When she was 6 years old, Pitt Schneider survived a life-threatening accident that resulted in the loss of her left leg. “That life-changing childhood event has been the driving force for me to help others, especially children living with limb loss,” she said.
A lawyer and former pediatric nurse with a graduate certificate in global health and human rights, Pitt Schneider has dedicated her life to helping others live limitlessly. In 2017, Pitt Schneider founded the global nonprofit organization Project Lolo with the belief that no child should be denied his or her right to life, healthcare, education, or dignity because of differing orthopedic abilities.
“Our mission is to help children get access to the care and devices they need to allow them to go to school, navigate their communities, or simply play with friends,” she said. The organization strives to ensure that children have access to orthopedic medical care and devices such as wheelchairs, crutches, and prostheses.
To fulfill its mission, Project Lolo will raise funds and partner with existing organizations, such as rehabilitation hospitals and prosthetic and orthotic clinics. In late 2017, Pitt Schneider traveled from the United States to Paris to Istanbul and then to Africa and back to Europe, where she met representatives of various organiza-tions she hopes to work with and children who need Project Lolo’s assistance.
“[For many children,] their reality is that they are physically and socially limited because of their differing orthopedic abilities, or ‘disabilities,’” said Pitt Schneider. “In many developing countries, they cannot go to school or play outside or get healthcare, all because they are different. If they can get the prosthetic devices or the wheelchairs or the orthotics they need, they have a chance to be children.”
For more information, visit www.projectlolo.org.
Pitt Schneider with Blessing during a trip to Ghana. Image by Leslie Pitt Schneider.
