Partner Organization: China Social Welfare Foundation

Project Duration: From 2019

Project Status: Ongoing

The Syrian crisis started in 2011. It is estimated that Syria’s internal military conflict resulted in more than 500,000 deaths and injuries, displaced more than 10 million people, and gave rise to more than 6 million refugees. In addition, more than 100,000 children have become disabled due to injuries sustained from the armed conflicts. This has become one of the most serious humanitarian crises in modern human history. Against this backdrop, the China Social Welfare Foundation initiated a project to provide prostheses to disabled Syrian children who do not have the means to install prostheses, in order to restore some physical functions for the children. An average of a few hundred children benefit from this project every year. Furthermore, the foundation provided a set of prosthetic production equipment to the local rehabilitation center, Khotwa Center, in 2020.

The foundation also launched a complementary rehabilitation training and exchange programme which has seen many runs. The Khotwa Association organized the training seminar in 2020. Many technicians and physiotherapists attended the seminar, learning from experts from Beijing Jingbo and the Khotwa Association. The Chinese experts provided explanations regarding the production, troubleshooting, installation etc. of the prostheses. As the Syrian team continues to grow, the project currently has more than ten engineers who are equipped with the necessary skills to provide artificial limbs to the Syrian children.

The Xu Family Charitable Foundation donated to the China Social Welfare Foundation in 2019. The funds went towards training engineers and subsidizing the expenses of the Syrian projects. This not only helped to expand the capacity and increase the impact of the Syrian team, but also reduced the production cost of the prostheses, with the ultimate goal of providing free prosthetic limbs to as many children as possible.