By Orest
10.02.2014
Edited by Voices of Ukraine

Story:

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has set the stage for multiple deaths, injuries, mutilations, rapes, and many thousands of other atrocities. It’s been too long-lasting: the Revolution of Dignity ended with the killing of the Heavenly Hundred, the invasion of Crimea and the disappearance of people on the peninsula, the invasion of Donbas (Eastern Ukraine) – and thousands dead in the area. We mourn for, bend our heads, and kneel down before those who died during this meaningless Russian act of empire building, and the restoration of the evil Soviet Union. As hundreds of families are dealing with burying their loved ones, others see the return of their sons and daughters injured, mutilated. Their lives will never be the same and the Ukrainian government, as 23 years of independent history indicate, will provide no significant help. Many of the injured individuals with disabilities will never be able to work, have normal relationships, feed themselves, feel wholesome and confident, use a restroom, etc., etc., etc. They will require the help of doctors, psychologists, family members, communities, others.

I took courses to learn how to manufacture and assemble prosthetic hands and attended a conference where I met many top American prostheticians, volunteers, and manufacturers of prosthetics. For my training, I went to the John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, MD where I learned the steps necessary to create prosthetic hands and fingers, to take measurements of disabled arms, and met many people who volunteer their time and resources to help the disabled. The biggest achievement, however, was to establish contact with a prosthetic organization and many private manufactures who agreed to create 2-3 hundred prosthetic hands for people in Ukraine for free.

Fortuitously, most of the participants of the program, who heard about the war in Ukraine and about the growing number of casualties, were inclined to help. So now I wind up with the possibility of getting hundreds of the prosthetic hands and fingers for kids, soldiers, and civilians in Ukraine. This page was created in order to interest any volunteers to help assemble prosthetic hands (instructions will be provided); to find people with disablities in Ukraine who are missing hands, fingers, arms, and to help raise funds to pay for shipment costs, and to purchase more sophisticated prosthetics for those with more severe mutilations. Funds will also be needed to purchase $7,000 worth of equipment to set up two stations in Ukraine to manufacture new prosthetic hands and to manufacture replacement parts for already distributed hands. New hands will also be needed for kids every couple of years, as they outgrow the hands donated to them. These ‘hands’ will be gifted to Ukrainian people absolutely free.

In my next posts I will explain how to join the community and start making a difference. For now, please like the FB page, share it with your friends, seek to find people with disabilities, ask questions, and request to be part of the project. Please be mindful that we provide only hands, fingers, some arm prosthetics – no other prosthetics are available for now. These hands are mechanical, not electrical. A majority of kids and many adults in the US do not have prosthetics because they cost between $40,000 and $80,000, and have to be updated every couple of years. However, because of this innovative technology, a prosthetic hand can be manufactured now for as low as $60. There are a few variations of the hand, and new models with extensions for arm and elbow are coming soon. I will make a presentation of available hands in the next posts [see photos].

[Editor: Please help out financially with this win-win/no lose effort here. They have 31 days to raise the desired funds. We can do this to help hundreds!]
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/give-prosthetics-to-ua-soldiers/267973

Thank you. Orest.

Source: Give Ukraine A Hand FB

Today I met Semen Semenchenko. We agreed to cooperate on the delivery of hand prostheses for Ukrainian soldiers who have lost their hands or fingers in the war in Donbas. Who wants to join and help out? Sign up as a community volunteer!

Source: Give Ukraine A Hand FB