From Litter to Limbs
How a graduate of USAID’s Young African Leaders program recycles plastic from Mozambique’s coastline to make prosthetics
Eureka moments come to entrepreneurs in different ways — for Martela Vânia Uetela of Mozambique, her business idea arose from the desire to help a friend who had just lost his leg in a car accident.
In 2020, Marta’s friend Ivan Cumaio faced the daunting task of finding an affordable prosthetic to be able to walk again. Either the prosthetic was too expensive, or the wait time to obtain the product was too long.
Armed with an engineering degree she earned in 2018 and her leadership training in business and entrepreneurship through the USAID Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) at the Regional Leadership Center in Pretoria, South Africa, Marta began developing a prosthetics business unlike any other on the continent called BioMec to help give her friend a workable and affordable new leg.
Birth of BioMec
Marta knew manufacturing prosthetics would be expensive. She needed to source plastic and other materials in an affordable way in order to bring costs down. It turns out that the material she needed was washing up on the shoreline of Mozambique.
Mozambique has more than 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) of coastline, which fishers rely on as a major source of income. Unfortunately, litter and debris — especially plastic waste and discarded fishing nets — threaten those fishing villages and communities.
During the pandemic, environmental groups organized cleanup campaigns along the coastline. Hundreds of volunteers collected discarded plastic, but the question was what to do with all of it.
Saving the Mozambique Coast
Marta asked herself: Why not recycle the discarded plastic and fishing nets to manufacture prosthetics?
Leaning on her YALI leadership training in business and entrepreneurship, she identified and recruited partners for her venture, such as a quasi-governmental company called ProAzul that recycles materials collected from the sea.
“In school, we were taught how to build things, but not how to transition dreams into an actual business,” Marta said. “The YALI program was a great opportunity to network with others, and — spoiler alert — I’m working with some of them right now.”
Developing the Technology for Prosthetics
In 2020, Marta developed a prototype and spent the next six months securing funding for research.
She also partnered with the Embassy of the United Kingdom and the Embassy of Ireland, who both provided technical support for the fabrication production line of the operation. Although the prosthetics use recycled materials for the limbs, Marta also uses silicone for the prosthetics’ sleeves, which is where the residual limb is attached.
Expanding Business and the Future
Marta’s first prototype went to her friend Ivan. By using recycled materials and 3D printers she has reduced the cost of the prosthetics’ frames from hundreds of dollars to an average of $45.
Now, she is running a pilot program with more than 700 clients in Mozambique and Angola, where she partners with another YALI Alumnus, Telmo Bumba, who has become an associate of BioMec.
The company also takes a unique approach to designing prosthetics. Clients get to collaborate on the final look of the limbs.
“It’s one of the challenges for us, because our baseline of clients are very young people,” Marta said. “It has never been just about the prosthesis, but how we can make them feel good and build self-esteem and creativity with them.”
Marta is thankful for the leadership skills she gained through YALI and is hoping to expand her business to creating prosthetic arms in the near future.
“It wasn’t just the training and getting those tools, but the possibility to get to know other people in the leadership courses,” she said, of her YALI experience.
“It was incredible,” she said. “The future looks bright.”
About the Author
Steven Susens is a communications advisor for the USAID Bureau for Africa’s Office of Sustainable Development Education Division and Young African Leaders Initiative.
