Laos
Before POWER started in Laos, services for amputees were scarce. We were invited to help in 1995 by the Ministry of Health and started a nationwide programme partnered with the government.
Then in 1997 we set up a local organisation called COPE (Co-operative Prosthetic and Orthotic Enterprise), so that in time the service could be run and managed by Lao staff. This was achieved by the end of 2005.
Today we are still involved as a donor and supporter of COPE, which now treats about 1,500 patients per year throughout Laos. With funding from individuals, trusts and governments such as the Isle of Man Overseas Committee, COPE is reaching out to more and more people as awareness of the service grows (read recent results and stories by clicking here ).
You can see COPE's work in action by going to www.bbc.co.uk/lifeline , accessing the Lifeline Appeal Archive on the left and going to the June 2008 programme. If you want to know more about COPE you can visit their website, www.copelaos.org
Below, actor Jeremy Edwards sees a baby with club foot in the clinic in Vientiane.
But the work doesn't stop there....
Until our arrival in Laos, there was no association benefiting disabled people.
With grants from The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the UK's Department for International Development (DfID), we have strengthened the Lao Disabled People's Association over 7 years and are proud that it can now help to meet the needs of thousands of people with disabilities in the majority of the provinces.
The next phase is to strengthen this organisation’s provincial branches and work through the provinces directly with women and children. We have been awarded two grants from the European Commission to carry this out over the next 3 years.
With funding from the European Commission, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangkok and two trusts we are now beginning a project specifically to improve the rights of disabled women and girls in 5 provinces. This exciting project will use radio clubs to communicate some of its messages and also train women with disabilities to take on leadership roles.
 We have also received further funding from the European Commission to start a three year project to work with children to help them get into school. In the words of Nelson Mandela: education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. By helping children with disabilities gain access to education, we believe they can change their world!
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