The last three months have seen us conduct a baseline assessment of 9 of our 10 mobility centre partners, which has consisted of online surveys and face to face meetings over zoom. It has been a really positive experience talking with prosthetists, hearing their stories, their passion for mobility and also sharing in their concerns and offering support during these tricky times. We have approached the partnerships with a listening ear, not wanting to fall into the trap of being a paternalistic western aid organisations that holds the purse and thinks they know best. We have encouraged open and honest dialogue around the best ways in which we can support each centre, so we are taking a different approach with each partner.

Communication with partners over zoom has gone better than expected, probably because we are all readjusting to digital meetings, the World over. It has been insightful having tours of each centre and seeing how they improvise and engineer to perform a great service on a low budget. For example, two centres have adapted vacuum cleaners into suction lamination machines to make leg sockets, which although being ingenious and quite a novelty to see, they have asked for professional vacuum machines, due to the level of control they can have over the suction.

We have found that some centres are in need of covid PPE so they can ensure their staff and patients are protected, some require machinery so they can better their service, and others such as the centre in Rwanda are struggling to pay the rent due to the lack of patients, so wanted help build the orthotic shoe side of their business so they can diversify their income.