Mobile Outreach to Rural Vietnam

Map of Northern Vietnam.  Click to enlarge.
An amputee takes her first steps on her new limb with the help of a POF prosthetist

There are an estimated 107,000 amputees living in Vietnam. Many lost their limbs in the Vietnam War and during subsequent border conflicts with neighboring China. Landmines and unexploded ordnances have continued to harm children and adults alike, decades after the wars ended. In recent years, work and traffic accidents, as well as disease and untreated infections, have taken the limbs of still more of Vietnamese men, women and children.

An amputee's residual limb is measured for a new prosthesis

It is estimated that over 500 amputees live in the remote mountains of Northern Vietnam where POF is currently focusing its attention. In this rugged environment, having access to quality prosthetic care is essential to the survival of amputees and their families, many of whom rely on subsistence farming as their mainstay.

Each year, a team of POF-trained Vietnamese prosthetists visits as many rural communities as they can, taking plaster casts of the residual limbs of amputees. These casts are then transported to our prosthetics center in Hanoi, where a custom-made artificial limb is fabricated. The team then returns to the rural communities to fit the amputees with their new artificial limbs. They carry basic tools with them to make any final modifications that may be necessary to improve the fit and comfort of the new limbs.


Learn more about POF rural outreach...


  Travel to Son La Province with the Vietnam Outreach Team

Travel to Vietnam's Mountain Provinces with POF Outreach Team

Watch!

A young boy takes his first steps with a
new limb during a POF outreach trip

  Three Legs Across America, a bike ride for Vietnamese amputees

Three Legs Across America, a bike ride for Vietnamese amputees

  Meet some of our success stories!

Success Stories

1. Duong

2. Toan