wfn.org | Program to Assist Landmine Victims

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (430
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Note 428 by UMNS on Nov. 3, 1997 at 15:55 Eastern (1788 characters).

CONTACT:	Linda Bloom					616(10-21-71B){428}
		New York (212) 870-3803				  Nov. 3, 1997

United Methodist project provides
limbs for landmine victims in Angola

by United Methodist News Service

	A program to provide artificial limbs to women maimed by landmines in Angola
is being established by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
	As a joint project of United Methodists and the Angolan government, the
program not only will help hundreds of women, but also will provide training
for Angolan technicians by the Jaipur Prosthesis Program of India.
	Sarla Lall, a board executive, said the Jaipur foot technology "is the
simplest technology I have ever come across" and can be provided at a cost of
$40 each in Angola, compared to the $1,500 to $2,000 a limb that is the
current cost there.
	Injuries sustained from the estimated 9 to 20 million landmines buried in
Angola have resulted in about 70,000 amputees and cripple another 150 to 200
people each week. While men can receive prosthesis through the army and other
sources, women often do not have access to the artificial devices.
	The United Methodist emphasis will be on women, according to Lall, because
both the church and the government believe if a woman is helped to gain full
mobility, "you not only help her, you help the entire family."  
	In February, at "camps" in Luanda and Melange, an estimated 600 women will be
fitted for artificial limbs. The Angolan technicians will observe and assist.
The technicians then will go to India for training -- the foot specialists for
two months and the leg specialists for three months.
	A second session for women is set for next July, where the Angolan
technicians will do the work, assisted by Indian advisors.
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