More than one year after the earthquake of January 2010, some child amputees will have new hope through the joint efforts of Project Medishare, Knights of Columbus, Össur International and Healing Haiti's Children. Yesterday Saturday, was inaugurated in Haiti, the international laboratory Össur, of prostheses and orthoses to the Bernard Mevs Hospital.

"We are pleased to be able to help to heal those children injured in the devastating earthquake and to give them renewed hope in the possibility of living life with regained mobility. Providing the limbs, therapy and support to these children is truly a life changing gift" said Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.

The prosthetist Össur Kristinsson, amputee himself, founder of the company Össur International, the worldwide leader in non-invasive orthopedics, presented this weekend at the inauguration of the new laboratory, hundreds of modular prosthetic systems. Designed by Kristinsson, for the developing countries, these systems are economical and can be applied to an amputee in 30 minutes and allow to obtain a finished product 60 minutes later.

The labotary will also serve as a classroom for training the Haitians who will be hired as prosthetic techs. So far, two Haitians have already been hired and are being trained to fabricate, adjust, and fit sockets and liners, as well as prosthetic knees, and feet. As a result of this program, more hires are anticipated in the near future. The lab promises to be a sustainable, needed, and advanced care system for all amputees of Haiti.

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Healing Haiti's Children is a program begun by the Knights of Columbus in the summer of 2010 in response to January 2010's devastating earthquake in Haiti. Backed by a $1 million commitment from the Knights of Columbus and support from Project Medishare, the program provides free prosthetics and a minimum of 2 years of rehab to every Haitian child who lost a limb in the calamity. To date, more than 100 children have been fitted with prosthetics from the program.

Project Medishare for Haiti, Inc., a 501©3 non-profit registered in the State of Florida, was founded in 1994 by Dr.'s Barth Green and Arthur Fournier from the University of Miami School of Medicine. It is an organization dedicated to sharing its human and technical resources with its Haitian partners in the quest to achieve quality healthcare and development services for all.

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic, fraternal organization. Begun in 1882 in New Haven, Conn. by Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, the Order now has over 1.8 million members and 14,000 councils in more than 10 countries. The Order and its members are known for their charitable giving. In 2009, they donated more than $151 million to charity, and committed more than 69 million hours of community service.

Article by PI/ HaitiLibre