Wojtek berichtet, dass nach zwei arbeitsreichen Wochen die letzten Prothesen ausgehändigt werden konnten und das Projekt St. Vincent 2017 erfolgreich beendet wurde!
Zahlen/Daten/Fakten:
10 Prothesen wurden gebaut und gespendet
10 glückliche Gesichter 😁
1 junges Mädchen wurde unterstützt mit prothetischem Material
40.000 Euro wurden in Material investiert
1 erschöpfter Orthopädietechnikmechaniker 💪🏻😴
Ein besonderer Dank geht an @Andreas Lehnhardt vom Sanitätshaus ANK für seine ausgezeichnete Arbeit!
Danke an alle Unterstützer des Projektes Sailing4handicaps für Ihre Hilfe!
Jetzt werden die Segel gesetzt zur nächsten Station.
Bleibt dran!
Project Saint Vincent Day 14: Wojtek tells us “after two really hard weeks of work, we could give away the last prosthetics and successfully close Project Saint Vincent!
The numbers of our work:
10 prosthetics built up and donated
10 happy smiles 😁
1 young girl supported with prosthetic material
40.000 euro invested in material
1 exausted prosthetic technician 💪🏻😴
A special thank to @Andreas Lehnhardt from @Sanitätshaus ANK for his amazing work!
Thank you to all the supporters for your help and to the team from Sailing4handicaps at home who is supporting us incredibly!
And now sails on direction the next stop.
Stay tuned!”
Tag 3 bis 6: Projekt St. Vincent / Day 3 to 6: Project St. Vincent
“Mit ein bischen Hilfe von Freunden” frei nach den Beatles, war es für Wojtek Czyz möglich den ersten 3 Patienten von sailing4handicaps ihre fertigen Prothesen zu übergeben. UNGLAUBLICH!!! In der Zwischenzeit produziert der nicht zu bremsende Orthopädietechnikmechaniker Andreas Lenhardt von ANK Sanitätshaus + Orthopädietechnik immer weitere Prothese für weitere Patienten!! Und man muss sich vorstellen – eben so wie der Name des Schiffes es prophezeit- dass Andreas unglaubliche Arbeit leistet, obwohl er weit entfernt von seiner deutschen Werkstatt bei ANK ist. Dort ist alles möglich – hier vor Ort muss er sehr anpassungsfähig sein….Abgüsse werden in einem Hinterhof der Anlegestelle des Yachthafens gemacht und die feinen Schleifarbeiten an Board!! Er arbeitet unermüdlich von früh bis spät und unterbricht höchstens für eine Pressekonferenz am Hafen.
Andreas Lenhardt at work
Eine der größten Herausforderungen ist die Beschaffung von Gips vor Ort auf der Insel als notwendiges Arbeitsmaterial für die Stumpfabgüsse. Ein unabdingbarer erster Schritt auf dem Weg zur Prothesenherstellung. Aber dies ist nicht die einzige Aufgabe von Andreas und der IMAGINE-Crew. Es folgen unzählige Arbeitsschritte bis zur fertigen Beinprothese: Abformung und Abguss, die Herstellung der Stumpfcontainer und anderer Teile mit dem 3D-Drucker von IRATEC und weiterer Arbeitsschritte. Die Bilder geben einen Eindruck des Herstellungsprozesses. Am Ende steht die Übergabe der Prothese und die überwältigten Reaktionen der Patienten. Es ist eine ganz neue Welt, ein neues Lebensgefühl – fähig zu sein frei zu laufen, ohne fremde Hilfe, außer der Beinprothese selbst is für sie bisher unvorstellbar gewesen. Damit sie sicher laufen können, bekommen sie direkt nach der Anpassung der Prothese Laufunterricht durch Wojtek und Elena. Die Belohnung für die IMAGINE-crew 2017 ist es “die Patienten dabei zu beobachten, wie sie ihre ersten Schrittte gehen” sagt Wojtek.
Der heutige Bericht endet mit einem riesigen Dankeschön des Vereins “sailing4handicaps” an Wojtek, Elena und Andreas, die es möglich gemacht haben, dass Patienten wieder laufen können: in eine bessere Zukunft mit höherer Lebensqualität! DANKE, dass ihr diese Erfahrung mit uns teilt!
The crew at work
“With a little help of my friends” to quote the Beatles, it was possible for Wojtek Czyz to present 3 prothetics to their future owners – the first 3 patients of sailing4handicaps! AMAZING!!! Meanwhile the orthopedic mechanic Andreas Lenhardt seems to be unstoppable – he keeps on working … producing more and more prothetics for more and more patients!! And IMAGINE: Even though Andreas ist far from his german workshop at ANK Sanitätshaus + Orthopdietechnik, he is very much adaptable to the conditions of “different” places to create the orthopedic aids – such as doing the moldings in a backyard of the marina or sanding off material on board. He works from early morning until the late evening, just to stop for a little break by giving a press conference in the harbour.
One of the biggest challenges is to get hold of plaster on the island of St. Vincent. The plaster is the basic material to do the necessary mouldings of the stumps. But this is not the only thing to be done by Andreas and the helping crew. There are a lot of step-by-step processes to be done from the imprint of the stump, the producing of the containers and using the 3D-printer of IRATEC, until the prothetic is ready to use. The pictures are giving you an impression of the producing processes. And finally giving away the prothetics and seeing the overwhelmed reactings of the patients. It´s a new world for them – being able to walk without any other help than the prothetic itself is just incredible for them. Being able to walk safely with their new leg is absolutely fantastic – therefore Wojtek and Elena are giving them walking lessons. The rewarding of the IMAGINE-crew 2017 is like Wojtek says “to see the patients taking their first steps”.
So let`s finish todays report with a huge, big “Thank you” to Wojtek, Elena and Andreas, who made the patients walk freely into a better future – a life of higher quality! Thank you for sharing these experiences with us!
2 Stunden verspätet: glückliche Ankunft des Orthopädie-technikmechanikers Andreas Lenhardt auf St.Vincent /With 2 hours delay the orthopedic mechanic Andreas Lenhardt has arrived happily in St. Vincent
Andreas Lenhardt beginnt mit der Arbeit/Andreas Lenhardt starts to work
Andreas Lenhardt mit den genommenen Abdrücken in St. Vincent /Andreas Lenhardt with the mulds in St. Vincent
Projekt St. Vincent, Tag 1:
Gerade erst gelandet, da arbeitet auch schon unser Orthopädietechnikmechaniker Andreas Lenhardt von “ANK Sanitätshaus + Orhtopädietechnik”! 10 Patienten wurden untersucht und Abdrücke genommen! Super gemacht Andreas!!! Die Arbeiten gehen voran 🚧, bleibt dran!
Project St. Vincent, Day 1:
Being just landed our orthopedic mechanic Andreas Lehnhardt from “ANK Sanitätshaus + Orthopädietechnik” has already started to work! 10 patients have been checked and the mulds taken!
Well done Andreas!!! Work in progress 🚧, stay tuned!
Projekt St.Vincent, Tag 2: für alle, die sich fragen, wie es möglich ist eine Beinprothese zu bauen – hier ist die Erklärung. Schritt für Schritt werden wir euch zeigen, wie Andreas ein Bein in besonderer Umgebung baut. Heute ist “Kontainer”tag. Einer der schwierigsten Arbeiten für Orthopädietechnikmechaniker!
Project St. Vincent, Day 2: for all who are asking themselves how it is possible to built up a prosthetic leg, here is the explanation. Step by step we will show you how Andreas builds up a leg in a special environment. Today is the “container” day. One of the most difficult work for an orthopedic mechanic.
Wojtek Czyz zeigt uns die Werkstatt an Board – Dank an unsere Sponsoren und Unterstützer!/
Wojtek Czyz shows us the workshop on board – Thanks to our Sponsors and Supporters!
Wojtek Czyz meldet begeistert “Wir sind da! Projekt St. Vincent beginnt! Folgt uns in den nächsten Wochen! Seht welche Wunder auf See geschehen können – auf dem Katamaran von Xquisite Yachts!”
Wojtek Czyz postet so oft wie möglich auf unserer Facebook-Seite https://www.facebook.com/sailing4handicaps/
Wojtek Czyz happily announces “Here we are, project St. Vincent starts! Follow us in the next weeks to see which miracles you can do at sea – on the “imagine” a sailing catamaran from Xquisite Yachts!”
Wojtek Czyz will post as often as possible on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sailing4handicaps/
A little smile. A word of cheer. A bit of love from someone near. A little gift from one held dear. Best wishes for the coming year. These make a Merry Christmas!
Finally!!!
The new Homepage from sailing4handicaps is online!!!
From now on we will keep you updated with all the news of the project and of our new Imagine, the X5!
St. Vincent will be our next stop! We have already 18 Candidates to receive a prosthetic. Unfortunately we can choose only ten but im sure the team of s4h will make the right decisions.
Morocco has been a great experience, but after building up 15 prosthetics there, it had come the time to move on and get ready to face one of the biggest challenge for every sailor: crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
At first we had to move Imagine, our Lagoon 410, to the Canary Island, where we took care of every detail on the boat, in order to avoid finding ourselves in danger in the middle of the Ocean. Everything has passed an accurate check, starting from the rig, ending up with the bilges. As soon as the weather conditions got enough stabile to leave, we bought the last provisions and store them…. believe me, we never saw such a long bill!!!
After a last good steak lunch, on the 5th December, we left the safe water of Las Palmas harbour direction Caribbean : a new feeling, difficult to tell, took place in our hearts. A mix of tension, adrenalin, respect and curiosity only big events are full of. We watched in our eyes, gave a last caress to our Imagine and set the sails: 2800 miles, infinite blue, waves, sun, wind, were waiting for us.
The first 7 days have been a calm approach to the cross: we decided for a southwest course and set our spinnaker, supported by a moderate wind blowing into the sail. The sun was shining and the nights were mild. Sailing with an average speed of 6 knots, we thought to make it in time for X-MAS. Imagine was amazing, moving through the waves smoothly. Everyday schools of dolphins came to visit us and play with the boat, maybe curious to see which beautiful orange big fish was swimming out there, and I would dare to say that also Imagine enjoyed playing with them!
Almost in front of Cape Verde the wind left us and we decided to turn on the engines in the hope it would have refresh again. But after two days of engines, a little conservative with the fuel consumption, we decided simply to turn everything off and wait for the wind. This has been an incredibly magical moment! Staying in the middle of the Atlantic, the water still like a mirror, we could play with a big old turtle, fish from the boat really tasty Mahi Mahi fishes and watch movies at night simply covered by a sheet of stars. Two more days passed like this and we will never forget the imagine of a small orange Lagoon calmly resting in the middle of the Atlantic.
On the morning of the 17th December the wind came to knock again to our door, but this time without any courtesy: 5, 6, 7 Beaufort blowing into our back, high and stiff waves in cross sea. No chance anymore to set our light spinnaker. Supported only from our reefed main sail, Imagine was jumping, running, surfing down the waves and roaring. But she was still stabile and stiff, holding on wave after wave, shacked, smashed but still. We couldn’t buy a better boat than her!!! We got fast used to the new situation and went on with our daily duties on board, sleeping 3-4 hours each during the night, cooking, downloading the weather cast, reading, checking the boat. The first squalls came, overall overnight, and we had often to steer and watch out, but everything worked great.
Unluckily, after four days of calm wind, we couldn’t make it to Saint Lucia for X-MAS, but we celebrated anyway an unforgettable X-MAS EVE on board rewarded by the biggest Mahi Mahi we fished during the all travel, a tasty dinner, presents and even a X-Mas tree!
On the early hours of the 27th December we could see the profile of Saint Lucia: after sailing 2873 miles and crossing the Atlantic Ocean, we two and Imagine made it! How did we felt? Like after crossing an Ocean… there are no other words to describe it! Wow, we made it! As first we gave a good wash to Imagine, who was covered in salt and deserved only the best treatment. After few days we started the scouting of the patients supported by the Health Government of Saint Lucia, but about this we will write soon!
Crossing the Ocean has been on of the strongest experiences of our lives! We gained, if possible, even more trust in each other and overall in our Imagine. We didn’t regret, not even for one second, the choice to buy our Lagoon. We have been instead so thankful to have such a stabile and trustable boat, easy to handle, amazing to live in and incredibly great to sail! But now it is already time to work and bring a little bit of hope also here: happiness can crosses Ocean and land everywhere!
Ok it is a little late, but we managed to write a small blog about our experience in Morokko, which has been incredible great! We hope that while reading you could share a little our emotions and happines for the great work done there! ENJOY IT!!!
Project Morocco finally started! After two stormy days at sea, the crew of sailing4handicaps arrived safe in Morokko. Together with Christoph Ganter, our orthopedic mechanic, we started to handle our first patients in Marrakech. The smile on their faces is the best reward to all these efforts!
Second day at work in Marrakech: it was a long day but we managed to prepare a lot. Our orthopedic mechanic, Christoph Ganter is a bomb and works without any stop. We are really proud of him and of Nada Tounesi, who is supporting us step by step translating, planning and being simply always there. Thank’s to people like them this project can fly!
Third day: the dirty work can start! We worked all day with gips until we were completely covered with it. The positive copies of the stamps are ready: our Michelangelo-Christoph preparred them as only a great sculptor could do. And now back on board to build up the prosthetics… We are simply looking forward for it!
Day 4: the Day of the truth!!! After years of preparation today we made it! The first containers have been build up on board!!! We worked all day long between the cockpit and the saloon of our Imagine. Our generator FischerPanda allowed us to use all the tools and machines necessary for the work, which demand a lots of energy supply. We are so proud of him! Christoph Ganter gave once again proof of his ability and Wojtek and Elli supported him sewing, cutting, building up parts… It is an incredibile feeling to see all our dreams becoming true! Thank to Rupes, BIW, WIHA, WerkzeugSchmidt, FischerPanda, WagnerPolymertechnik, SommerKompressoren our Lagoon 410 S2 has been transformed into an orthopedic atelier!
Day 5: another long day of work on board is done. 6 containers have been finished!!! We are incredibly happy and looking forward for the next steps!
Day 6: our team works hard and without any break… But now up in bed because tomorrow there will be a big surprise… We are looking forward for it!
Day 7: D-DAY!!!
WHAT A DAY!!! After years of preparation, expectations, work, difficulties finally today we realized our big dream: our first prosthetic, build up on board of Imagine, has been completed and donated. To see a young guy staying on his legs and moving the first steps without support in front of his mum crying has been one of the biggest emotions in our life!!! Thank’s to all of you for the support, to Christoph Ganter for his unique work, to our sponsors and supporters. Maybe it is only one drop in the ocean, but for someone this is the all ocean!
Day 9: a lot of work has been done on board. Almost all the prosthetics are ready… Christoph Ganter and the crew of Imagine are working hard!
Day 11: the crew of Imagine and Christoph Ganter worked hard in the last days but finally we could donate the first prosthetics! We never could imagine how thankful and happy these people could be… The small Khalid experimented for the first time in his life the feeling of having legs…and paied us back with smiles and jokes! This work is amazing!!!!
Day 12: 5 patients more got their prosthetic today and they were unbelivable happy! The highlight of the day? Imad, 7 years old and amputee since 2, got his first prosthetic. He put it on, jump down of the bench and started to walk around and up and down the stairs, letting all of us speachless… What to say? AMAZING!!!
Day 14: the last day! After every patient has got his prosthetic, we train all togheter to learn to walk and work on the muscles. It’s amazing to be all togheter and see how much the patients are supporting each other! We are really proud of our work and of the incredibile ability of Christoph Ganter in building up protesis in every condition!!!
Sailing4handicaps project Morocco successfully concluded! After almost 3 weeks of work between Marrakech and Mohammedia, we are now ready to go on and sail to the Canary Islands where Imagine will get a full check out before crossing the Ocean. Morocco was a great experience: we build up 15 prosthetics for a total of 14 patients, all of them already walking with it… We will bring each of them in our heart and remember their smiles of happiness: this is our biggest victory! A special thank goes to Nada Tounesi for her help on spot and to the great Christoph Ganter who worked day and night with incredibile passion! He is amazing. Thank’s to all our sponsors and supporters who belived in us since the beginning and to all the people who are working at home supporting us. And in the end thank’s to all of you our friends: your daily support, your words and posts have been a great push! And now sails up.. Next stop we are coming!
That’s true, we have to admit it: our project has started since some months but our blog has been empty… It sounds maybe strange but even now in the Third Millennium it is not an easy thing to find internet connection, overall in the middle of the sea! So here we are finally to update you over the last months and days!
At the beginning of the summer we left the old cold Germany direction south and leaving behind us miles and miles and visiting several European nations. Maybe you could wonder what it is like to live on a boat… the answer is simple: one emotion after the other!!! The sea and his inhabitants are so fabulous to let you breathless, the heart stops to beat for a moment, just to start to jump fast again as soon as the weaves grow up and the wind blows strong into the sails. Imagine is amazing: our small baby brought us safe till Portugal, sometimes sailing like a princess, sometimes a little bored moving under the noise of her engines, a few times, luckily, jumping and sliding under and over stormy waves. It has been also for us an important test before crossing the Atlantic, but we are a really strong team and we never give up!
After months in Europe the moment to sail till Morocco where our first patients were already waiting for us had finally come. Easy to say, not that easy to do: a low pressure localized on the East Atlantic has decided to travel with us for all the way with wind in our face constantly over 30 kn. Can you imagine a flying Imagine in the middle of the ocean steered by a super Captain Wojtek and with Elena (unluckly with a cast on her leg) jumping around on one foot helping him??? This is exactly the way Morocco welcomed us. Our plan was to land in Safi, but the storm has forced us to head towards the Bay of Mohammedia where a small but really friendly marina offered us a good shelter.
Here we are! Not even the time to settle down that we have started to work. Three days ago our orthopedic mechanic Christoph Ganter, a good friend and working on the side of Wojtek since years, joined us from Germany. Christoph landed in Marrakesch, where an orthopedic center where we can work is located. Two hours after is arrival, our unstoppable Bavarian was already at work. The first two days have passed meeting the patients, interviewing them and doing all the measuring and gips work in order to get a negative copy of their stumps. A long job, if you consider that we meet 15 people with completely different problems, ages and origins. But they all have one thing in common: their smile in front oft he big treasure they are going to receive.
What does it mean to loose a leg in Morocco? The exclusion from the everyday life, the lost of your job and huge difficulties. Starting from the kid who doesn’t anymore go to school because the other kids make fun of him, ending with the father who would like to move again to play with his two small daughters… you can understand how much those smile are true and are filling our hearts!!!
Third day at work: only the strongest can take part to it! The negative copies of the stumps must be filled with gips in order to get their positive: we are completely covered with white podwer…I think we will need to ask our washing machine an extra effort tonight! Christoph is modeling the raw gips as an expert sculptor… if it would not be for his unique bavarian accent, I would be tempted to call him Michelangelo! Tonight we go back to the boat where tomorrow we will start to build up the first prosthetics on board… we are looking forward for it!!!
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Projekt St. Vincent, Tag 14:
