VOIWORLD/LAVANYA KUKREJA
India recently hosted a five-day long Jaipur Foot Camp in the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul. This has been the part of humanitarian assistance India has been providing to the vulnerable and conflict affected regions of Afghanistan. As part of this initiative, the camp was organized by the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) originally from Jaipur, India which is known for supplying low-cost prosthetics through such camps. The camp was held for more than 5 days in Kabul, wherein at least 75 prosthetic limbs were successfully distributed to the distressed people in need including children, workers or elderly people who lost their body parts in accidents, wars, etc. and could not afford the expensive prosthetics.
The camp received great enthusiasm from the differently abled people who benefitted from the free customized prosthetics, fitting and basic mobility training services that improved their quality of life and gave them a chance at a better livelihood.
Jaipur Foot is an affordable and sustainable prosthetic limb made from materials such as polymer. It was first invented in 1968 by Ram Chandra Sharma, under the guidance of Dr. P.K. Sethi in Jaipur. The Jaipur Foot today also includes the Jaipur Knee which is a prosthetic knee joint developed in collaboration with Stanford University. Developed by BMVSS, the world’s largest non-profit organization supporting over 2 million differently abled people, the Jaipur Foot and similar camps have been organized in 44 countries, over 100 times. The BMVSS is funded by the MEA under India for Humanity which allows it to continue to help people in need without asking for a single penny through such camps.
