Chairs emerging despite difficulties

Difficulties:
HEAT, the cost of cassava flour and getting used to using glutinous, jelly-like paste, the HEAT again and frequent stops for feeding babies, finding the boards delaminating and all of us getting lost in translation!
However having felt things were going too slowly, progress is being made. Chatting has been up on the agenda and the mothers experience lots of difficulties, problems with inaccessible public transport, lack of school facilities and general stigma with the most hurtful being suggestions that their child should be taken to the river (left there). We're hoping that a trouble shared is a trouble halved.

There have had discussions on what types of equipment each needs and it has helped to try out the items made by Paper Furniture Enterprise Volunteers

Using a standing frame as a prone board

Trying out the chair - and the new arrangement of straps coming from under the seat of the chair attached to straps from the back of the chai at pelvis level and attaching toegther helping position the pelvis back and down.

 

The early birds getting started on their chairs

5 chairs emerging

Destined to become a a knee-block chair

A reclining chair being strapped for a child who has had an operation for spina bifida

Veronica has been helping this week - it is great to have her chatting with the Mums. Here she is making a small model chair and standing frame to take in her bag to show people what she is doing.

The first chair to get a final layer of brown paper

Baby Boomers in Ghana

We had a lovely Sunday going to church where Veronica's husband in the pastor, seeing the family again and the little one.

Here is Veronica in her Unit . She makes APT items to order, especially for Military 37 and Ridge Hospitals and has been helping others. She made this cot for her baby and used it to take her to church.

Back at the Korle Bu Workshop -

 The training course has started with 6 Mums and almost as many littleones

 All the APT and other little toys we managed to squeeze in are being really appreciated - even the pictures on the sides of the cot.

Teddy is appreciated - note the touching toes

 Richard and Dick's elephant plus Nathan's chair!

Prof Diarra, Paediatrician from Burkina Faso visited and the work was admired.

Preparations for the course

Poster in the Children's Physiotherapy department

A lovely statue to look at in the middle of shopping for a kettle and various small items for the training

After a planning meeting - not a coffee break, a coconut break

Busy preparing items for the training - the new patterns are hanging, ready for action soon

The Carpenter who has been making the tables, Jane and the Security man

GhanaVisitFeb2013

Meeting Alex Trusdell from Adaptive Design in New York- inspirational work making individualised equipment from trifluted cardboard. Wonderfully fitted this in at Heathrow before Jane and Jean left for Ghana

Behold..

The New Workshop at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra!

On Monday 11th 7 parents will be learning Appropriate Paper-based Technology  techniques and how to make assisitve chairs and standing frames for children.

Jane checking the standing frame (actually looking for our teabags!)

 - note the beautiful painted pink walls

Betty from the Physiotherapy Department, next door, visiting to greet us.

So an Exciting new venture.....

BIG Thankyous to everyone for helping with WORK in UK and Ghana, contributions in financing the containers and visits, good wishes and prayers.