We first heard Emmanuel’s touching story in 2008 from Brittany and Christina… they worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo and met Emmanuel at an orphanage. This remarkable young boy is a congenital, bi-lateral amputee. 

“He was unwanted by his family, was forced to beg for money on the streets, and was unable to attend school. At age eight, Emmanuel was rescued and brought to the orphanage, where he was finally able to attend school and receive food and shelter. Emmanuel is intelligent, joyful, and almost always smiling; however, he has been limited by his disability. With few job opportunities in Congo, Emmanuel’s life chances were very limited. Without the ability to walk, it seemed that Emmanuel might end up begging on the streets once he left the orphanage at age eighteen.” – Brittany

Brittany and Christina was able to assist Emmanuel to receive revision surgery and his first ever set of prostheses at the age of 12.  They also started PROJECT EMMANUEL http://www.projectemmanuel.org/

 Earlier in 2011 we were contacted by Brittany again – Emmanuel has outgrown his prostheses and needed help obtaining new ones.  We right away felt that we wanted to do anything we can to help this courageous boy obtain new and potentially more durable prostheses. With generous monetary assistance from Westminster United Church (Outreach Committee as well as the congregation) we were able to purchase all the materials, components and some tools for the Wote Pamoja Clinic in DRC to manufacture Emmanuel’s new prostheses. We are also sending them a detailed manual with pictures and French translations.  — A huge thank you to Francois Nadeau from Bioness Canada for his assistance with the translation http://www.bioness.com/Canada_-_English.php.

Brittany and Christina is going back to DRC in July 2011 with all the above mentioned materials and the mission to photographically document the process as well as assess the clinic’s future needs to assist Emmanuel in the long-term.

To be ethically responsible and in an effort to find a sustainable solution for Emmanual, as well as countless other children like him, it is the IFPD’s goal to work closely WITH the Wote Pamoja clinic and find a way to assist them in using the skills and knowledge they have and our access to potential funding and materials to establish a long-term relationship.

Emmanuel will be fitted with Niagra feet and a cross-over pylon newly designed by V2innovations Ltd. and Myrdal Orthopedic Technologies. The Wote Pamoja Clinic and Emmanuel’s feedback with regards to the design will be invaluable for further research and development.  Cobus Venter has a keen interest in combining his knowledge and experiences of working in South Africa, Haiti and North America in the field of Orthotics and Prosthetics. He acknowledges that there is great power in putting so called “developed” and “developing” world technology together – hence the newly designed cross-over pylon he initiated.

Anyone interested in contributing to this project in the DRC can contact us at information@theifpd.org

Thank you to WESTMINSTER UNITED CHURCH http://westminsterchurchwinnipeg.ca/index.html and MYRDAL ORTHOPEDIC TECHNOLOGIES http://www.myrdalorthopedics.com/ in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for your  support in assisting Emmanuel.