Vancity Member Designs Bicycle Ambulances For Africa and More

A tiny patient tests Design For Development's Bicycle Ambulance in Opuwo village, Namibia

Thank you so much Kate for that wonderful  and heart-felt comment on our last blog. We look forward to hearing from you soon. It really is amazing what Vancity members are accomplishing these days, as we see in the Blog.

Design For Development is Not Just About Bicycle Ambulances and Bambulances:

Mulago Hospital, Kampala

Design For Development hopes to work with Dr. Niranjan Kissoon and BC Children’s Hospital to design solutions to children’s healthcare needs at Mulago Hospital, Uganda.

Dr. Kissoon is the senior medical director for the acute and critical care programs at BC Children's Hospital  and associate head of pediatrics. Mulago Hospital is located in Kampala and is Uganda’s national referral, teaching and research hospital. The Hospital is dedicated to providing specialized tertiary healthcare, training health workers and conducting research.

Our first project will be to design an improved oxygen-distribution system for critically ill children. We will provide a design solution that facilitates a consistent, reliable and effective flow of oxygen to more than one child from a single source.

Design For Development’s goal is to provide a prototype oxygen-delivery system that will have undergone preliminary trials at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. The prototype will then be tested at Mulago Hospital in Uganda.

The prototype will be adaptable, using local materials and manufacturing processes in Uganda. Design For Development will teach local residents to manufacture, run and maintain the devices and establish a system of hospital-based monitoring and evaluation.

We are going to Ladakh, Kashmir this summer:

The Design for Development Society is excited to be collaborating with the Centre for International Health, BC Children’s Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Centre and Health Inc. In Ladakh. the Design For Development Society will be participating in the six week project with a focus on providing design education, training and solutions as part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team.

Ladakh is in northwestern India, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and consists of two districts. It is bordered by Pakistan in the west and China in the northeast. Ladakh is the highest plateau of Indian-held Kashmir with the majority above 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The region covers the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges and the upper Indus River valley. The largest city in Ladakh is Leh.

The majority of Ladakis are Tibetan Bhuddists, followed by Shia Muslims.

In Ladakh, children with disabilities represent a vulnerable and marginalized population and are often excluded from daily activities such as attending school and interacting with peers. This marginalization is compounded in the remote areas where accessibility is an issue and government services/resources are very minimal, if they exist at all. It is reported that there are over 2,000 people with disabilities living in Ladakh.

The most common disabilities are developmental delay, hearing impairment and cerebral palsy; other conditions include polio, spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

The Ladakh Disability and Training Program is an initiative supported through the Centre for International Child Health (CICH). The Centre for International Child Health is the leadership and coordinating body for international child health initiatives at BC Children’s Hospital. The centre provides support for the developmentof international health proposals, establishes educational and training partnershipswith local hospitals, universities and NGOs, and supports research projects that have the capacity to contribute to child health. The centre works both internationally and locally to promote the health of children.

This year the Design for Development Society has joined the team and will contribute to the project in three major areas. First, our participating designer will provide research, planning and implementation of issues identified last year (i.e.designing a playground using reclaimed materials).

Second, we will provide solutions to in-field design problems in collaboration with local Ladakhi community members and the multi-disciplinary healthcare team (i.e. positioning and mobility equipment,adaptive aids and developmental toys).

Finally, DFD will complete a needs assessment together with community members to identify future design opportunities that we might address in the longer term. This will include the above areas as well as the transport of individuals with health and mobility issues, hygiene and issues related to health, basic needs and education.

We are very excited about these projects, Bambulance and our Bicycle Ambulances (see previous post).

We invite Vancity members to support our efforts in all of these areas. Vancity is our financial institution because we share the same philosophies about social responsibility and giving back to our communites-not just here at home, but around the Global Village. The Design For Development Society is a Vancouver-based non-profit. Our Charitable Registration Number is 848967568 RR0001. All donations are tax-deductible.

For more information, or to make a donation, please contact Pat at Tel 604.707-0483 Email pat@designfordevelopment.org

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