Thanks to Nav’Solidaire, recycled prostheses will once again be used in Africa

At the origin of this project, there is a very personal story, that of Antoine Michel. Treated for cancer at the age of 17 (osteosarcoma, a highly aggressive type of cancer that develops from a bone), he suffered nine years later from serious complications in his left knee. Antoine is amputated.

Aware of having been accompanied and well taken care of, he thinks of all those who do not have this chance in countries where the medical system and the standard of living do not allow people with disabilities to wear hearing aids. Worldwide, their number is estimated at 80 million.

In the company of four friends like him who are passionate about sailing and travel, he created Nav’Solidaire in 2020 with a simple objective: to recycle and redistribute to the most deprived amputees, prosthetic equipment that does not is more widely used in Europe.

Why is this equipment no longer used in France? “Because after five years, the prostheses are no longer guaranteed. Social Security is re-fitting patients with new equipment”, explains Guillaume Perot, treasurer of the Nav’solidaire association. But if they are no longer guaranteed, these prostheses and their components are still in good condition. Antoine’s idea is therefore to avoid a great deal of waste while allowing as many people as possible to benefit from this resource.

It was first necessary to set up a collection network. Since the launch of this adventure, around fifty orthopedic firms (i.e. 45 collection points) have mobilized and collected lower and upper limb prostheses. Collected by volunteers, these pieces are sent to Hauteville-sur-Mer (Manche).

This is where the association’s workshop is based. A place that looks like an amusing Ali Baba’s cave with boxes of spare parts for prostheses (junction knees, tubes, drumsticks, feet), sleeves, caps and girdles, workshop tools, suspension and orthopedic braces. All this equipment is dismantled, cleaned and stored.

Then remains the shipping by sea. An option chosen for its low carbon footprint because they are sailing boats that allow you to reach places that are more difficult to access such as Saint-Louis in Portugal. Another particularity: these boats are those of yachtsmen who make the trip and who agree to take the goods on board.

In November 2021, two boats left for The Gambia (where one of the largest adapted centers is located, with qualified professionals), each loaded with around a hundred prostheses.

Equipment distributed at the Mobily Center in Banjul where there is a significant lack of equipment. When parts are not available (knees, tubes or others), “you have to get them either in Dakar, or buy them on the global network, which therefore often arrives from Europe… or China” : “Which means that the cost of the prosthesis is no longer the same and therefore accessibility for people in precarious situations is called into question”, can be read on the association’s website. Once the parts have been distributed to the centers, the prostheses are recomposed, adapted and fixed individually by technicians.

On October 15, a boat loaded with 200 prostheses will leave for Gambia. To finance this trip, Nav’Solidaire relies on donations. It also organizes auctions using artists. This year, they were nearly 75 to participate (against fifty last year). The price of the lots offered for sale is solely based on the generosity of the buyers. In 2021, thanks to this auction, the association was able to send nearly 1,500 components to the fitting center in Banjul, Gambia, which had enabled 95 people to walk again.

Nav’Solidaire has established a partnership with the association Legs4Africa. Created in 2014, it has since shipped enough equipment to manufacture more than 10,000 lower limb prostheses. The action of the two associations will therefore add up.