Six year old Maria Isabel, who was born with a defective arm, wanted to be a Disney princess, so the team designed this cool arm for her.
The other day I came across a video by Bastian Barami, one of the German gurus for digital nomads who usually talks about FBA.
But in this video he talks about and with Enable Medellin, a non-profit who is helping victims of landmines and other handicapped people in Colombia with prosthetics which they produce with 3D printers.
Bastian talking to Daniel who had an amputation after a motorcycle accident.
Video is in German and Spanish though, sometimes also in English, a true polyglott experience.
Since the peace of 2017 between the Colombian government and the FARC, the communist guerilla, life has become less violent in Colombia, but the decades long conflict has left a deadly legacy for Colombians, landmines, making Colombia one of the most mine-affected countries in the world.
Over 11400 people have been victims of landmines, about 10 % of that number being children.
Those landmine accidents usually happen in rural areas, the victims are often poor and cannot afford prosthetics.
So Enable Medellin is providing those prosthetics for free, with the help of local and international volunteers and donations. Also the 3D printing process reduces the costs of those prosthetics to about 10 % of conventional ones. And they can be easily individualized and look way cooler.
During my research I learned that Enable Medellin is part of global network Enabling The Future with many local chapters all over the world. Since the designs for the prosthetics are open source, basically anybody with access to a 3D printer can produce them. Of course there is a learning curve and it would probably be wise to let people with experience produce those prosthetics, but it would not be impossible to do it yourself.
Remember the outcry when some guy printed the first gun with a 3D printer?
Well, that´s the thing about many of the technological advances nowadays, you can use them to produce hell or paradise, your choice.
Another great story is that of Veronica, an orphan from Uganda.
Not only does her new arm give her an improved quality of life, I can also imagine that it will make her a bit of a celebrity in her place because now she has something special, something other kids and adults don´t have. That´s why I like the possibilities for individualized designs with 3D printing, transforming a handicapped person into a very unique person. What this must do for the self-esteem of those kids!
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