LearnServe Paraguay 2017: Know Po (7/8)

Waking up in the hostel felt like home. The hostel feels like home because the people are nice and treat you with respect. There is no negativity.

We went to Loffice on Thursday morning and meet with the heads of Koga Impact Lab, a company that promotes social business in a variety of ways. We learned about Koga first and then StayPY, a small tourism company in Paraguay, and finally, Po, which was the most interesting of the three.

The founder of Po, Eric, is only 24 and does amazing work. Po uses 3-D printing to create custom-made prosthetic hands for people who are either born with no hands or fingers because of congenital defects or who have lost their hands or fingers for other reasons such as in work accidents. Po sells these prosthetic hands for $125, which is a crazy low price. It was so heartwarming to me that Po helps people without charging them a lot of money.

The way Po helps people with these disabilities reminded me of my friend’s sister. Her sister was born without fingers. She is currently 6 years old and feels and acts like a normal person. She no longer cares what people think about her. She knows that some things about her are different, but she doesn’t let that bother her. She has the ability to do things that you would never imagine that she could do. I love her for thinking of herself as a normal person. The something “wrong” with her makes her different in a good way. She is unique and special. Po has their design for the prosthetic hands online and you can download the design, adjust it to your own measurements and print the hand using a 3-D printer. I’m wondering if I could do that and how a prosthetic hand would change the life of my friend’s sister. She is happy and healthy in every other way. Would she even need or want the device? Either way, Po reminded me to appreciate people’s differences. Our differences are what makes us who we are – unique and original individuals.

Kerlyn L., Paul Public Charter School