In Vietnam and around South East Asia, the
number of people who have lost limbs to such
things as landmines, polio and malnutrition is
phenomenal. It is said that at least 300,000
people currently require prostheses or other
equipment in order to walk. In order to enjoy
a normal life.

For decades, The Nippon Foundation has supported projects that aim
to help people stand on their own. However, unlike many grant
makers, we make an active effort to reach places that are sometimes
neglected. Thus, The Nippon Foundation does not supply such
equipment to places like Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City, where the
government and NGOs are already taking good care of the population.
Instead, since 1999, we have focused our efforts on the mountainous
central regions, distributing prostheses there.

The number of Vietnamese amputees and
paraplegics shot up in the 1960s and 70s, with
the Vietnam War. 30 years after the end of that
war, the number of people who need prostheses
every year continues to rise, due to landmines,
traffic accidents and sickness. Unfortunately,
the number who can actually obtain relief, in
the form of artificial limbs, is largely
limited to those who live in the major cities.
Since many live far from urban areas, they are
unable to receive other kinds of support as
well, and have to rely on family members.

Through Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped(VNAH), a US-based
NGO, The Nippon Foundation has to date donated 22,500 such
prostheses to people living in central Vietnam. This past spring,
we pledged an additional 3,000 new prostheses, pushing that number
over the 25,500 mark.

To assure that the artificial limbs fit their owners well,
technicians meet with them about three times, adjusting the legs
and eventually achieving a perfect fit. Thanks to this, people are
beginning to conduct normal lives, even working outside the home.
Since family support is no longer as necessary as it was before,
the economic burden is lessened. In addition, the recipients
themselves achieve emotional and financial self sufficiency, regain
their dignity as human beings, and become able to lead productive
lives.

Thanks to prostheses, people who have lost a
limb become able to lead the same kind of life
as those around them.

This is not all. In addition to providing training and work-
support, we fund programs that are training people from all over
Asia to be prosthetic technicians. In all of Asia, there is a
dangerous lack of people who can accurately fit prostheses to those
who need them. Vietnam is no exception. We are trying to correct
this problem, so that those who have had their potential limited by
illness or accidents can return to society. We are educating men
and women who are then putting their training and experience to
use, becoming technological leaders in their own countries.

Through such multi-faceted support, The Nippon
Foundation is enabling amputees throughout Asia
to attain emotional, physical and economic self-
sufficiency. Our support through VNAH is a
vital part of this.

Writer: James Huffman