9 April 2019
More than 400 await prosthetic limbs in the Solomon Islands
For the past few years I have written about and been concerned over the plight of those ex-patients of the National Referral Hospital, now numbering more than 400, that have had surgery to remove a limb resulting from having suffered from diabetes and to-date have not managed to be given a prosthetic limb, mainly in most cases a leg.
The main problem in getting help for those patients to aid their mobility by the manufacture and fitting of artificial limbs is the fact that the once-functioning and well equipped- rehabilitation workshop at the NRH lies derelict and the structure too costly to renovate.
It is my understanding that an Australian charity organization, ‘Motivation’ has been looking into the problem of replacing the workshop but so far has not been successful due to other competing demands on the organization and the services the charity offers.
White-ant and termite infestation is said to have seen the debilitation and damage to the old-colonial rehabilitation workshop.
It occurs to me that a new workshop could readily and economically be provided by adapting a 40 foot shipping container.
It is a popular trend nowadays to convert shipping containers into structures of abode or business premises.
It doesn’t hurt that it can be a lot cheaper as compared to building a structure from the ground up, or even using prefabricated materials.
With a shipping container, the base form is already there; all that’s left to do is to fortify and insulate it to make it as habitable as possible. Apart from that, the fact that it’s also modular makes it very easy to expand.
An office or workshop made from a shipping container does not require a lot of work compared to other building structures. This is because it already comes assembled. As such, you don’t have to build it yourself from the ground up. The only job that is left is modifying the shipping container to make it attractive and suitable to work in. Moreover, modifying the shipping container costs a lot less than what one would spend on other building structures.
There are regional companies specializing in modernizing shipping containers and also companies that supply containers already custom made into offices and workshops.
In the Solomon Islands I feel sure there are competent builders able to undertake modifications to meet NRH requirements for a new rehabilitation workshop. In any event by simply going on line a local builder could easily obtain structural design plans to do the conversion.
A 40 foot container in good condition could cost in the region of US$ 3,000 to US$5,000 – a considerable cost saving to the MoHMS/NRH.
My partner charity in New Zealand, ‘Take My Hands’ (TMH) has numerous contacts with organizations in New Zealand that help with the manufacture and personal fitting of artificial limbs and I know stands ready to assist the NRH and the charity “Motivation” whenever a call is made for assistance.
I believe a Solomon Islander was sponsored by the Australian charity to undergo training in India in the manufacture and fitting of artificial limbs and the trainee has returned home but has not been formally offered employment by the Solomon Islands government to-date.
I believe the initiative is needed now to replace the derelict rehabilitation workshop at the NRH, ideally with a converted steel 40 foot container and to then engage the charity support of ‘Motivation’ and TMH to quickly bring about help to all those limbless patients that have waited far too long to become mobile and decrease their degree of dependency on others.
Please give my suggestions some serious consideration.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
