For Project 42 - Love Standing, we are joining forces with Legs4Africa for the second time to repurpose prosthetic legs that were headed for landfills in the UK, Canada, France and Australia and instead sending them to those in need throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and helping hundreds of amputees to walk again. 

In the UK, approximately 5,000 prosthetic legs end up in landfills every year. Meanwhile, in Africa, 1.7 million amputees need a limb to help them live independent lives. They have suffered the great loss of limb but also the lasting impact it has on physical functioning, self-esteem, and mental health. 

Legs4Africa’s mission is to provide affordable physical and psychological/emotional rehabilitation to amputees across Africa. Legs4Africa collects prosthetic limbs and ships them out to partner mobility centers across Africa, where they build or repair legs for people that otherwise may never walk again. Doing Good by reducing waste, and doing good by providing those in need with the ability to walk again!

For this project, we aim to recycle 1,250 legs and deliver them directly to amputees in need across Sub-Saharan Africa, so they may move freely again with dignity. 

Helping thousands of people to walk again and regain their mobility and confidence will cost under $15.50 per prothetic!

Every dollar counts and is one step closer to helping another take their first independent step towards a brighter future! Please GIVE TODAY and help us reach our goals for Project 41- Love Standing.

Project Scope

Country:  SubSaharan Africa

# Served: 1,250 People

Need: $20,000

Help people walk again by giving…

$16 Provides 1 Prosthetic Leg

$90 Provides 5 Prosthetic Legs

$160 Provides 10 Prosthetic Legs

$1600 Provides 100 Prosthetic Legs

MAY & JUNE UPDATe

An eMite team member will be heading to Ghana this month to see the completion of Project 42!

Not only does your support help deliver repurposed prosthetic legs to amputees throughout SubSaharan Africa, but also it enables our partner Legs4Africa to develop peer-support services for those with limb differences in Ghana. Last month four candidates were selected to undertake peer-counseling support training with Equilinks Counseling Services.

This training aims to provide potential peer counselors with skills to complement their lived experience as amputees so that they can provide their peers with emotional support during their rehabilitation and recovery.

APRIL UPDATE

Recently, our partner jumped on a flight to Aberdeen in Scotland and dropped by the Men’s Sheds and Mobility Clinics to pick up the unwanted prosthetic legs that have been mounting up since the start of the COVID pandemic.   

At each location, we asked staff why they think recycling legs is important, and we got some fascinating responses:

“My position at Newcastle DSC is the administrator. Rather than going to landfill to waste,  I’d rather have them be recycled and be reused through to good cause,” James Bridgewood, Disablement Services Centre, New Castle

“What could be a more worthy cause than making sure that people that can’t afford limbs or access a limb service, can get limbs. From our point of view, it’s recycling. What could be better than a green environmental benefit? By the end of the month, we’ve got many, many limbs that have been returned by amputees that are perfectly serviceable, that we have to either skip or dispose of. Making sure they’re getting recycled and reused for worthy cause is just perfect,” Carl Elliot, Specialist Rehabilitation, Leeds

Want to learn more about the importance of recycling prosthetics? Check out this informative video put together by Legs4Africa.

MARCH UPDATE

Lots of legs have arrived at the Ganta Rehab Center in Liberia! This is part of our partners Legs4africa’s project upgrade, which provides funding for equipment, machinery, and training for prosthetic workshops that receive prosthetic components. 

Thank you to our giving community for making this possible, and we are so excited to see what is in store for them!

february update

We are so excited that the Gambia Amputee Football Team was able to attend their first official international tournament this year in Tanzania! 

A squad of 17 players, support staff, and delegates traveled to Tanzania to attend the Cup of African Nations Amputee Football, where the team beat Nigeria, Zanzibar, and Uganda (through a no-show), placing 9th overall. This is a fantastic achievement; they are all champions in our eyes! We can’t wait to see what else this team can accomplish. Thanks to you, many amputees have been gifted with prosthetic limbs so they may regain mobility and quality of life — just like our football stars!