The mission of the non-profit Range of Motion Project (ROMP) is to provide no-cost prosthetic limbs and orthotic devices in developing countries. ROMP recognizes the hardship of living in poverty without a prosthetic or orthotic device and understands how important these, often times simple devices, are to those who do not have access to them. In many cases, a prosthetic or orthotic device is a critical component in a disabled person’s rehabilitation. ROMP believes that with this “tool”, independence, mobility and involvement in community and the socio-economic structure can become more attainable. ROMP also believes that rehabilitation has the power to increase visibility of the disabled and awareness can change attitudes and help people see that “disability” is only as crippling as the barriers we let stand in our minds and in our world.
Since 2005, together with the help of trained prosthetists and orthotists, care givers, volunteers and generous donors, ROMP has provided 750 people with prosthetic limbs and more than 1,800 with orthotic devices. ROMP is involved in projects throughout Guatemala and Ecuador, with its flagship laboratory located at the Loren J. Mallon Centro de Rehabilitacion in Zacapa, Guatemala. The U.S. headquarters are in Chicago, IL.
This summer, ROMP will be working with the Illini Prosthetics Team to field test three prototypes of a low cost prosthetic arm.
To learn more about ROMP, please visit their website and their blog.
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