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Date: 17 May 2017
Safeera ‘s Diary: A visit to the Prosthetic Hospital
Yesterday we visited the prosthetic clinic in Reyhanli. We were given a tour of the clinic. The majority of the patients are from Syria, many have lost limbs due to the airstrikes. 20% of the patients that come to this clinic are children.
The clinic was a bit quiet because the technicians were in training. But we managed to speak to a few people and bring you their stories.
Meet Juma Al Eliwy a 57 year old former teacher from Idlib. He lost his leg 2 years ago in an airstrike. He currently with the help of his teenage son struggles to support a family of 5. They live in a 1 bedroom apartment. He is currently learning to use his new prosthetic. #CiiRadio#Storiesofthedisplacedmillions
Meet Khadeeja. She is a technician at the prosthetic clinic. She works along with her husband (Mohammed) and deals mainly with women and children. She has left her 18 month old son in Idlib because she wants to use be off service to her sisters and brothers. #storiesofthedisplacedmillions #CiiRadio
Meet Yusuf Salaam from Lebanon. He is conducting training for technicians at the Prosthetic hospital. A lot of the training for the prosthetics happens at Ankara University, however sometimes they visit the clinic in Reyhanli for lectures and. Interesting fact, technicians from Gaza often visit Turkey for training with the Syrian technicians because they face similar circumstances with their patients. #storiesofthedisplacedmillions #CiiRadio
This is the sadaqah box at the clinic. Staff put money whenever they can usually 1 Turkish Lira at time to support patients who are too poor to afford shoes (after the prosthetic is fixed) or food. We contributed sadaqah on behalf of our Cii Radio family. We also put some chocolates (gifts from listeners) in the fridge for children who attend the clinic (they usually cry when the prosthetics are being fitted). #storiesofthedisplacedmillions #CiiRadio
Meet Hadee. She works as a secretary at the National Syrian Project for Prosthetic Limbs. She was starting a masters degree in linguistics when she had to leave Syria. She stopped her studies and was a stay at home mom to a 2 year old son Amir. 5 months ago she joined the clinic to assist people. The hardest part of her job is meeting amputees and hearing their stories of war and turmoil. Hadee has not seen her parents and siblings for 3 years. She tells me “my wish for the future, I want to return to my country. My house. I want to see my parents” #storiesofthedisplacedmillions #CiiRadio
Meet Mr Reed Almasre. He is a 42 year old and studied mathematics and infomatics at Al Bas university. He lived for 36 years in Syria and has resettled back in Turkey for the last 6 years. A group of Dr’s who lived abroad conceptualised the idea for training technicians and establishing a prosthetic centre in 2012. The Nation Syrian Project for Prosthetic Limbs seeks develop, train and conduct workshops for technicians as well as provide prosthetics and rehabilitation to amputees. The organization relies on relief aid mostly from Syria Relief, SEMA and the Syrian British Medical Society. Patients are treated for free irrespective of background. Each patient is given an interview, an appointment is set. Measurements are then taken and after a week a prosthetic limb is made up and fitted. Thus far the centre has made 4500 prosthetic and treated 3300 patients. The biggest challenge they face at present is operational costs and training. It costs appreciated $550 for 1 prosthetic (adults require 3 changed at 6 months, 1 year and 2 year intervals. Kids require a new limb every 4 months). Training costs €2500 per person. Plans are to expand the centre an continue with training. Mr Almasre ends with “I am grateful to cii for visiting us. My greatest wish is that the war will end. If the war ends there will be no amputees.” #storiesofthedisplacedmillions #CiiRadio
In the next video you will see how technican Mahmoud makes a prosthetic from scratch.
Stay tuned to Cii Radio to listen to Safeera’s updates on the #Storiesofdisplacedmillions
