Jane Katkjaer (far left), with Sister Denise (centre) and Rex (front). Photo: Supplied.
When Kiama physiotherapist Jane Katkjaer volunteered in Cambodia earlier this year, she discovered a simple but life-changing need — rubber stops for crutches — sparking the launch of the fundraiser Walking With Dignity to help people living with disability.
Jane spent a month in April volunteering with the Jesuit Order and Mercy Sisters in Cambodia supporting individuals who rely on mobility aids.
She had a two-week placement teaching Western techniques to physio students at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, before two weeks at the Metta Karuna Reflection Centre in Siem Reap, run by former Brisbane Mercy Sister Denise Coghlan who has worked in Cambodia for 37 years.
Jane said the centre was part of the international movement that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in the global campaign to ban landmines.
“It’s run by Cambodians who have been through the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime,” she said, which was responsible for the deaths of millions from 1975-79.
Jane said the centre not only catered to amputees from land mines or untreated diabetes, but survivors of trafficking, women fleeing violence, and families living with poverty.
She said some staff she worked alongside were amputees themselves, including Rex, a double below-knee amputee who inspired children about life after amputation, and Monty, who shared an inspiring story of sacrifice to get a spoonful of rice to his mother in hospital.
A typical day involved travelling to remote villages treating contractures, or redesigning walking sticks to withstand the poor dirt road conditions.
Despite the language barrier, it didn’t prevent them from communicating, using interpreters and hand gestures.
“What I found was an amazing group of patients and staff who are extremely proactive in helping themselves,” she said.
“Their ingenuity and practical skills create durable three-wheeled wooden wheelchairs and crutches for their dirt roads.”
She said another example was around a 14-year-old boy who spent his days lying on a wooden bench his mother had designed.
“He likes looking at the stars. I said, ‘We can build a ramp he can slide down at night’, and before I’ve even finished the sentence, Rex is out there getting all the spare bits of wood,” she said.
“Their whole concept of altruism is amazing and how they get happiness out of helping.”
She said it was Rex who inspired the idea for her to supply rubber stops, known in Australia as ferrules, due to not being able to source or make them.
“One day Rex said, ‘The only thing we can’t get is the rubber stops at the end of crutches and walking sticks. We can make the walking sticks out of anything, but we can’t get the rubber stops,’” she said.
“I said, ‘That’s something I can do. How many do you need?’
“And he said, ‘Good answer’, basically meaning he’s not going to answer it. You do whatever you can.”
Back to Kiama, she wrote to manufacturers, with Flexyfoot Australia, a subsidiary of a UK company, the only company to offer to match whatever funds she raised.
She said while ferrules were in hardware stores, she needed a durable solution due to recipients having life-long conditions.
“The roads are dirt, so you’ve got to make them so they’re going to last,” she said.
Jane will collect the ferrules in Melbourne in October, before returning to Cambodia in November to fit them.
She said along with matching her $1300 raised so far and supplying the stops, Flexyfoot Australia was also supplying walking sticks it was unable to use.
With 35 years of physio experience, she said she enjoyed using her skills in different ways, including treating walking issues, stability and contractures, which was the condition of shortening and hardening of muscles and tendons that prevented normal movement.
“You can imagine how rewarding it is,” she said.
“For example, there was a 17-year-old boy, and he hadn’t walked properly. He walked on the outside of his feet, and he was stumbling.
“I was doing a lot of work with his back, with his hips, as well as doing a lot of different techniques and mobilisation on his feet.
“It was really hot and I was dripping with sweat, but I kept going.”
By the end, he was running around his dirt hut.
“There’s tears and crying and everyone’s happy. You can really make a difference,” she said.
To raise funds, her Kiama yogi students donated to the cause, with her goal to return annually and keep the Walking With Dignity fundraiser going to continue supplying stops.
Jane stressed it wasn’t about her individual efforts, but about teamwork.
Donations can be made through the Walking with Dignity GoFundMe page.
