Construction Begins on Healing Hands for Haiti Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Institute in Haiti

March 25, 2011 - PRLog -- With documents signed and agreements in place, the site for Haiti’s first Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Institute is now being cleared as they commence the construction phase of the project.  A dream, many years in the making, is becoming a reality on Rue John Brown in Port-au-Prince. This site is the headquarters of Healing Hands for Haiti International (HHHI) and the future home of the Institute.

Over the next twelve months, the International Committee for the Red Cross - Special Fund for the Disabled (ICRC-SFD) will rebuild and equip a new outpatient facility in Haiti, managed by HHHI. It is the first building in the Institute complex. This facility will meet the needs of thousands of disabled people in the country who are often a forgotten part of the Haitian population.  Helping these people manage their daily lives, and to do it with dignity, is crucial work. The SFD has received financial support from the American and the Norwegian Red Cross Societies and recently a conditional commitment has been received from the Australian Red Cross Society for the remainder. The project also includes material, technical and educational support that the SFD will provide to HHHI for the next five years.

Due to open in early 2012, this Physical Rehabilitation facility will include possibilities for consultations and physical therapy, a workshop for fabricating artificial limbs (prosthetics) and orthotics, a pharmacy and training rooms for HHHI Educational programs and meetings.

“It’s a great name. It’s a great concept. We are very proud to be associated with Healing Hands for Haiti,” said Prof. Claude Le Coultre, Chair ICRC-SFD during a recent visit from her headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to the project in Haiti.

“Many years of planning and developing relationships with our partners are coming to a crescendo as we embark on this exciting project. With more than 800,000 Haitians currently living with disabilities, this Rehabilitation Hospital gives hope for a brighter future to so many,” says Eric Doubt, Executive Director for HHHI.

HHHI was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to bringing physical medicine and rehabilitation services and programs to Haiti, which will eventually be run by Haitians for Haitians.

Founded by the ICRC in 1983, the SFD provides support for physical rehabilitation services in more than 30 low-income countries: mainly materials and training for local experts to manufacture artificial limbs and other mobility devices, and frequently using its own, low-cost technology. The SFD has been working with HHHI since 2005.

For more information, please visit www.healinghandsforhaiti.org.

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Healing Hands for Haiti is dedicated to fostering the expansion of quality rehabilitation services and programs for the benefit of Haitian adults and children with physical and mental disabilities.