Two teen girls are bringing smiles to disabled children with 3D printed prosthetics

Age is not a barrier when it comes to helping others. This has been proven by the story of Yariselle Andujar, 17 and Daniela Moreno, 15 who have been changing lives, per PEOPLE. Their paths collided at school after joining the same club. Slowly and steadily, they became friends whose shared interests gave birth to an idea that is changing lives. They are using 3D printers to create prosthetics and it was all born from a simple idea.

The two luminaries met each other in the Robotics team of their school at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School in Cleveland. They wanted first to use 3D printers to create parts of their robot. Slowly the idea developed into something much more great and expansive. 

Talking about the process, Andujar explained how it began as a community project, “It started off with a team idea. We were trying to figure out how we could impact our community as a first-year robotics team. What do we have to provide to our community? We later thought of the idea of using 3D printers to make prosthetic parts, like hands. We figured out that it’s lightweight but very strong, so we used 3D printers to make the prosthetics.”

The girls in their pursuit were aided by IMAHelps, a humanitarian nonprofit organization and The Great Lakes Science Robotics Initiative. They soon came into contact with Samantha, a 12-year-old girl in Ecuador who lost her arm in an accident. The girls went to work, and took Samantha's measurements, with which they created prototypes and later originals. IMAHelps took it upon themselves to get the prosthetic to Ecauador and Samantha was over the moon.

Moreno talked about their objective with this action, “Samantha had a dream to write and we wanted to help with that." The team displayed their prosthetic at a high school fair, where they came across a young amputee named Ernest Priester. Priester got so excited seeing the equipment that he asked the team if he could try it on. The team offered to make the prosthetic for him free of cost. Both he and his mother began tearing up at this action.

The prosthetic garnered a lot of popularity in Ecuador, and other kids with the same problems also began asking for it. This July the girls visited Ecuador to deliver the prosthetics to 4 children. “We were so happy to help,” Andujar shares. The girls will soon graduate but will continue to remain devoted to the project. Many people believe they are too young to focus on such humanitarian tasks. To them, Andujar's message is, “You can do whatever you want to do when it comes to helping people and changing the world.” “By offering a little bit,” adds Moreno, “we can change a lot.” As far as their future is concerned, “We hope to be roommates at Kent State,” says Andujar, “and become pilots,” adds Moreno.