IPT Journal: The Digital Magazine

ROMPers, you've got to see this gorgeous digital magazine put together by our friends and partners at Illini Prosthetics. 'Nuf said

IPT Journal - Issue 1 Fall 2010

Krupa

Guatemala - A Novel Journey Begins

I'm rubbing the tired out of my eyes and washing it out of my brain with a freshly brewed pot of coffee. I arrived in Guatemala City last night around 9:30pm. My mission today is different from that mission that has awaited me in Guatemala City for the last five years. I won't make the mad dash journey east to Zacapa with bins, boxes and bags of prosthetic parts. At least, not yet. Today I'm getting supplies. Greg and Pat have biked for 70 days now from Oregon to the Southern Mexican state of Chiapas and are only a day away from the Guatemalan border. For their safety and in a show of support and admiration I'll be escorting them through Guatemala all the way to the ROMP clinic in Zacapa. I'm the logistics man, or as I like to think of it, the fifth Beatle. I'm off to breakfast and then a run to Hiper Paiz (Walmart's mega store chain in Guatemala) for gatorade, snacks a cooler, bike supplies and the daily ration of carbonated alcoholic grain juice.....BEER! No worries. Looks like I'll be seeing Greg and Pat tomorrow and will have plenty of photos and soon video to post. In the meantime be sure to read their own blog post Riding for ROMP 2010

Dave

Haiti the Final Episode (Days 5-8)

Day 5. Its our last day of fabrication work. Julie is better now. Instead Heather is having asthma again. We do yoga. June comes with us. We work, that is all we do. And we assemble things and we are staring to get to mile 24 by the end of the day. Came home tired, ate left overs. Played some cards, we lost again. And then to bed.

Our feet are swollen. Our toes look like cocktail sausages. Julie has Kankles and Heather is in the process of getting them too. Mike still looks pretty regardless of his cold. I sleep with my feet up on a pillow for the first time in my life.



Day 6. Wake up to go to Fond des Blancs again for fittings. On the way Julie and I want to pee. At this point the level of confidence and sisterhood is so deep that we don't mind peeing one near the other. The funny thing is that while this ecuadorian girl was used to pee in bushes since little, Miss Lanphere could not do it… and while waiting… we saw a donkey, a goat, a motorcycle and the people riding on them had the pleasure of seeing this blond girl squatting in the middle of nowhere with her naked butt on the air… the good thing is that the laughter of that whole situation made the girl finally pee. And we continue our way to finish the mission.
Im so excited that we could see the fitting and results of our creation. Heading back we all take an hour nap in the car. Arrived to FDB and saw Lauriane, was like seeing an old friend. We ate lunch, it was rice, with some green pea sauce and some fish that Julie said had feathers. Time for fittings! They all go really well. SOme pt's are very excited, others are disappointed, but they know that we did what we were able to do for them. "Rule 90: Do not expect anything so you ll never be disappointed". By the end of the fitting I see julie talking in a high volume and in english to Monique (deaf/mute)… she does not understand anything she says but still smiles to her… "Heather tries to speak in french and Maxo looks confused" (Julie) and finally Mike asks Julie to translate to the patients in french. i guess we were all just tired! After all the fittings we go for a walk. Found some Rum. Back home Chef Mike make some great grilled cheese sandwiches. Later Mike confesses that he has not had a soap or shampoo during the hole trip, he tells us that he has been using the soap that is inside the shower. He comes up with this theory of how by rubbing it with your hands the soap becomes "yours" … but he does not convince us. We are still grossed out and he still has his hair all wiry due to bad quality soap and lack of conditioning. Heather gave him a little shampoo and conditioner, it was a real treat. Next day Mike hair looks soft and shiny. We ended up playing cards, drinking Rum & Coke/lime, Heather drinks 4 beers and gets tipsy, but the game continues. Julie loves winning, even though i hate losing, i enjoy seeing her so excited. Time to go to bed. I look at us three and i feel so sad to say good bye… so for now i only say good night.


Day 7. Wake up early for our Yoga class. The teacher is rushing to get through class while suffering from a hangover. After that we shower. The girls decide to put on make up. They look so pretty but i cant, for me its too hot. Instead i tell it to Mike so he can tease them about it. Heather is excited to meet some british guys. After breakfast we go to say good bye to our patients and to Lauriane. I feel very sad to leave cause i know that ill go back to my easy life. They will stay here waiting for the next group that can make their days a little different. Gina asks us to write her, to keep in touch. We say good bye and we leave. Heather sleeps on the way and there is nothing that wakes her up. We enjoy taking pictures of her and she doesn't even realize that. Next stop: gas station for some lunch. We stop to get some sandwiches. the place look a bit sketchy but hunger was bigger than anything else, so we eat. Mike and Jules get macaroni and cheese. Julie tells me that she has found 3 ants in the plate but said nothing not to spoil their meal. I laugh. Then the market. We all get paintings. All trying to represent in a painting the whole experience. We also get some metal sculptures and bracelets. Mike loves art and authentic things, i love to see him with his hands and arms full with gifts and souvenirs. After buying we finally go to meet the rest of the group. We quickly change in our bathing suits. We jump in the pool. And just enjoy the rest of the afternoon. That day the pool just feel so right and so fair for all the work we have done. Later we have dinner, shared some more experiences and then just spend time together.

Everbody is excited to go back home, see their families. I know we are going to miss each other. One part of us wants to go back , the other wishes we could be room mates for a longer time.



Day 8. Last class of Yoga. We had pancakes for breakfast. The groups are so similar that John, Dawn and Heidi are all dressed up in black and showered while the 4 of us are a bit sweaty from yoga, still with our pajamas and with messy hair… John realizes how similar we have become and how stinky by the way, we are (LOL). Going towards the airport we say good bye to the city. Glad to leave behind the chaotic traffic, the heat and the garbage, but definitely sad to leave the people. As Heather said, we came back with a bigger heart and with a bigger appreciation for Haiti and its people. At the airport we find the perfect place to chill. Everybody get some drinks, and we relax for 2 hours. We are tired but we all know at least in our group that we gave up every bit of energy we had in us , and we know that regardless of all the adversities, we were able to enjoy our time, and to give the best of us, and to find new special friends. And im thankful because i know that these experiences help us become more humble and more compassionate people.


I thank every one of you guys that came for everything each one gave to the group. Im very proud of the things that we accomplished together, the love we shared and the hard work we put into the work. I hope to have the opportunity to work with you in future projects! Thanks also to everyone who supports ROMP and made this trip and all of our projects a possibility.

love you all,
Dani

Part 2 Haiti (Day 3 & 4)

So the story continues. Thanks for reading or skimming, your brain time is appreciated.

Day 3. We woke up for our first yoga class. Mike comes back from running with Prya, the PT in charge. We start the class, i can hear Mike making all sort of noises but prefer not to laugh so he keeps trying. I see Julie trembling furiously but i don't say anything so she keeps trying :) this trip was all about challenges ! instead, I'm horrible at cards game, but everybody does tell me that (LOL).

We pack our stuff, we have some breakfast with a starchy bread and some coffee. Put the casts on the back of the car and start the drive towards "Les Cayes". Again the same dumpy road that makes us shake and move like crazy. Heather tries to find an exercises by tightening her belly muscles, i know that there are hard days ahead of us so i try to relax every muscle in my body. Around 11 am i proposed to buy bananas, they are so tasty. We all have one. When i come back with Heather to the car, Julie is enjoying a popsicle! a deadly icy treat. I know there is definitely something going on in those frozen colored waters but she seems so happy that i prefer to stay quiet and take a picture instead. That is all part of the trip. Of course two days later she has diarrhea and we all agreed on the popsicle. Heather takes Dramamine before every drive, she says she is a light sleeper but no one believes that … although Julie has this disposible camera, and every time she passes a picture "krush krush krush" Heather does wake up, it is the only sound that perturbs her dream.



So we finally get to the O&P Rehab facility, directed by June Hanks . Skinny woman with a weird accent that makes me imagine her with cowboy pants and pistols. She is very smart and has a ton of faith. Lets do a description of our home mates. Marvin and Carmen. Couple from Nicaragua, they are good people, they have great hearts. They came to Haiti in order to help people. We will always remember that night when Marvin would showed us a card tricks and immediately after doing the tricks he would say "All right, ill show you" and he would reveal the secrets behind the cards. Hopefully they will stay there working and helping.

So those are the ones living in this place sharing the same roof with us. Back to our work. We had a pile of work to do. Mike set the time as a marathon. So we new that at mile 26 we were done! of course that took us around 3 days.

Its still day 3. We work as soon as we get there. Start filling molds. There is a technician. he is deaf and mute. First cast we strip down, the leg falls over. Mike : " Shit the pipe's half way down!" Marvin: "Welcome to Haiti". that is how our worked started. Up and downs but getting stuff done. These glitches were just things that reminded us where we were. For example, the eternally wet white paint on the walls that kept staining our clothes, the electricity cuts like 4 times a day, the three legged table, the work bench that got detached as we were putting our first casts, the spiders climbing out of the plaster bag, and the lack of googles that made us wear sun glasses inside the workshop. We worked till late that day. Ate dinner at the office. Heather discovers the coconut cookies or "cukies" as i would pronounce. We go back on the back of the pick up truck enjoying the breeze.



Day 4. We wake up really early. We do Yoga. This time breakfast is prepared. Julie is sick that day but she still shines like the sun. We worked really hard. Got KAFOS and AFOs done. But still have two KAFOS to make. Julie and Heather are ready to work at a central fab as technicians. They grind and use heavy machines. Heather has bandages all over her hands... its a fight between the machine & woman trying to over power them. Mike and I have colds. Work does not stop, we are like little ants. Jules sleep early. Mike, Heather and I gossip like school girls. We talk about life. We go to bed and all sleep like babies. Never did understand that expression. Dont babies wake up all the time during the night?



Final Installment to come...

The Story from Haiti (Installations 1 & 2)

ROMPsters,

The team is safely back from Haiti and these blog installments will give a run down of what here orthotics team experienced during the week. Stay tuned for a few more updates:

Day 1. August 15th. The day has arrived. All the group get together in Miami except Julie. First person i see is Mike Oros and John Angelico and i cant help to hug them, im so happy to see them. Then i realize there is also a little woman right by them … Heather! so i say hello and i like her as soon as she asked the first question "Do you think its allright if i have shorts on?" Cause i knew later on she would get to realize how little i knew about fashion and how clueless i was about the situation in Haiti. I still said that it didn't matter to wear shorts but more to give her peace rather than for being sure about it. No one knew who Julie was. I picture her as a thin little asian woman... the group is jealous of me cause im going in first class. We get to Haiti, and we are surprised by the non chaotic situation of the airport. We find Julie, not at all what i imagined. Outside we find Gail, our host. Hop in the bus and start submerging into a totally different reality, a destroyed world. The energy of the group is good regardless of the first impressions of the city. But it is sad and i realize that it will take years in order to make this a better place. Garbage, poverty, disorder, dust, and tons of people selling stuff. The colorful buses give the city a brush of art and color. Life continues nevertheless and people find their way of surviving. It is amazing.

We get to the guest house. We are assigned a room for the girls, that room for me seemed taken out of an old fairy tale, maybe for the tones, and for the mosquito netting over the beds that looked like lace. Dinner was tasty. It frustrates me that Mike doesn't get a chocolate pudding. The group gets ready to hop in the pool. Its hot. I feel guilty about swimming when i know that 20 feet from there there are tents and poverty… but im too hot so i dive in anyways. After that we are told that our group will be leaving at 6 am. Before bed im introduced to a new card game Euchre. I think i never earned any respect from my group on that end. Time to go to bed and get ready for the adventure.

Day 2. We are supposed to wake up at 5h30 for Yoga. Heather will be the teacher. She wakes me up at 5h30 and tells me "DONI im actually going to sleep 15 min more" … so i guess there was no yoga that day. Breakfast, shower and got ready to leave. It would take us around 4 hours in order to get to Fond des Blancs , to the Spinal Cord Injury center. We traverse the messy capital again and we go past all sort of vendors. Mike needs to buy flip flops. So we stop in the market. A basket filled with tons of sandals, some were orphans , some had a mate.. finally found one pair that fit him; the girls also want something and they like my style ;) so they get a bandana, the group starts to gel and to look alike. Out of Port au Prince, we enter a green maze that mixes with the blue (bleu) sky.

Got to the Hospital and a beautiful french girl (Lauriane) received us. She is so small, that i feel like Hulk next to her. We start working right away. The PT in charge is not there. Lauriane guides us and introduces us to the patients. All injured during the earthquake. Beautiful people, all of them look like ebony sculptures. We all feel sorry for the situation and we try to make it as good as we can with the abilities we have learned. We all cast. Julie and Heather do too. They are great, real volunteers ready to do anything no matter what. We ended up seeing 6 pt's:



1. Dominique 26 y/o. Math Teacher. Spinal cord injury. Made 2 KAFOs (leg braces)

2. Mamette: 27 y/o. Beautiful woman. Mom of 2. Spinal Cord Injury, followed by some complications due to lack of compliance and care from her family. Got a TLSO (spinal brace) and 1 KAFO.

3. Gina: 26 y/o. Teacher. Spinal Cord Inijury complete. Very weak. Rx: B AFOs (foot braces) for transfer and positioning.

4. Monique: 26 y/o. Could not know much from her. She was deaf/mute. Spinal Cord Injury. Weakness. B AFOs for Transfer and positioning.

5. Nestly: Spinal Cord Injury and BE amputee. Mike starts to fabricate a prosthesis for him.

6. Maxo: 43 y/o. Carpenter. Spinal Cord Injury incomplete. HE had good strength on R leg. Rx: R AFO, L KAFO.

All patients injured after the earthquake. After hours of evals and castings Mike and I know that its going to be a hard butt kicking week. We go up to shower, to eat and to play some Euchre. Julie & I couple of smart ass girls choose the beds first, the ones againts the wall thinking that they were better... only to realize later what a bad choice we made cause the beds had tons of minuscule bugs walking all over. I sleep with socks, the socks on top of my pants, as if i was ready to ride a bike. Mike is not able to sleep that night due to the snoring of several guys in there.



Here are some pictures of the team and the action from these first two days. Another post to come tomorrow...day 3 and 4!

Dani

Update from Team Haiti (Team John Angelico that is)

The ROMP team in Haiti has been split into two groups. The larger group is working in Les Cayes at the Spinal Clinic seeing lots of orthotic patients. The second group is John Angelico. Now, I know that one person technically does not qualify as a group. But, in the world of prosthetics a guy like John Angelico might as well be considered a whole damn prosthetic clinic. He's been thrown into the fray solo, working with Spanish and French speaking students and practitioners. In spite of it all, as a one man all-star team, he's been making legs and teaching through multiple language barriers. When I was a kid John was my principal prosthetist. After making lots of legs for me he was kind enough to teach me a bit of his magic. Now you can all read about his adventures on his self-titled "Not so Super Cool Blog"


It's damn good and hilarious too.

Dave

Day 3 Haiti

I'm not in Haiti so I cant really say much except that the team is there and they are working.

For team member John Angelico's blogspot check this out.

Dani's email message from last night:

Bonjour Eric & Dave,

First of all im glad you guys thought of me to come here. We did not have any translator, except a girl that is working here from france :) so i was able to split with her and do all the talking and casting. Pts do understand a lot of french and so far all the pts we have evaluated are just beautiful.
Organization side things have been a bit off. We came here and there was nothing really planned, but we figured things out and we ended up casting and evaluating. We were at a Spinal Cord Injury hospital so all the pts needed something. We ended up casting for 5 AFOs and 2 Kafos and tomorrow we ll cast for other 2 KAFOS. So Mike and I will be fabricating tomorrow at les cayes, and well make sure that the PT and the Doctor (who are great) work their butts off too :) they actually casted for AFO today.
We also deliverd that TLSO and it fit great! That patient was so nice, we have tons tons of pictures. We have not used a KRONOS (team journal) at all, cause we have been just travelling for 5 hours to get here and in the afternoon we were working and taking pics and filming till 7 pm and now they are having some Prestiges (Haitian beer) and chilling out. This house has so many people that we/they are all talking and getting to know eachother.

What else... ill have more info and date of pts in the report.
Eric you send three shirts for each volunteer, thank you for that. But we ended up giving up one of those two to Menette, Gina, MOnique , Lauraine and taking pics with it :) i have 2 less but oh if you would have seen their smiles :)

Ok that is all for now. We are all good. And i think everybody is happy and tired.

Je vous souhaite une bon journe.
Love,
Dani.

Day 1 Haiti Trip

I dropped Dani off at the Quito International Airport at 4:30am. By know she is somewhere over the Carribbean about 30 minutes away from landing in Port-Au-Prince. The team is comprised of seven rehabilitation specialists (1 Prosthetist, 1 Orthotist/Prosthetist, 1 Board Eligible Orthotist, 2 PT's, 2 Physicians). The team will be split into two groups. One will work at the Handicap International Headquarters in Port-au-Prince with mostly prosthetic patients. The second group will visit three or four sites outside of Port-au-Prince focusing on orthotics cases, spinal fractures, paralysis, nerve damage of the extremities and educational seminars for local professionals.

The ROMP team is being hosted by the Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation. Thank you HHHF for your help in arranging the project. Hope to have more news shortly.

Dave

Message from Ecuador

In typical style I've been a little lax with my blogging responsabilities. That's not to say that there's nothing to write about. Just too little time. The July visit to Guatemala with the Illini Prosthetics Team was a success. The IPT is working on a new, low-cost prosthetic arm technology. We were able to work with several ROMP patients testing the prototypes. The feedback that our patients shared has been invaluable to the team of engineers as they begin working on the new and improved models. More information from Illini Prosthetics.

In other news, same hemisphere just different country, ROMP will be sending its first team to Haiti in less than two weeks! Our long-term friendship with the very dedicated Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation has led to this. A team of 7 professionals from the Chicago area, Minnesota and Ecuador (my wife Daniela) will participate in a 9 day project focusing on education and clinical assistance in two rehab centers on the island. In Port-au-Prince, the team will work at the Handicap International rehab center with prosthetics students from Haiti and the University of Don Bosco in El Salvador. They will provide educational seminars and work together on specific patient cases. Outside of Port-su-Prince, the team will work in a spinal injury center with orthotists and rehabilitation specialists.

This is the first ROMP trip to Haiti but not the last. We are proud to work with Healing Hand for Haiti Foundation and honored to serve the Haitian people in our own small way.

My brother and Pat Mathay are more than halfway done with their impressive endeavor, Riding for ROMP 2010. They left Eugene, Oregon (on their bikes) on June 19th and are now sleeping soundly (I hope) in Manzanillo, Mexico just south of Puerto Vallarta. At the end of the month they enter Guatemala for the 6-day home stretch through killer 6,000 foot climbs and the winding, volcano-shaped terrain of Guatemala all the way to the ROMP lab in Zacapa. As of now they have raised around $25,000 for ROMP projects and have had quite an experience along the way.

There's so much more to come and I hope that whoever might be reading this little 'ol blog will someday too have a chance to be a part of it. Oh, and by the way, I haven't even told you yet about what's starting here in Ecuador for ROMP...later.

Dave

Fighting Illini meets ROMP

IPT (Illini Prosthetics Team) is in Guatemala. In true university style we spent Sunday afternoon cheering with the locals over Spain's victory over the Dutch, Netherlanders, people from Holland, Clockwork Orange, the Naranja Mecanica (can never figure out what they are really called). We went into the lab yesterday morning and set-up shop. Due to the World Cup Championship game we didn't even attempt to tamper with the culturally revered, sanctified and ever holy sport of futbol. Instead of scheduling patients today that would have stood us up we played it differently. This morning I offered educational courses to our professional staff about above and below the knee prosthetic design and theory. We watched the game together and are more than rested for the work week. Check out the daily IPT blog updates and photos of the experience. Patients start showing up in the morning. Later....

View it por favor:
IPT BLOG

Dave

Prosthetic Arm Project in Guatemala

A month after it all went down I finally put together a short movie about the prosthetic arm project that we completed mid-March. Special funding from many individual donors and the Louis Berkowitz foundation along with component donations from Fillauer, LTI and Scheck & Siress made the project possible. In October 2009 we met German and Cesar, two young men with both of their arms amputated from the shoulder down due to electrical burns. It took us a few months to get the necessary supplies together and four days of hard work at the Loren Jay Mallon ROMP Guatemala clinic to finish the prosthetic arms. Chicago-area prosthetist and long-time ROMP volunteer David Rotter was the mastermind behind the prosthetic design. David and I started Sautuday morning and by Tuesday night Cesar and German and their families left the clinic with their one-of-a-kind prosthetic arms.

Check out this YouTube video to see the fabrication and fitting process with German and Cesar.

Thanks to everyone that made this project possible. Without your support German and Cesar would have never received their new arms.

David Krupa

Haiti Fundraiser a Huge Success

Thank you to everyone who came out to Sweetwater Tavern and Grille for the ROMP/Haiti Fundraiser. ROMP raised just over $5000 dedicated to our upcoming projects in Haiti working in cooperation with the Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation. Stay posted for more news about the upcoming volunteer trips to Haiti in April.

Special thanks to photographer Marc Altman for the beautiful photographs that he exhibited at the event. 30 framed prints were sold to raise money for ROMP and more are available. Anyone interested in buying Marc's photographs can contact ROMP for more info here.

Fundraiser for ROMP and Healing Hands for Haiti FEB 25th

Thank you all for listening to ROMP and Healing Hands for Haiti on Worldview - NPR Chicago. Now you can help both of our groups bring prosthetic rehabilitation to the people of Haiti.
Join us for an inspiring evening to benefit the Range of Motion Project and Healing Hands for Haiti.

Sweet Water Grill and Tavern
225 North Michigan AvenueChicago, IL 60601
(312) 698-7111

Thursday February 25, 2010
8-11 pm
Suggested donation of $25 per person
Photo show of ROMP project by Marc Altman Photography.

Initially, there were over 100 amputations happening a day in Haiti and more imminent as disease takes hold. Prosthetics are the tool that will help these individuals begin the rehabilitation process. If you can't make this great event, consider a donation.
Donate here

ROMP on NPR Tomorrow!!!

ROMP founder Eric Neufeld will be on Chicago Public Radio's WORLDVIEW with Jerome McDonnell tomorrow (Thursday Feb 11) at 12 pm. Tune into 91.5 FM to listen in Chicago or online: HERE. Eric will be discussing the lack of and need for prosthetics services in Haiti with Healing Hands for Haiti Prosthetics Director, Al Ingersoll. Donate now to contribute to our Haiti project. (click here to make a direct donation)

Burley Design Sponsors Riding for ROMP 2010

Range Of Motion Project is proud to annouce that Burley Design in Eugene, Oregon is a Gold Level Sponsor of the Riding for ROMP 2010 event this coming summer.

"Burley promotes active outdoor fun for our employees, customers and community by developing outdoor products that can be relied upon for superior functional design, safety and many years of use."

Burley has more than 30 years experience designing cycling products and trailers. We are proud to be riding with Burley trailers for the duration of the 3,500 mile Riding for ROMP 2010 challenge. Burley Design in Eugene has donated two NOMAD trailers to the Riding for ROMP 2010. The trailers will be pulled by Greg Krupa and Pat Mathay from Oregon to Guatemala. For more information about this sponsor and their excellent cycling products please visit: Burley Website

Barnhart Prosthetic & Orthotic Services Sponsors Riding for ROMP 2010

Range Of Motion Project is proud to annouce that Barnhart Prosthetic & Orthotic Services Inc. in Oregon is a Gold Level Sponsor of the Riding for ROMP 2010 event this coming summer.

The owners and practitioners at Barnhart state that:

"Barnhart Prosthetics & Orthotics is a locally owned and operated patient centered facility. We focus on building high quality Orthotics and Prosthetics for the patients that we service. Our care is in seeing a patient take a step with an Orthotic or a Prosthetic for the first time. "

Barnhart has continuously supported ROMP projects in Guatemala by provided refurbished and donated prosthetic limb parts for our patients. We are proud to work together with the Barnhart family. Barnhart has pledged $1000 to the Riding for ROMP 2010 event, a 3,500 mile bike ride from Oregon to Guatemala to raise funds for projects in Guatemala and Haiti.

For more information about this sponsor please visit: Barnhart Website

Chicago Area Newspaper Covers ROMP

Chicago area bilingual newspaper covers ROMP work in Guatemala:

"To Guatemala With a Mission"

Check it OUT!!!

Riding for ROMP 2010

As we await more news from Haiti I wanted to share news of an exciting new ROMP fundraising event.

Riding For ROMP 2010, is a 3,500 mile bicycle trek from Eugene, Oregon to Zacapa, Guatemala to raise both awareness and funds for projects in Haiti and Guatemala. For regular updates and exciting news about this event subscribe to the Riding for ROMP 2010 blog

We began soliciting sponsors just over a month ago and already have the support of three national companies and one Ecuadorian firm.

On the road to raising $50,000 for amputees in need!

A Call for HELP

ROMP supporters-

Now more than ever, we need your help. The devastation of the Haitian earthquakes is incomprehensible and we want to do our part to support the people of Haiti. One of the biggest issues being discussed are the number of amputations occurring and the impact this will have on people being able to survive and rehabilitate their lives. The last statistic we heard was that there were over 100 amputations a day with more imminent as infections take hold.

The only prosthetic lab in Haiti, Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation (HHHF), was 75% demolished in the earthquake. Healing Hands for Haiti has been a long time partner of ROMP and a model we have always emulated and respected. Members of HHHF are in Haiti now assessing the damage and planning the prosthetic rehabilitation relief effort.

Please view this CNN video that discusses HHHF.

ROMP is committed to supporting HHHF and the people of Haiti in the following ways:

-Providing equipment and components to allow HHHF to rebuild their facilities
-Providing 100% of earmarked funds directly to initiatives assisting HHHF
-Organizing and mobilizing a team of volunteer practitioners and support staff to begin fitting patients in the spring

How you can help:

-Donate online: http://www.rompglobal.org/donate.php include the memo "Haiti relief"
-Spread the word and let others know that there is a way to assist the rapidly growing need for prosthetic rehabilitation in Haiti and throughout the developing world.

Equipment and Component donations can be sent to:
ROMP Donations
Attn: Mike Angelico
8641 W. 95th St.
Hickory Hills, IL 60457

Thank you,

The ROMP directors

Where to send Donated Equipment - Haiti Relief

Dear ROMP supporters,

For those of you who do not know already all donated parts and supplies should be sent to:

Equipment Donation Address:

ROMP Donations

Attn: Mike Angelico

8641 W. 95th St.Hickory Hills, IL 60457

We are collecting prosthetic parts, casting supplies (plaster and fiberglass bandages), wheelchairs, canes, crutches and walkers for our projects in Ecuador and Guatemala. We also will be sending supplies to the Haiti Relief effort through our friends at Healing Hands For Haiti. If you would like your donations to be sent to Haiti please mark your boxes clearly "ROMP/Haiti Relief". We will process your donations and keep them in our storgae units until our contacts in Haiti are ready for them to be shipped.

Please pass this message along and encourage others to sign onto this blog. I will be posting information regularly regarding the Haiti Relief Effort.

Take care,

David Krupa

Helping in Haiti

Dear ROMP supporters and volunteers,

I have received daily inquiries about how to help in Haiti. Back in 2005 I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation. HHHF is a wonderful rehabilitation project that acted as one of the two primary providers of O&P services for all of Haiti. Tragically, their clinic was completely destroyed by the recent earthquake. ROMP is committed to helping HHHF in any way possible. This will include sending volunteer teams and donated components. Due to the destruction of the HHHF infrastructure it is currently impossible to provide prosthetic device in Haiti. I will let all of our supporters and volunteers know of opportunities in Haiti as soon as I receive word from the HHHF directors. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to stockpile prosthetic and orthotic parts and send them to ROMP clearly labeling them as "Haiti Supplies" we will ensure that they are processed and ready to go whenever it becomes possible to work in Haiti again.

Thank you all for your willingness to help after this horrible tragedy. Please stay in touch and forward this message to anyone who may be asking about Haiti.

David Krupa, CP

CEO - ROMP

New ROMP video of October 2009 trip

Joseph Krizinauskas has done it again. Check out his newest video post to You Tube about the ROMP volunteer team that worked a week in Guatemala this past October 2009. Happy New Year to everyone and thank you Joseph for your inspirational video.

Guatemala, Range of Motion Project, October Clinic 2009

David Krupa