The BOMBAY SCOTTISH “Back-on-their-feet" initiative is a campaign that is being done by me & other students at my school to raise funds to give mobility to villagers who have lost their legs to amputation in the very backward Vidarbha region of MAHARASHTRA. 

The funds I raise will be used to give prosthetics (artificial limbs) for those who have lost a leg to accidents, disease, and birth deformities. This is being planned with a focus on the towns of WARDHA, YAVATMAL, and CHANDRAPUR in the Vidarbha region. These are all located close to Nagpur.

The limbs will get them to walk again, be mobile, transform their lives and the lives of their families. Each prosthetic limb costs just INR 10000 to fund. This includes the cost of organizing a camp where we first meet these patients and measure them to fit the prosthetic, the cost of the actual prosthetic limb, the cost of the next camp then to distribute/ fit them and the cost of training them to use it. Kids can play again, adults can get back to their work, and elders are no more dependent on others.

HELP ME RAISE INR 20000 & IMPACT 2 LIVES

You shall get details of those who have received the prosthetic limbs so that you know how the money has been used. These people could be kids, adults, or the elderly.

All the funds collected from this initiative will go to the " Freedom Trust” NGO. The mission of this wonderful NGO is to limit the disability of economically backward people with a desire to improve their quality of life and make them independent. Rehabilitation and provision of locomotor aids can make a huge difference in a disabled person’s future; a handicapped human being can be empowered to lead a good and dignified life in which he can contribute to society in his own abled way.

CASE STUDY: SRIKANTH'S STORY

LOCATION OF THE CAMP

This will benefit villagers in the areas of Wardha, Yavatmal, and other areas in the VIDARBHA region. 

THE CAMP IS DONE WITH MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES AND WILL 

Identify those who need a prosthetic limb.

Take their measurements.

Get the prosthetic limb fitted and then.

Train the recipients on how to use the prosthetic limb.

This involves more than one visit from Chennai to the Vidarbha region.

ABOUT ME

Hi, I am ISHAAN SHIVALKAR of Class 9 at the Bombay Scottish School at Mahim. My hobbies include football, photography, music. Let me tell you more about this campaign of mine.

Our school had a program where we met representatives from Fueladream.com who told us about a crowdfunding program that is going to help those with amputations walk again. The first thing that struck me was the idea of crowdfunding. I found it fascinating. It was also difficult for me to imagine how people live their life without a limb, as we all take that for granted. But, the idea of crowdfunding made me that I can make a change.

Together, we can make this change & actually help someone get back on their feet. The fact that a contribution of just Rs. 10000 can transform the life of someone, made me realise that I must do something to help. I strongly believe that we can help those who are needy and in the process, transform their lives. Please support my campaign and let us together bring mobility and freedom back into the lives of these people and please spread this cause.

These prosthetics will be given out in the very poor areas of Vidarbha in Maharashtra. We keep hearing about this area because of droughts. This will help men, women, young and the elderly. It will have a ripple effect on their families. A lot of these poor villagers will also be able to work and this will help them immensely. Helping others is something that is close to my heart. Many thanks for your support.

PROSTHETIC LIMB FACTS:

Physically handicapped persons form the lion’s share of the nearly 10 percent handicapped people throughout the world. A sizeable number of these are amputees. Amputation is the severing of a part of the body in order to save the rest of the body, and those who have lost their limbs are called amputees.

Amputees living in the deep interior pockets of India cannot afford to come to the big cities where qualified rehabilitation teams are situated; they neglect their handicaps and resign to a life of immobility. An artificial limb can make all the difference to them and provide not only a means to mobility but also means of living. Many amputees are employable if they can be fitted with an artificial limb and can walk. Yet they are forced to be confined to their homes because they don’t have access to artificial limbs. There is a huge need for prosthetic limbs, especially in deep interior rural areas of India where people who have been amputated are waiting for their limb. The cost of a prosthesis is just INR 10000.

WHY A GOOD PROSTHESIS IS KEY

HOW ARE PROSTHETICS FITTED?

Measurements are taken at a camp and the prosthetics are manufactured, Walk India then returns to the villages to make final adjustments in some cases and the final distribution is then made.

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

We are raising money to cover the cost of prosthetic limbs & the smallest amount you contribute will help them walk again and find jobs and ensure that the condition of the entire family is improved. Once the campaign ends, regular updates will be posted to keep the funders abreast of which person received the prosthetic limb.

These funds are earmarked for a camp that will be done in the VIDARBHA region of MAHARASHTRA.

TAX BENEFITS

By funding this campaign, you are eligible for tax breaks as the FREEDOM TRUST is a registered NGO & you can avail benefits under section 80G of the Income Tax (IT) act. Foreign funding is not accepted. If you are an Indian living abroad or a person holding an Indian passport you can EASILY fund this campaign but you cannot if you have a foreign passport.

ABOUT FREEDOM TRUST 

‘Making Rural Amputees Walk’

Walk India is a wing of Freedom trust and is based out of Chennai. Physically handicapped persons form the lion’s share of nearly 10 percent of people throughout the world. A sizeable number of these are amputees. An estimated 80% of them are from rural areas and their poor economic conditions prevent them from getting themselves a limb that can make them mobile. Living in the deep interior pockets of India, they cannot afford to come to the big cities where qualified rehabilitation teams are situated; they neglect their handicap and later get resigned to a life of immobility. Sometimes a person who has been using an artificial limb is unable to use it when his prosthesis wears out and becomes irreparable. An artificial limb can make all the difference to them and provide not only a means to mobility but also a means to a living.

In order for amputees to lead a life with dignity and avoid their dependence on their caregivers, they need to be fitted with a prosthesis [artificial limbs]. Amputees provided with artificial limbs can walk, run, and even climb a tree. Many of these persons with amputation are employable, and very often it is the inaccessibility to artificial limbs that makes them confined to home. A handicapped person means a handicapped family. Making a handicapped person mobile contributes immensely to the improvement of society.

Application of the principles of limb fitting is a very scientific process and involves the measurement and fitment by a prosthetic engineer. The prosthesis, so fitted, is customized to the user, and cannot be mass-produced.

A mobile van fully equipped with tools to manufacture artificial limbs and service them was donated by a grant from the Rotary Foundation in 2017. The van is fitted with a wing-like roof tent on both sides, opening it up on either side that makes it a camp venue. Be it on a field, a dried-up lake, the roadside, or under a tree, wherever the van is parked, the place becomes the campsite.

FREEDOM TRUST sends this mobile workshop into rural areas to identify amputees, take measurements, and provide artificial limbs in order to make them walk. A team consisting of the social worker, trained prosthetists, and physiotherapist provides technical support.

Modus Operandi of WALK INDIA:

Each camp begins with a field visit made by the coordinator from Freedom Trust. He identifies the local agency or associations working for the disabled and having data of amputees in need of an artificial limb in that particular village or district. He then charts a road map and begins the camp with the van accompanied by a team of prosthetic engineers with it. A venue is decided which acts as a central place for the camp making it convenient for the amputees from the surrounding areas to visit the campsite. This is coordinated and assisted by the local organizer in bringing them.

Each beneficiary is registered and enrolled in a separate form, adequate information including their photos and proofs are collected.

The van also contains physiotherapy equipment and walking aids for training purposes, compulsory GAIT training (It is the type of physical therapy which helps to improve the ability to stand and walk after sustaining an injury or disability. Physiotherapists help their patients with gait training] accurate fitment of prostheses is done to each beneficiary. After each camp, separate training is giving to the local organizers, caregivers, or NGOs by social workers on rehabilitation concepts wherein they are trained on vocational rehabilitation for amputees and to affiliate, the beneficiaries with them for periodical follow-ups.