Get someone back on their feet this festive season!
Between midday on November 29th and midday on December 6th, you can double your donation to support the expansion of our project in Ghana to get someone back on their feet. We are hoping to deliver more legs and provide more Peer Support & Counselling services across the country.
If you want to double your contribution to this project, please donate via the Big Give website:
Situation
20% of Ghanaians live with a disability. Yet prosthetic legs are nearly unobtainable in Ghana, outside the centres we support, and 160,000 people require prosthetic and orthotic services. People living with limb differences in Ghana face various issues: mental and physical health, unemployment, social stigma and discrimination, and extreme isolation. Amputation can lead to depression, anxiety and PTSD. 66% of amputees develop a mental health disorder due to limb loss, and in West Africa, 80% of people will not receive any emotional or physical rehabilitation support.
“I was involved in an accident in my infancy and became a double amputee. My family decided to isolate me to protect me from stigma, so for a very long time I was not confident and was in hiding. But, working with Legs4Africa as a counsellor has boosted my confidence and I am happy to help other amputees to step out from their hiding.”
Harriet Adjoa Amuzu, Peer Counsellor, Ghana
Solution
We deliver prosthetic legs and train amputee counsellors to help rehabilitate their peers in mobility centres in Accra. However, within inland Ghana, there are currently no counselling services for those with disabilities. We want to expand our project in the North so more people with limb differences can benefit from medical care and peer counselling. Our project enables independent living for amputees so that they may reclaim their place in local communities.
Campaign Aims
- Provide rehabilitation and educational services for amputees. For example, carry out home visits to ensure the correct, safe and comfortable use of prosthetics, encourage amputees to join support communities, and create and ensure the distribution and explanation of visual guides given to each service user.
- Create sustainable peer support and counselling services for amputees in Ghana so each amputee can find support as part of a community.
- Collect and send prosthetics components to our partners to get 400 people in Ghana on their feet again.
- Improve accountability for the welfare of amputees. This approach includes assisting hospitals in creating a monitoring system to track each patient, training community support staff, providing technology and ongoing assistance, and building a solid network for amputees and partner clinics across the country.
Campaign Target
- £2,500 – Shipping costs of prosthetic legs to Ghana
- £22,500 – Peer support and community groups in Ghana
Understanding The Target
If we raise an amount exceeding our target, the extra funding will go to ongoing works and other projects in Ghana. We are already working in Accra; additional funds would make a huge difference and finance already secured projects. We intend to keep supporting our current partners and expand to new areas.
“This collaboration has resulted in a great saving of time and money and has put thousands of amputees on their feet. Our relationship with Legs4Africa is a constant source of gratitude from Ghana’s OTC community”
Sister Elizabeth Newman, Managing Director, OTC Ghana
Impact
Through rescuing prosthetic legs that would otherwise end up in landfill and partnering with local mobility centres and community groups, we will help 400 people in Ghana to get back on their feet. Through the facilitation of peer counselling and community support groups, we aim to empower amputees in those regions to reclaim their place in their community and, in this way, tackle prejudice against limb loss in Ghanaian society.
Reporting
Shipping: Confirmation of received 400 prosthetic legs, plus manufacturing materials to Ghana prosthetics units
Rehabilitation: The amputees will work through systematic and community goal-setting procedures with their counsellors, then assess whether the counselling assists them in reaching their goals. We will measure and report the number of those receiving support.
System: Reviewing and monitoring service users as they progress through leg fitting and rehabilitation and obtaining reliable data.
