Saphenus and Papillon – a match made in heaven!
When the Papillon International association was founded by Christian Bouda and Mechthild Daun 30 years ago, there was no talk of ideas for feeling prostheses or of Saphenus as a company. The lovely folks at Papillon have made a name for themselves in Tunisia as the kindest, most helpful people you could ever hope to meet. When it comes to children, people in need and people with disabilities, they were there for them! Back then, when inclusion wasn’t yet a big deal and social responsibility wasn’t on everyone’s radar, they were just doing their best to help. It was all about charity, and it still is!
It was a serendipity moment when, sometime in 2018, the two founders Christian Bouda and Rainer Schultheis met at a start-up festival in Vienna. They recognised the potential to combine these two structures and create new opportunities in the charitable sector, which was such an inspiring moment! But that’s not all! The goal was to encourage a start-up mindset in communities that need it most and to set up businesses that can thrive — sometimes with support from the European Commission.
Today, the two companies, Saphenus and Papillon, work very closely together. It’s a wonderful community where creative thinking and fresh ideas are combined with lots of experience in development aid and charitable work.
Five years ago, in 2019/2020, Managing Directors from Saphenus Aaron Pitschl and from Papillon Christian Bouda started providing hands-on prosthetic care in Tunis. They used whatever resources they could find locally to get started. It was a great team effort!
In 2024, we have pop-up workshops, which is such an amazing development. These wonderful orthopaedic workshops can be set up in just a few hours, making prosthetic treatment a reality for so many people in need. The great news is that they are now also working with hospitals. The wonderful people at Saphenus and Papillon are already working on the next steps. The great news is that simple prostheses can now be built entirely in Tunisia. Even better, they can incorporate monitoring tools into the prosthesis that can partially support rehabilitation or even replace it in some cases! These are really important proof of concepts that are being developed, and it’s so great to see that they’re going to help people in other regions of the world where there just isn’t the infrastructure for prosthetic care.
We’re so excited to announce that in October 2024, we’ll be the first to experience sensory feedback systems in Tunis! The goal is to help amputees feel like they’re still connected to their prostheses, even if they’re simple. This could be a real game-changer for low-cost prostheses in other developing countries, when the Embodiment effect makes life safer and easier for amputees.
We’re so grateful to everyone who has made this project possible. Your support would mean the world to us. So we are happy about your donation,
subject: Saphenus Second Leg. Papillon International
IBAN: AT65 1100 0014 8321 1700, BIC BKAUATWW