Northwestern Students in Guatemala BLP7

From October 23 to October 31 the first group of O&P students from Northwestern University came to Guatemala! Three orthotic and three prosthetic students. We are starting to expand the services that ROMP offers to guatemalans by providing more orthotic care. During the week 6 KAFOs, 4 AFOs, 1 FO, 1 UCB, Fracture brace and some arm orthosis were provided. It was a great feeling to be able to help all our patients and to give the students the opportunity to practice, to fabricate and to give a hand to people who otherwsie have no access to orthotic and prosthetic care. I hope that more students feel inspired to come down to Guatemala, to work hard, to be creative, to get tons of smiles from our patients and to be part of ROMP!

Daniela Duran Krupa

ROMP First Upper Extremity Clinic

ROMP carried out its first upper extremity clinic in Guatemala thanks to a significant donation by the Berkowitz Family Foundation. The ROMP clinic in Zacapa celebrated its fourth anniversary this October. For four years we have been visited by numerous patients with arm amputations. Unfortunately, we have never been able to consistantly provide upper extremity prostheses due to a lack of parts. In four years we have only delivered two arm prostheses. Until this October. We saw seven upper extremity patients and by the end of last week delivered 5 prostheses. The other two patients never returned for their fittings but they will be scheduled for future appointments. Thanks to the Berkowitz Family Foundation donation we now have a fully stocked inventory of upper extremity components. It was shocking to see so many arm amputations due to machete attacks and electrical burns. Wives attacked by husbands and a young man attacked and robbed leaving his work. ROMP will continue to expand its upper extremity services but we need more donations aimed directly at this project. Spread the word and help us meet this great need in Guatemala.

Dave

October 2009 FIRST GROUP

I would like to commend all of the volunteers who came to Guatemala from Oct 16-25 for a job well done. The team worked countless hours with dozens of patients. They were at times up against language barriers, oppressive heat, rapidly approaching deadlines and the chaos of the work week. In spite of the challenges, the volunteers of HIM/ROMP OCT 2009 dedicated themselves to the tasks at hand with an enthusiasm captured in the smiles contained within this photo. It was an honor to work with you all in Guatemala. You changed the lives of many Guatemalans and your efforts will long be remembered. Hope to see you all again very soon.

Dave