There is the rain and it is cold. It clatters on car roofs, it dribbles down necks and plasters hair to heads… but, it is England, there is always the rain. And there are legs, hundreds upon hundreds of legs… And there are hands, but a few, which pass legs around, put legs in bags and put bags in the van… And there is the rain but, it is England, there is always the rain.
The reporters from the Bristol Post and BBC South West have vanished into the grey day leaving the Legs4Africa team to bag and tag some 500 reclaimed prosthetic legs ready to make the long journey to Tanzania to arrive in late June where the rains are warm and full of the scent of the dusty plains.
Legs4Africa hopes that this is the first of many shipments to Tanzania in the charity's push to provide more reclaimed prosthetic legs and mobility equipment to more countries across the African continent.
"It just came together." Says Tom, Legs4Africa founder. “We were approached by Janet from Tanzania with a request for legs. We asked her to put us in touch with the clinic which would fit the legs with a mind to planning a shipment some time later this year, instead, within a week, completely out of the blue, another charity, Limbcare, contacted us to ask if we wanted to help fill a container destined for Tanzania.”
With the clang of the van's loading door, the shipment is ready to head to its next destination on it’s month long journey to Tanzania. There is just enough time for the Legs4Africa team to rush home and change before settling down with a well deserved cup of tea to watch the news…
The above article by Oliver Kennett first published on legs4africa.org in Jun, 2016.
