RECYCLED "SHOES" REMIND HANDICAPPED THAT SOMEONE CARES...
MEMBERS OF A forgotten handicapped community have a permanent reminder at hand of the care shown them by members of a visiting hospital ship.
The ingenious recycled "shoes" they wear to keep them from shuffling about in the dust were fashioned from old deck beams taken from the Anastasis, flagship of Youth With A Mission's Mercy Ships fleet, which just completed a three-month outreach in the West African country.
The wooden blocks they strap to their hands to help protect them from cuts and infection were created by ship's carpenter Juris Zvaigne who was touched by the cripples' plight when he visited their village with other members of the crew.
Unable to walk because of birth defects or accidents, the handicapped live with their families in Solidarity, a community set up outside Conakry by the government some years ago. Wheelchairs and other aids are unavailable because of a lack of funding.
"Nobody cared about them," said Zvaigne," and as a result they had even lost interest in doing something for themselves." So Zvaigne, a former tailor from Latvia who has served with the Anastasis for two years, turned to his workbench.
Tailoring each pair of "shoes" to individual requirements he made the platform from discarded wood decking, padded them with rubber formerly used for packing electronic equipment and added rubber soles made from plumbing materials. Leather straps helped secure the "shoes" to people's hands.
Each pair took up to five hours to complete as he worked in his spare time. The new aids were presented when Mercy Ships workers visited the community to make friends and tell people about Christ. "I felt that it gave an important opportunity to bring hope - to show these people that somebody does care about them," said Zvaigne.
During their time in Guinea, Anastasis volunteers completed 1,000 onboard surgical procedures, saw 9,500 patients at village clinics, treated 1,700 dental cases and delivered relief goods worth almost $250,000.
Mercy Ships was founded in 1978, since when workers have completed projects in more than 70 port districts around the world.
(Photo available on request)
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