The Sri Lankan civil war was very costly in human terms. By the time it ended in May 2009, over 80,000 people had been killed. The deaths include 27,639 Tamil fighters, more than 21,066 Sri Lankan soldiers, 1000 Sri Lankan police, 1500 Indian soldiers, and tens of thousands of civilians. Many thousands were wounded and disabled on both sides of the conflict.

As of January 2010, it is estimated that in Sri Lanka around 160,000 disabled people need prostheses (artifical limbs) and orthoses (braces). This figure includes many landmine accident survivors and wounded victims of the civil war.

Sri Lanka requires a basic minimum of 115 professionally trained prosthetists and orthotists to handle the needs of this disabled population. The responsibility for training and providing these experts is in the hands of the Sri Lanka School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (SLSPO).

SLSPO was established with the collaboration of the Ministry of Health, the Nippon Foundation and the Cambodia Trust in 2004. The primary objective of SLSPO is the education of prosthetists/ orthotists, trained to international standards, to meet the needs of mobility impaired people in Sri Lanka.

The SLSPO course is a three-year, full-time diploma program and includes about 4,600 hours of study. There are two years of practical and academic training plus one year of supervised clinical placement. During the first two years, students undertake practical and academic training in prosthetics, orthotics, anatomy, pathology, physiology, and psychology. Students are carefully taught how to prescribe, manufacture and fit prostheses (artificial limbs) and orthoses (braces).

All classes are taught in English, due to the variety of ethnic groups and students with different languages that enroll in the school. SLSPO includes students from all over Sri Lanka and other Asian countries. This enrollment policy is based upon the philosophy of the Nippon Foundation, which is funding the project, of promoting bridges of friendship that go beyond the barriers of politics and religion, Both the sister schools of Cambodia and Sri Lanka have established professional organizations: the Cambodian Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists, and the Sri Lankan Association of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

SLSPO students learning the techniques of prosthetics and orthotics

Training professionals at the grassroots level in developing nations is a cornerstone of the Cambodia Trust mission. The organization says the training of local capacity reduces reliance on expatriate expertise and helps to ensure the sustainability of rehabilitation services for disabled people.
The second graduation class of SLSPO students took place in April 2009. “Each student worked incredibly hard throughout this period to ensure that they all passed the exams with a class average mark that was exceptionally high,” said Michael Scott, project director of SLSPO. The next three year course began in May 2009. There are 15 students who represent many provinces in Sri Lanka.

SLSPO started in 2004 from a neglected orthopedic workshop in a small Sri Lanka hospital. It transformed into a world class training institution with national and international recognition as of January 2010. It has new buildings and up to date facilities thanks to the efforts of the Cambodia Trust, a NGO established in the UK, and the generous financial funding of the Nippon Foundation.