The medical volunteers of Healing Hands for Haiti have been learning bits of Creole and French since January to help them overcome the language barrier when they travel to the Caribbean.
Matt Bracken, on the other hand, will need to be a little more innovative.The prosthetist -- the creator of artificial limbs for amputees -- will be teaching Haitian prosthetists how to make the specialized body parts. But not in Creole or French.
Most of the prosthetists in Haiti are deaf and mute, said the Salt Lake volunteer. While it's a plus that people with those disabilities are gainfully employed, Bracken said, it does mean his training methods will have to be more show and tell.
That works, Bracken said, since so much of his craft is measuring and casting and modeling.
"It just makes it a little bit difficult to teach them prosthetic theory -- why do you align it this way, why do you put it here -- but it's a challenge that I enjoy."
Bracken owns his own company, Jenco, in Salt Lake City, specializing in both prosthetic and orthotic devices. Prosthetic devices replace amputated or missing limbs while orthotic devices, like braces, support existing limbs that are weak.
Bracken said he creates 30 to 40 artificial limbs per year and nearly 10 times that many spinal, neck and leg braces. He was also the creator of Jazz player Adam Keefe's polycarbonate face mask.
While the majority of amputations in the United States are due to complications of diabetes, Haitians have a high amount of accident-related amputations, Bracken said.
Because of poor roads it takes hours to travel from the smaller villages to cities with hospitals, even though they may be just miles away, he said. "If somebody gets a burn or gets in an accident, it's more likely they're going to lose (a limb) because of infection just in traveling."
Bracken will focus his training on above-the-knee amputations and arm amputations, which most Haitian prosthetists are unfamiliar with, he said. By training the Haitians, they'll in turn be able to help Haitian amputees, most of whom use crutches, he said.
Last year, physicians were able to fit a Haitian girl with a splint for her right hand, enabling her to pick up a pencil and write her name and to eat with utensils for the first time. This year, Bracken will bring the girl, who has only one finger on her right hand and no left arm, a device for her left side. "Last time I was very limited with the materials I had," Bracken said. "This time I know what I'm getting into."
Bracken isn't the only one from his family who will provide a unique service to the Haitians. His 18-year-old daughter, Talaisha, will join the volunteers with her collection of various seeds.
Two days after graduation, the Bingham High School graduate will leave for Haiti and use her horticulture skills to create a garden at a Haitian orphanage. The children, whose diet consists of beans and rice, need fresh produce, Bracken said.
While Bracken is excited to help doctors and amputees in Haiti, he realizes that there is only so much he can do.
Last year, he had to turn a father away whose child was suffering from hydrocephalus -- water on the brain. "There was nothing I could do for him, and the father was just begging. The father didn't know I'm not a neurosurgeon," Bracken said.
"There's different aspects. You wonder how much good you're doing, but then you see a child smile or walk and it makes it worthwhile."