How Will You Improve Someone's Life?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Grayson Rosenberger, a student at Franklin Road Academy in Nashville, Tenn., won the 2007 Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors. He writes from Africa, where he is teaching people how to make artificial limbs appear more lifelike by using Bubble Wrap. This is his second dispatch from Africa.

We did it! We made it to the second week of Standing With Hope's trip to Ghana in West Africa. The first week in our mission to provide artificial limbs to amputees was full of preparations for the second week. It's during the second week that everything comes together. All the patients have a plaster cast taken of their amputated leg, and then we really have to book to make more than 40 artificial legs. Although I didn't realize it, this would be the toughest time of the trip.

On Monday, we began to modify the plaster casts. Modifying is when you take the rough cast of the patient’s leg and you smooth it using scrapers and screen (like from the screen on your window), and then you make more plaster and fill in any gaps or cracks. During the week, we also had previous patients coming in needing adjustments, like replacing a foot or tightening up an adaptor, or having me make one of the Bubble Wrap coverings I invented to make the leg look more lifelike.

Every day the clinic was teeming with people who wanted a leg. It was a challenging week, but I did accomplish a very big goal, I made my first coverings for a man with bilateral (both legs), below-the-knee amputations. Normally when I make a covering for someone's new artificial limb, I evaluate their remaining leg, and make my covering resemble their existing leg. Emmanuel was missing both, so I had to improvise and guess what his legs would have looked like. Looking at him, I could tell he was not a very skinny man, but rather muscular and big (by Ghanaian standards). He worked as a lineman for the power company to support his family, but then he was nearly electrocuted on the job. That’s how he lost his legs. Since Emmanuel and I were roughly the same size, I based his legs off the shape of mine. After about three hours of carefully matching both legs and creating the shape, I had created the best covering I had ever made. Emmanuel used to use old prosthetic legs that weren’t very good, and he had to use crutches. He can walk now with the legs that we made for him—without crutches.

This was my second trip to Africa, and it was a very tiring and sometimes frustrating experience. The biggest problem, without a doubt, is the fact that the power went off several times during the week, which put us way behind schedule and we had to work double time to make sure we finished treating all the patients. However, it was very rewarding experience, and I will hold on to the memories I made for a long time to come.

My challenge to you is, "What can you do to help someone else?" If we all find a way to improve the life of someone else, imagine what kind of world this would be. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money or be a big event. Something as simple as Bubble Wrap is making a difference in the lives of amputees a continent away.

~By Grayson Rosenberger

Photos: Parker Rosenberger; Standing with Hope

*What are you doing to improve someone else's life? Tell us about it by clicking on "Comments" below.

Comments

[Grandma Rosenberger]

Grayson, this is an extremely well written report. I read every word of it. What a tremendous experience you have had. What a difference you made in the lives of the people in Ghana. Now you are in Montana...wow what extremes. Isn't it great that God is the same in both Ghana and Montana (and South Carolina). I love you very much. I miss you. Grandma

[Faye]

It is hard for people who live comfortably to image how cruel the world can be. By reading the newspaper, we might be told that there is a place called Africa, but you can never realize the ordeal of the people living there unless you really experience it. And you will certainly cherish everything you have after coming back from the trip. Nevertheless, people often neglect the ones close to you. In fact, there are many miserable situation that maybe just around us.

How can I do to improve someone’s life? As a student, I can dedicate my time, my concern and my ability to aid need in people. For example, I will assist my mom to do the housework, lead the juniors to accustom the school, or tutor my classmate about academic problems and so on.

I don’t possess a terrific amount of money to donate, but I am willing to contribute. It is time for me to repay society since I have received favors from the world. I would like to be a volunteer when I am an undergraduate. Not only helping others but also training myself to be more patient. Rome was not built in a day; the good outcomes come from constant effect not temporary succor.

[Lucy]

Life is very precious. Do you know the people who have cancer want to live forever. It is because they have no time to do what they want. The cancer had filled their bodies. And they have not enough energy to walk or stand. They have no choice but it is the truth. They will die soon. Many people don't recognize the value of life the way these people do, and instead, they waste their life and time. The people who have cancer even hope that God could give them more time. They have many dreams not come true. If the dream comes true, even now that they are dying, they would think that it is enough. But the loafer does nothing everyday and has all the time. I think it is deplorable.

So we should have some goals. Doing some relevant things, and keeping the good attitude to do everything. If we lost the test or contest, don’t worry, come down, think twice and next time we will get better. Have enthusiasm to look upon everything, then our life will be more beautiful.

[joa]

How great it is to have an experience like that! Although this world is not fair, everyone should do something for not only him or herself but somebody else. There are many people who have difficult situations. And I think people who are able to help should give a hand. Especially to the one whose body is incomplete. Opposite to other people, their life has many hurdles. Perhaps we could not understand how hard they must try to let this world accept them. I believe that this is one of the reason people cannot bestir after the accident. Besides changes on physiology, to hurdle their psychology problems is more difficult to them. To face the unannounced accident, what they really need is consideration. Aside from that, plans about their future and plans to improve their life are very important. And artificial extremity is helpful for them.

[steve krott]

Grayson, at 47 years young and a father of a 19 yr old college freshman daughter and a son who's a high school junior, I'm impressed with your leadership and organizational skills.

I heard your father on the Rush Limbaugh show today. If our future cadets are going to be like you, my family is in safe hands. We need more Americans like yourself and your father.