Polus Center International's Executive Director, Michael Lundquist, visiting children at the ADT Rehabilitation Centre in Amman
Ongoing conflict in the Middle East region has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom become injured and lose family members. Jordan now hosts over 727,000 refugees from surrounding countries. The increasing demand for health services needed to accommodate this influx of refugees vastly exceeds the capacity of the public health sector, putting enormous pressure on human resources, medical staff, hospital infrastructure, and health facilities.
The Polus Center works closely with Jordanian rehabilitation facilities in Amman, training rehabilitation professionals to provide prosthetics and orthotics, as well as providing direct rehabilitation services to those in need of them. The Polus Center's Jordan-based programs are increasing the country's national capacity to provide rehabilitation services to civilians and refugees. Polus and ADT (Asia Development Training) offer both direct support services and training. These services include fitting and delivering mobility aids, physical therapy, training for rehabilitation service providers, and psychological trauma support.
Together, the Polus Center and ADT developed a unique psychological trauma support model in a program called Wings of Peace to address the needs of children who have been caught in the crossfire of war. Wings of Peace has been providing direct rehabilitation services and expressive arts to war-wounded child refugees needing physical and psychological rehabilitation services in the Amman region since 2010.