Skip Links
U.S. Department of State
Department Releases International Religi...  |  Daily Press Briefing | What's NewU.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
SEARCHU.S. Department of State
Subject IndexBookmark and Share
U.S. Department of State
HomeHot Topics, press releases, publications, info for journalists, and morepassports, visas, hotline, business support, trade, and morecountry names, regions, embassies, and morestudy abroad, Fulbright, students, teachers, history, and moreforeign service, civil servants, interns, exammission, contact us, the Secretary, org chart, biographies, and more
Video
 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Press Relations Office > Press Releases (Other) > 2008 > August 
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
August 11, 2008


Department of State Supports Rotary Club Project To Assist Amputees in Basra, Iraq

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs has awarded $1.5 million to the Rotary Club’s “Basra, Iraq Prosthetics Project.” The project was created to help restore mobility and dignity to approximately 5,000 amputees in the Basra area who were injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war due to various conflicts dating back to the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

The Basra Project (www.basraproject.com/), in conjunction with the Al Hussein Society in Amman, Jordan, will train experienced Iraqi prosthetists from the Basra, Iraq Prosthetic Centre on new technology delivered by the Project to Amman. The prosthetists will return to Basra to treat their injured fellow citizens on an additional suite of advanced equipment to be delivered to Iraq in the near future.

This effort is being led by Montgomery Village Rotary Club member Linda A.H. Smythe (who initiated the project), Ted Hamady and Marlene Thorn from the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., and members from the Amman Cosmopolitan Rotary Club. These generous Rotarians have spent considerable time raising funds, conducting a national prosthetic limb drive, and donating their time and expertise to ensure the project’s success.

This project has also been supplied with in-kind and direct funding totaling $825,000 from the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Rotary Clubs in the United States and abroad, Rotary International, and the International Monetary Fund. In addition, contributions and assistance have been received from Hangar Orthopedic Group, Inc., HRH Princess Majda Raad of Jordan, the Mosaic Foundation, the Al Hussein Society of Amman, Jordan, Suburban Hospital of Bethesda, Maryland, Airschott Inc., and others.

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement manages humanitarian mine action programs (clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war, survivors assistance, mine risk education), and conventional weapons destruction programs worldwide. To learn more visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/.

2008/630

Released on August 11, 2008

  Back to top

U.S. Department of State
USA.govU.S. Department of StateUpdates  |  Frequent Questions  |  Contact Us  |  Email this Page  |  Subject Index  |  Search
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.
About state.gov  |  Privacy Notice  |  FOIA  |  Copyright Information  |  Other U.S. Government Information

Published by the U.S. Department of State Website at http://www.state.gov maintained by the Bureau of Public Affairs.