Fw: Belize ,Central America Amputee Assistance Mission

Tony Barr

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Fw: Belize ,Central America Amputee Assistance Mission

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Tony Barr

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Some of the subscribers have requested that the previously sent attachment be resent in another format other than Wordperfect.
I have converted the text to this e-mail message.I apologize for sending repeated messages.We thank the members of the Hope Donor Club (listed below and on the Barr Foundation's web site,www.oandp.com/barr for making these and future international amputee assistance efforts possible.

Press Release

June 22, 1999
Report LEAP/Barr Foundation Belize 99
May, 1999 BELIZE, Central America

On May 29, the president and professional volunteers of the Barr Foundation:
Tony Barr, Bob Doran CPO and John Zeffer CPO, joined LEAP Mission Director,
Robbie Jackson and LEAP Prosthetic Director, Rob Kistenberg CP on a patient
evaluation mission in Belize. The site of the evaluation was Orange Walk
Hospital, Orange Walk Town, Belize. With cooperation from the Rotary Clubs
of Orange Walk and Belize City, amputees in need of prostheses arrived at
the hospital ready for evaluation by the Barr/LEAP team.

Belize has no services available to provide protheses for amputees.
Patients either must travel to Mexico or Guatemala to purchase a usually
ill-fitting prosthesis, or simply live a life dependent on crutches or in a
wheelchair. With little or no services available in Belize for the
disabled, they may suffer job loss and drop out of society. Diabetes, motor
vehicle accidents and trauma injuries constitute the majority of causes for
amputation. One particular patient evaluation during the mission had a
thriving auto mechanic business and was an electrician for the Belize
Telephone, Ltd. After his amputation, he became depressed, lost his job and
closed his business. He was on the verge of losing his family when he was
told about the LEAP mission to provide prosthetic care at no cost to
patients. He will be fitted with a prosthetic limb in August.

During the two-day evaluation, 14 amputees were evaluated for possible
fitting during the August 15-28, 1999 mission to be held in Orange Walk
Of the 14 patients evaluated, 10 are good-excellent candidates for prostheses.
The four remaining patients were either elderly or too fragile for prosthetic care
at this time, but will be followed up during each return mission to determine any change in status.

After new-patient evaluation, several patients who have been fitted with
prostheses in 1998 returned for the follow-up exams. Repairs and
adjustments were made on the five returning patients at the Orange Walk
Technical School's automotive shop--the site for each of the last three
missions. John Zeffer, Bob Doran and Robert Kistenberg adjusted and checked
the fit of each patient. Bob Doran provided the mechanic/electrician with a
pad to use on his residual limb to facilitate his job until his prosthesis
can be fabricated in August. One arm cable was repaired for a young man who
lost his arm in a machete fight. He now drives a harvester for his father's
sugar cane farm. Two feet were replaced with the feet donated by the
Kingsley Manufacturing Company, one leg was finished with an Endolite of
North America cosmetic cover and one liner was repaired due to patient
attempts at adjustment.

Additional donations to this Central American effort were made to the Barr
Foundation by Kingsley Manufacturing Company, Hosmer-Dorrance and San
Francisco Prosthetic Orthotic Service, Inc. Donated materials and supplies
which will be utilized to fit the 10 patients selected for fabrication in
August and for other candidates whom will be traveling from nearby countries to
Orange Walk for evaluation and treatment.

LEAP is endeavoring to establish a permanent facility in Orange Walk Town
which can provide prosthetic care on a year-round basis. The facility will
be staffed by local technicians, host prosthetic teams from the U.S., 5-6
times per year and offer vocational training for amputees and others in need
of job training. To further this goal, LEAP team members met several
corporations in Belize to enlist cooperation and support for the facility.

Other corporations donating needed materials are: ACOR Orthopedic, Inc.,
America Plastics, Royal Knit., Rx Textiles, Cascade Orthopedic Supply and
Friddles Orthopedic Appliances.

Currently the following equipment and supplies are also needed:
2 Vacuum pumps
verticle fabricating jig
assorted pigments
solkaflok
Micro Balloons
1Dacron webbing
½ Dacron webbing
1Velcro sticky-back(roll hook and pile)

It is hoped future joint ventures between the Rotary Clubs, LEAP Foundation and the Barr
Foundation may meet the needs of not only amputee patients in Belize, but
the entire region.The next mission scheduled for August, is looking for
additional donated prosthetic components as well as certified or licensed
prosthetists who may which to donate their services.Traveling and living
accommodations could be subsidized by the two foundations.

Please submit your professional resume to Anthony T. Barr c/o of the Barr
Foundation via fax 561-391-7601 or e-mail <Email Address Redacted>

Professional candidates would not be required to spend the entire two weeks
in Belize. The selection and participation would be coordinated by Rob Kistenberg,
C.P., LEAP prosthetic director of the mission.

Robbie Jackson
Mission Director, the LEAP Foundation.

Anthony T. Barr
President, the Barr Foundation
www.oandp.com/barr

Citation

Tony Barr, “Fw: Belize ,Central America Amputee Assistance Mission,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 27, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/211611.