Know-how from the Taunus for Uganda

In der Luft liegt der kühle, mineralische Geruch von Gips. Auf dem Schränkchen an der Tür stehen ein männlicher Torso, ein Unterschenkel, Füße aus Holz, in einem Regal liegen Werkzeug und Material: Hämmer, Spachtel, Feilen, Puder, Farbe, Schleifpapier. Das hier könnte auch ein Bildhaueratelier sein. Und so abwegig ist die Annahme nicht: Künstler von der Antike bis zu Dürer, Michelangelo und Rembrandt schufen ihre Werke basierend auf Studien des menschlichen Körpers.

Dieses Wissen um die Anatomie, um Funktion und Form von Gelenken, um den Verlauf von Muskeln und Sehnen wird auch an der Saalburgschule in Usingen vermittelt. Als einzige berufliche Schule in Hessen bildet sie Orthopädietechnik-Mechaniker aus. 30 Nachwuchskräfte lernen in der Landesfachschulklasse, künstliche Gliedmaßen und Schienen herzustellen, Bandagen und Gehhilfen anzupassen. Eine von ihnen ist die 22 Jahre alte Kea Müller. Die junge Frau mit den langen Locken steht im dritten Ausbildungsjahr kurz vor dem Abschluss.

After graduating from high school, she thought about what she wanted to do, says the twenty-two-year-old, as she leads a tour of the workshop with teacher Karsten Schulz. They were looking for a career in which they could pursue their interest in biology but also work with their hands. After an internship in orthopedic technology, I realized: “This is exactly the right thing for me.”

As you walk through the training rooms, you notice a series of lower leg models on a metal cabinet. Each foam leg has a sticker: one says Paul, the next Annika, then Kea and so on. “All technical students have their own role model to practice the craftsmanship of orthoses,” says Müller.

Orthoses are plastic splints that guide, correct or fix joints or other parts of the body – such as a corset for a curvature of the spine or a knee orthosis after a ligament tear. Kasten Schulz summarizes the difference to prostheses in a catchy formula. “With an orthosis everything is still there, with a prosthesis something is missing.”

The orthopedic technology teacher has a talent for such casual sentences formulated in a Hanseatic tone. He also uses this ability to explain things and win people over as founder and chairman of the Pro Uganda association. His work is closely linked to the orthopedic technology expertise of the Saalburg School – but more on that when the tour of the Saalburg School is finished.

In a classroom it's all about the “digital workflow”. Teacher Oliver Tepper, a young guy in a yellow dock worker's hat, measures a foot with a hand scanner to create a 3D model on the computer. This approach makes plaster models increasingly unnecessary. One room away, Horst Lohrey's class is practicing the practice in the medical supply store: How do I put a bandage over the customer's foot? And how tight does it have to be to protect but not oppress?

Lohrey is one of those who have been campaigning for Pro Uganda for a long time, now for a good ten years. The connection from the vocational school in the Taunus to East Africa came about by chance: on a trip to Uganda, Schulz learned about the needs there. There are not necessarily more amputees or disabled people than in Europe, he says. The problem is that aids such as orthoses or prostheses are hardly available and are not affordable for many. Children are often prevented from attending school and adults are unable to work and provide for their families.

The next time Schulz flew to Uganda, he had a suitcase with tools and spare parts with him. He built the first prosthesis for Stella, a young mother with a crippled leg. Actually, this was only intended for standing. “But Stella started straight away with it,” says Schulz and has to laugh.

Back in Germany, he told colleagues and students about his experiences – and things took their course. Also in the literal sense: in 2015, the first sponsored run for Uganda took place at the Saalburg School, relatives and friends donated, and suitcases were packed with parts that were no longer needed.

Since then, experts from the Taunus region have regularly traveled to Uganda to build and adapt prostheses, and young technicians sometimes complete internships lasting several months. In Mukono, a town near Kampala, a workshop was opened, locals were trained as orthopedic technology mechanics, and a new, larger orthopedic center has just been opened. This resulted in a small campus with accommodation for patients and employees.

The “FAZ readers help” campaign supports Pro Uganda’s voluntary work and asks for donations with which the association wants to build, among other things, a rehabilitation building for children.

In February, Kea Müller will also travel to Mukono to help with the skills she acquired at school and in company training. Before that they have to complete their exams. The thesis is about customer care, i.e. the care process from the cost estimate to the moment the patient leaves the shop with a prosthesis or orthosis.

For the twenty-two-year-old, this is not just a technical and commercial process, but one that involves people. “You have to recognize the needs of the patients and respond to them,” says Müller. “I have to have a feeling that a corset, for example, is an intimate topic for a woman.”

It is this human dimension that Müller loves about her job, alongside the medical and technical aspects. The time in Uganda will also affect them in this respect.