Rotary Club of Euroa members and their many guests were privileged to have Ashley Morphet as their dinner guest speaker last Thursday evening. Ashley spoke about the two years he spent recently in Sri Lanka, training the health community about prosthetics and orthotics.

The two-year contract was to the SLSPO (Sri Lankan School of Prosthetics and Orthotics) which is sponsored by the Nippon Foundation and is committed to training the Sri Lankans to become fully capable of managing the huge demand for these services in their country. It is estimated that 160,000 Sri Lankans needing help, mainly as the result of injuries sustained during the recent civil war.

'Prosthetics' include the fitting of artificial limbs or arms to those that have lost them and 'orthotics' is the field of assisting those with disabilities such as muscle damage. Ashley spent a very rewarding time training the students in these fields with the aim that Sri Lanka will become self-sufficient within five or ten years. The work being done by Ashley and fellow Australians was certainly appreciated by the local health authorities.

One of the main difficulties Ashley experienced was the language barrier, with English very much a second language. Another was the entanglement in red tape (a notorious problem) when applying for anything that was needed.

While most of his time was spent educating his students, Ashley found time to experience the culture and delights of Sri Lanka by playing hockey (where he towered over the locals), scuba diving, exploring the many beaches and being invited by local families to their homes.