Victoria Hand Project heading to Nepal to outfit amputees with prosthetic arms

On Tuesday, last-minute preparations were well underway at the Victoria Hand Project headquarters on the University of Victoria’s campus.

The charity that creates low-cost, 3D-printed prosthetic arms was established in 2015 and is currently working in 11 countries around the world. On Wednesday, a small team will depart for Nepal, including its CEO Michael Peirone and mechanical engineer Kim Arklie.

“We partner with clinics around the world so that they can produce the low-cost prosthetics themselves,” said Peirone.

The Hand Project has been working in Nepal since 2016. The team will bring two new upgraded 3D printers as well as all the materials needed to produce the affordable arms.

“They are in desperate need of an upgrade in technology, skills training and new computers,” said the CEO.

At the Hand Project’s lab, the team was putting the final touches on a 3D-printed hand that they will be taking on their trip. It will be for a young woman that was first outfitted in 2018, now at the age of 21 she has outgrown that original prosthetic limb.

“She’ll be receiving two arms while we are there,” said Arklie. “A passive cosmetic device that is very lifelike and she’ll also be receiving a functional arm as well.”

Over the past nine years the charity has outfitted more than 40 people with arms in Nepal, free of charge to those clients.

Eight Rotary clubs in the Capital region have pitched in to lend a hand of their own. The clubs have raised upwards of $35,000 to help fund the trip.

“It is once in a lifetime where you see this sort of credibility that you want to be involved in,” said David Maxwell, the assistant district governor of Rotary District 5020 on south Vancouver Island.

Rotary hopes this is just the beginning of a greater international partnership.

“It is something that allows local Rotary clubs to combine work in lockstep with Rotary clubs around the world, so we’re now working with Nepalese Rotary clubs and with Ukrainian Rotary clubs,” said Maxwell.

The Victoria Hand Project has been working in Ukraine since June of 2023 and has provided more than 150 people with their own custom prosthetic arms. The majority of those are soldiers badly injured on the frontlines of its war with Russia. The charity is hoping to grow its presence in the war-torn country over the coming years.

“Unfortunately, as the war continues to go on there are more people that lose their limbs and they aren’t able to access prosthetic care,” said Peirone.

For now, the team’s focus will be on its up coming trip to Nepal outfitting those in need with functioning prosthetic arms that without the charity’s help, would never be able to afford on their own.