Help Baffour make clubfoot braces (BnB) for Africa
Donation protected
Recently a clubfoot father and shoemaker from Ghana named Baffour Awuah II came to the clubfoot support groups on Facebook asking how to make better shoes for his son who was given an expensive but low-quality brace. This brace design is popular in Africa because the instructions for making it are available online, and any shoemaker can make the brace. It is meant to be inexpensive. However, it is still too expensive for many families, while low quality, and the feet tend to slip out. The shoes do not have a strap to hold the foot in place, and the bar size is not adjustable as the baby grows. Africa needs a better foot abduction brace.
Baffour wants to begin making quality foot abduction braces for children in Africa, but he needs some help to be better able to do so. This fundraiser is meant to help provide him with a modest list of the tools required to be able to sew the leather shoes and craft the metal bars. In addition to funding these tools, Baffour needs to travel to Brazil to train with a skilled shoemaker named Diogo Felix Santana , who makes quality shoes for clubfoot children in Brazil. Diogo is donating his time to help Baffour learn to make the braces, but we need help with airfare and room and board for Baffour while he is training with Diogo.
When I first met Baffour and asked about his efforts, he told me that he really needed better tools to be able to craft the bar, as well as a better sewing machine. The one he uses now is not meant for thick leather and is not mechanized. It is really only good for women's shoes, he said. He then gave me this very modest list of tools that would help him be able to make braces for other babies. This small amount was all I was thinking about asking for help with but then I thought, "why not just send Baffour to Brazil to learn how to make the shoes that Diogo has already designed and perfected?".
I am excited to think of the partnership of these two men that will help babies in Africa have a quality shoe and bar for bracing.
This is the list of tools and the prices to buy them in Ghana.
I am excited to think of the partnership of these two men that will help babies in Africa have a quality shoe and bar for bracing.
This is the list of tools and the prices to buy them in Ghana.
-Leather Sewing Machine $459
-Polish Machine $102
-127 pc Household Tools Set $65
-Angle Grinder (900w) $40
-T-Handle Wrench Screwdriver set $14
-Electric Router (1600w) $91
-Air Compressor (24L) $120
Airfare from Ghana to Brazil fluctuates but generally will cost between $800 and $1,900. Costs for lodging and meals for 7 days at $800, and a little spending money for transportation to and from the shop where the magic happens at about $200. These are all just estimates of costs and the reality may vary.
Due to the fluctuating airfare, we are making our goal at $4,000 which would allow for unknown expenses while in Brazil, as well as help provide for the purchase of raw materials so that Baffour can begin making shoes and bars right away. Any extra funds will be used to help families in need in Africa be able to afford to buy the shoes and bar for their baby.
Please help send Baffour to Brazil to learn how to make good shoes for clubfoot babies!! Anything you can help with will make a difference.
Below, meet Baffour and baby Agymang!
These are Baffour's first attempt at shoes. Note the strap, this is essential for keeping these special feet in the shoes and bar.
This is the standard Steenbeek brace that is common in Africa. The pattern for making it is here: https://global-help.org/products/steenbeek_brace_for_clubfoot/
Note these shoes do not have a strap and they also do not have an adjustable length bar, nor can the abduction (outward rotation) be changed. This child's shoes should not both be abducted to 70 degrees, only one of his feet is affected. The non-clubfoot should be set at 40 degrees. They also do not have a deep heel pocket which is essential for clubfeet.
This is Agymang's clubfoot at birth
What a beautiful plaster cast! The Ponseti Method uses 5-7 weekly plaster casts to slowly and specifically manipulate and hold the foot into a corrected position.
This is Agymang's corrected foot!!
Beautiful corrected clubfoot abduction!!
Nana (King) Baffour Awuah II making shoes in Ghana
The following images are examples of the gorgeous shoes and bar that Diogo makes in Brazil. This is what Baffour will be learning about with Diogo!
My name is Kori Rush and the following is about myself and why I'm involved with this effort.
Clubfoot is the most common birth defect, and it occurs in 1 in 1000 births. Most people have never heard of it, though.
I do outreach and support parents of clubfoot children helping with bracing and information about the Ponseti Method for treating clubfoot without surgery. My daughter, who is 19 years old, was born with clubfoot and treated with this method back when most clubfeet were treated with surgery. She enjoys pain-free and fully functional feet to this day, but when she was first in her brace after being corrected, we had a terrible time with blisters and sores. Bracing is just as important as casting and correction, so parents are told not to take the brace off even when the baby gets blisters and sores. I eventually discovered that the blisters and sores were because I was not putting her shoes on properly or tight enough. Since then, I have shared what I learned with parents who are new to bracing, just like I was so many years ago. I do this through support groups and tips publications online, and now through a website dedicated to helping parents learn about the Ponseti Method, find qualified caregivers and doctors and learn how to put the foot abduction brace on effectively so babies will not get sores and blisters. https://nosurgery4clubfoot.com
A little about clubfoot treatment and the reasons behind my efforts with this fundraiser:
The Ponseti Method allows clubfeet to be corrected without the past's traditionally extensive and mostly not successful surgeries. Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti developed the method in 1947 and the first paper detailing it was published in 1963. However, surgeons largely ignored it for many decades. In 1995, Dr. Fred Dietz published the first long term 30 year follow up study, which proved that the method provided fully functional and primarily pain-free feet for almost all feet treated with this method. And in 1996, Dr. Ponseti published his book, Clubfoot Treatment. A few doctors finally began to take notice and learn the method, and over the next few years, the method was discovered by parents online. Instead of surgery, these parents started demanding their children be treated with the Ponseti Method. Since very few doctors knew how to correct feet with the Ponseti Method, Dr. Ponseti returned from retirement to treat children at the University of Iowa. However, for many more years, only a handful of doctors chose to learn the method and treat their tiny patients with it instead of surgery. In the mid-2000s, the method gained more popularity, and more and more doctors began using the method. It was Dr. Ponseti's dream that his method would be the standard of care by 2020, and that has largely been realized. Today the Ponseti Method is used worldwide.
Dr. Ponseti passed away after a stroke in his office in 2009. He never stopped helping babies have the best feet possible. The Ponseti Clubfoot Center at the University of Iowa continues to be the leading center for training and non-surgical Ponseti Method clubfoot treatment.
Please help send Baffour to Brazil to learn how to make good shoes for clubfoot babies!! Anything you can help with will make a difference.
Below, meet Baffour and baby Agymang!
These are Baffour's first attempt at shoes. Note the strap, this is essential for keeping these special feet in the shoes and bar.
This is the standard Steenbeek brace that is common in Africa. The pattern for making it is here: https://global-help.org/products/steenbeek_brace_for_clubfoot/
Note these shoes do not have a strap and they also do not have an adjustable length bar, nor can the abduction (outward rotation) be changed. This child's shoes should not both be abducted to 70 degrees, only one of his feet is affected. The non-clubfoot should be set at 40 degrees. They also do not have a deep heel pocket which is essential for clubfeet.
This is Agymang's clubfoot at birth
What a beautiful plaster cast! The Ponseti Method uses 5-7 weekly plaster casts to slowly and specifically manipulate and hold the foot into a corrected position.
This is Agymang's corrected foot!!
Beautiful corrected clubfoot abduction!!
Nana (King) Baffour Awuah II making shoes in Ghana
The following images are examples of the gorgeous shoes and bar that Diogo makes in Brazil. This is what Baffour will be learning about with Diogo!
My name is Kori Rush and the following is about myself and why I'm involved with this effort.
Clubfoot is the most common birth defect, and it occurs in 1 in 1000 births. Most people have never heard of it, though.
I do outreach and support parents of clubfoot children helping with bracing and information about the Ponseti Method for treating clubfoot without surgery. My daughter, who is 19 years old, was born with clubfoot and treated with this method back when most clubfeet were treated with surgery. She enjoys pain-free and fully functional feet to this day, but when she was first in her brace after being corrected, we had a terrible time with blisters and sores. Bracing is just as important as casting and correction, so parents are told not to take the brace off even when the baby gets blisters and sores. I eventually discovered that the blisters and sores were because I was not putting her shoes on properly or tight enough. Since then, I have shared what I learned with parents who are new to bracing, just like I was so many years ago. I do this through support groups and tips publications online, and now through a website dedicated to helping parents learn about the Ponseti Method, find qualified caregivers and doctors and learn how to put the foot abduction brace on effectively so babies will not get sores and blisters. https://nosurgery4clubfoot.com
A little about clubfoot treatment and the reasons behind my efforts with this fundraiser:
The Ponseti Method allows clubfeet to be corrected without the past's traditionally extensive and mostly not successful surgeries. Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti developed the method in 1947 and the first paper detailing it was published in 1963. However, surgeons largely ignored it for many decades. In 1995, Dr. Fred Dietz published the first long term 30 year follow up study, which proved that the method provided fully functional and primarily pain-free feet for almost all feet treated with this method. And in 1996, Dr. Ponseti published his book, Clubfoot Treatment. A few doctors finally began to take notice and learn the method, and over the next few years, the method was discovered by parents online. Instead of surgery, these parents started demanding their children be treated with the Ponseti Method. Since very few doctors knew how to correct feet with the Ponseti Method, Dr. Ponseti returned from retirement to treat children at the University of Iowa. However, for many more years, only a handful of doctors chose to learn the method and treat their tiny patients with it instead of surgery. In the mid-2000s, the method gained more popularity, and more and more doctors began using the method. It was Dr. Ponseti's dream that his method would be the standard of care by 2020, and that has largely been realized. Today the Ponseti Method is used worldwide.
Dr. Ponseti passed away after a stroke in his office in 2009. He never stopped helping babies have the best feet possible. The Ponseti Clubfoot Center at the University of Iowa continues to be the leading center for training and non-surgical Ponseti Method clubfoot treatment.
Organizer
Kori Rush
Organizer
Portland, OR