More on the uphill battle amputees will face in Haiti--and the people who are trying to help them

Haiti amputees face dire quest for prosthetics: Prosthetics groups promise help in a land where disability can mean death

I'm intrigued by this:

An engineering professor, Gonzalez has created a durable, easy-to-make artificial leg that is fashioned of hard plastic and can be repaired with nuts and bolts from a hardware store. It costs about $15 to make, compared to about $2,000 for the cheapest leg in the U.S., and it can withstand the rugged geography and the dirt, heat and humidity of a place like Haiti.

“You have to have a knee that’s pretty robust,” says Gonzalez, who already operates programs in Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Senegal.

Prosthetic legs in America can cost upwards to $4,000. For a child, legs must be made over time as he or she grows. I read somewhere that the average wage for a Haitian is about $1 per day. They will need these groups to help the estimated 4,000 amputees who were fortunate not to lose their lives, but face the possibility of being abandoned as pariahs or burdens in their community.