.
This trip gave me some rather unique orthotic devices to make, which can only be described as divinely inspired ideas and orthotic design to get these made. This is a model of Joyce's leg. More to come on her story later.
Protashow working on getting models ready for lamination.
Peggy came back for another therapy session with Amanda.
Carolin was our Pelite liner extraordinaire! Pelite is a foam material used to make a cushion on the inside of some types of prostheses. You can see the sheet of it in the foreground of the picture, which is cut and shaped to the mold of a person's residual limb for a cushion material around their leg for protection and comfort.
Thursday was a busy day with a sweet ending of going to praise and worship at the orphanage after dinner. We got to gather with the kids and staff for some singing, prayer requests and prayer. It's always so awesome when we split into small groups to pray for the prayer requests. Even the little ones will pray aloud. I love this opportunity to witness how the staff at New Day are raising these kids to know and love our Savior!
Friday was another day filled with fabrication and getting started with laminations and sewing. We also had 2 more patients on Friday. A woman came to see Amanda for physical therapy, and a previous patient of John's came for a check up and polishing of her prosthetic eye. The woman, who has seen John for the past few years, comes every year with her husband. Both of them ride on bicycles for a very long distance to come see him.
More plaster modifying.
More Pelite liners.
The sewing begins...cutting out material for sails. Most of the above knee prostheses we make are a prosthetic design that requires a cloth portion at the back of the leg called a sail. This enables the person to adjust the fit of the prosthetic socket by tightening or loosening the straps. We find this design best for most patients in this setting since they only see us once a year, or see Protashow if something needs to be repaired.
Chris setting up the laminating station....with our lovely counter weight of a prosthetic foot.
Teamwork effort for the sail fabrication. Amanda cut all the straps for the sails while I sewed. Then she burned holes in the material for buckles and attachment screws.
Sewing on our wonderful industrial sewing machine. I cannot begin to describe how wonderful it is to have this machine at the clinic.
Chris starting a lamination.
Amanda working with her patient who came on Friday and has hip and back pain from a fall.
The electricity went off at lunch on Friday and was off for about 3 hours. This was a huge disappointment since we were starting laminations and sewing, which both require electricity. Protashow got the generator out and started for the vacuum pump that is needed for laminations so that part of the fabrication could continue. The sewing was put on hold during the afternoon when the electricity was out. John was thankfully painting on Friday, which does not require electricity. He was able to get all 18 prosthetic eyes painted on Friday and ready for processing to start the next day.
We worked till sundown on fabrication, and I went back up to the clinic for about an hour after dinner to work on sewing since that portion didn't get very far with the electricity out for several hours.
*Next post- Saturday, April 28-Sunday, April 29th: Luyando comes for follow-up and a walk to the river
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