Prosthetic limb fitment camp in Kolkata
RC Calcutta Chowrenghee, RID 3291, organised an artificial limb fitment camp under the project Uthe Sabke Kadam (Feet for all). The mega camp, a global grant project, was held in partnership with four RI districts from Finland — RIDs 1385,1390,1410 and1430; RC Calcutta Mayfair and Young Indians, a youth wing of the CII, at the Mahavir Seva Sadan, Kolkata.
DG Prabir Chatterjee inaugurated the camp in the presence of club president Vikram Tantia and Rotarians from RID 3291. “The project aims to rehabilitate amputees from the low-income group by fitting them with prosthetics, and providing vocational training and helping them to get livelihood support. In this way, the beneficiaries will re engage in life activities,” says Tantia. The club is also focusing on disabled women and school-going children. “We ensured that 50 per cent of our beneficiaries were women and children.” When a woman is enabled, “she will take care of the entire family and if disabled children are given tools for mobility, the idea of dropping out of school vanishes from their mind,” he says.
Over 1,200 beneficiaries
Smiling with hope, 30-year-old Raju Khan, a beneficiary, says, “I can now go back to work at the local bakery and afford to send my children to school. I have been jobless since I lost my legs in a train accident in 2017.” Over 1,270 amputees were fitted with prosthetic legs at this camp. Volunteers from Mahavir Seva Sadan took care of the technical process of the limb fitment. “We were pleased to see the beneficiaries trying to walk and jog at the camp. The Jaipur foot will also help them take care of their daily chores,” says Tantia.
Vishnu Dhandhania, past president of RC Belur, helped the project team to understand the nuances of a global grant and “put us in touch with the international partners. Erkki Pasanen of RC Leppavirta, RID 1430, the global contact for this project, was instrumental in motivating Finnish clubs to join as partners in the limb fitment camp,” he adds.
