Report on our visit to the Pogradec Prosthetics Clinic

Thanks for your patience in getting this report published!  Between recovery from a long day of travel, then sporadic internet, well, here goes.

We found the Light of Hope Center without too much difficulty on Wednesday and immediately felt welcome and at home.

Ellie asked if this toy box was a place for "kids with no legs" to play, but immediately jumped in anyway.

We met the staff.  Below is the general manager, an Albanian fellow named Mandi.  He was eager to give us a tour and introduce us to the ministries and programs of their German-based foundation.

It's amazing how they modified a traditional residential space and made it look not too different from the space we know at Shriners in Lexington!

In one space, they were hosting their day program for adults with cognitive disabilities.  These folks have Downs Syndrome.  They start each morning with scripture reading and singing.  Then they work on crafts.

This gentleman was pleased to show us some of the things he has made.

Across the street they have opened a coffee shop with limited hours that employs some of these individuals to integrate them in to the public.  This is extremely counter-cultural!

Then it was back to business!  Daniel, the prosthetist, immediately noted that Reni had long outgrown his almost-three-year-old pair of tall legs.

He pulled out a pair of kids knee joints that he had on hand, previously used.  In the States, it's not legal to utilize 're-cycled' prosthetic components (don't ask me why -- probably something related to liability), but when a silicone liner alone costs around $700, why not try to save money where you can?  Especially when it comes to children, they outgrow their prosthetics before most of the parts have a chance to wear out.

In our case, our medical insurance draws from a pool that all missionaries pay into, so we try to be conscientious about our withdrawels and not spend frivolously.  Though Reni was/is a patient at Shriners, since we have insurance and the prosthetics department on their premises is actually an outside contractor, we still technically pay for Reni's prosthetics.  Shriners does cover the costs of Physician consultations and in-house X-rays. By getting his next pair of legs made here in Albania, not only will we save the time and expense of traveling to the States, but we might also be able to get him a pair of useable prosthetics for a fraction of the cost of the same legs in the States.

Here's Nathan showing Reni how the knee joint will allow him to gain new movement.

The contents of Reni's "leg bag", plus the 'new legs' we'll be harvesting parts from.

Before we left, Daniel and his assistant were casting Reni for his new sockets!  We'll go back to Pogradec the first week of August for the next step!  (Our boy was feeling modest so Mommy respected and changed her angle -- you can see one of his legs peeking out from behind the curtain).

Thank you to all who prayed for us regarding this not-insignificant matter.  We can hardly believe this is a possibility within the borders of Albania.