Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT)

…providing inexpensive equipment for children with CP 

By Ebele Orakpo

To make life easier for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their families especially in these difficult times, Open Doors Special Education Centre, Jos, in conjunction with a Holland-based NGO, Liliane Fonds, trained two staff of Open Doors in Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT) to enable them make chairs for these children using mainly cardboard and newspapers.

ACCORDING to the Director of Open Doors Special Education Centre, Professor Joanne Umolu, the centre was introduced to APT at a training workshop in Abuja last October.

“The training was for organisations involved in community work with children with cerebral palsy. It was sponsored by Lilane Fonds, with whom we are partners. Liliane Fonds is an NGO based in Holland and run by the Daughters of Charity in Nigeria. Open Doors sent two members of staff, Mr. James Sunday and Mr. Thomas Avat, to the two-week training conducted by Jean Westmacott of Cerebral Palsy Africa. He conducts similar training in many African countries, but this was his first visit to Nigeria,” said Prof. Umolu.

Participants were taught techniques of making chairs, booster seats, standing frames, foot stools and many other items out of cardboard cartons and newspapers. The idea is to be able to provide inexpensive equipment for children with cerebral palsy. They are specifically designed for each individual child. Usually, carpenters make these items out of wood which makes them expensive and out of reach of many parents so this is a welcome innovation.

APT versus wooden chairs

By using this technology, not only is the expense minimal, but also chairs can be moulded to fit a child in a way that is not possible with wood. The only necessary expense involved is for the purchase of flour and kerosene which are used in making paste. If the finished product is painted, it will make the end product a bit more expensive. Paint is optional though.

Making chairs for children

“At Open Doors, we converted a former storeroom into our APT workshop. We have been given cardboard cartons and newspapers that would otherwise have been thrown away. So far, we have made chairs for two children enrolled in Open Doors. We also made chairs for two children who live in an orphanage near Jos. We are now preparing to make chairs for two CP children who live in Vom, Plateau State who were referred to us by the physiotherapist in the hospital.

Train-the –trainers

“The  two staff participated in a follow up train-the-trainers workshop so they can now train others who might be interested,” said Umolu.

 

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