“Just at the time when I was about to sit for my final exams for Diploma in Prosthetics and Orthotics (DPO), I got the news that my family in Aden, Yemen had to flee from our home. Our country was engulfed in war and our city – completely ruined and devastated,” says Mansoor Ali Ahmed Thabit who is finishing his DPO at Mobility India (MI) in Bangalore. In the last few months, Mansoor has been able to speak to his family only sporadically and is desperately looking forward to return to his home country and help his fellow citizens.

“I don’t know how to thank ICRC because now having completed this course, I am better trained in prosthetics and orthotics (P&O). The only solace is that when I go back, I will be better skilled to help people whom war might have left injured and with some form of disability in my country,” adds Mansoor. He is one of several   ICRC sponsored candidates from foreign countries who are currently being trained as P&O professionals at MI Bangalore, the the only training institution in India recognized by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO).

Mohammed Abdalla Mohammed Musa who hails from Khartoum, Sudan, and recently finished his three year ISPO Cat 2 training is equally looking forward to return to his country. He says, “Once I am back. I will be the first one to be professionally trained to deal with cases of upper limb prosthetics in my country and it means a lot to me. The contentment that you get by helping someone walk again is beyond money and job security.”

While for Mansoor and Musa, the three year course at Mobility India has been a journey of learning new skills, for Amal Mohammed Hamood Mohammed coming from Taiz city in the Yemen, it’s been a life changing experience. She says, “It took me two long years to convince my family to allow me to travel overseas and study this course. Having never stepped out of my city, coming all the way to Bangalore in India and catching up with my English speaking skills along with the regular studies and technical work in workshop, it was a tough but a very rewarding experience.” Till date 27 Men have been trained in Yemen and most of them have limitations in providing rehabilitation services to women with disabilities because of cultural barriers. “It was a long dream of MI, Bangalore and ICRC to train the women professionals from Yemen which was achieved in this academic year. Three women have been trained and are ready to serve their country and 5 women are getting trained. It has been enriching experience for us.” says Ritu Ghosh, Deputy Director Training of MI, Bangalore

Talking about ICRC’s engagement in the scholarships, Robertangelo Ciccone, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager of ICRC in India says, “ICRC globally has provided scholarships enabling a number of candidates to be trained in P&O or physiotherapy at recognized schools in different countries. One of such recognized centres for training is Mobility India, one of its kind in India. We have been working closely with MI, Bangalore for the provision of rehabilitation services for more than 10 years now. The students who come to get trained here get adequate training on theoretical knowledge and clinical practice and we hope that when they return to their home country, they go back as better practitioners, to fulfil the huge disability needs in their country of origin .”

Over the years, support from the ICRC, either through scholarships or through formal training programmes, has led to more than 450 people becoming P&O professionals and more than 70 becoming physiotherapy professionals.