Cambodia limb school's success

By Guy de Launey
BBC, Phnom Penh

It is graduation day at Cambodia's School of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

Over the past three years the students have been learning how to make artificial limbs.

They are badly needed in Cambodia, where there are tens of thousands of landmine survivors.

But the school's fame has spread around the world, giving the classes an international flavour.

The CSPO was a rare international success story for Cambodia.

The class of 2006 will bring the overall number of graduates to more than 100 in the past decade and now the country's prosthetic and orthotic services are run entirely by the school's alumnae.

A British-based charity, the Cambodia Trust, founded the school and it boasts that it is the only establishment of its kind in the world with ISO quality certification.

Cambodia is also the only country in South East Asia where artificial limbs are provided by professionally qualified staff.

As its reputation has grown, the CSPO has attracted students from around the world.

They have come from places as diverse as Georgia and Pakistan and now three quarters of the student body come from overseas.