Local efforts make a world of difference
By Jude Davis Submitted to Corner Post
It’s a chilly morning near the community of Westboro, about three miles south of the Missouri-Iowa border. Men make their way into an outbuilding on the property of Glenn and Barbara Rolf. Glenn has summoned them — fellow farmers, retirees and welding students from Hamburg High School — and they’ve come. Their mission today is to help crippled strangers in far off lands become mobile.
To better understand what’s happening here, we should know about an encounter 30 years ago between a missionary to Africa, and a minister in Columbia, Missouri. When Larry Hills (the missionary) told Rev. Mel West (the minister) about the many survivors of polio/birth defects and landmine victims who had lost the use of one or both legs, West arranged a meeting with inventor and friend Earl Miner. Miner soon had a working prototype of a Personal Energy Transport — a three-wheeled cart propelled and steered by the driver.
Within a year, four of the prototypes were sent to Larry Hills to be tested in the toughest places to see how they would perform. They were easy to use, traversed rugged areas and held up well, so production began on a larger scale. Since then, production has included volunteers in outlying areas who craft key parts (like the group in Westboro) or who assemble components. Today, Mobility Worldwide volunteers in about a dozen sites across the U.S. and in several countries abroad, have a hand in providing a level of mobility to those in dire need.
Most of us cannot imagine the impact a mobility aid can have, not only for the user, but for his/her family, friends and community. In some countries and cultures, immobility can turn otherwise productive individuals into community burdens and can prevent a caregiver from filling a more productive role in the community. The physical, financial and social consequences are often severe. Fortunately, more than 100,00 PETs have been given to recipients in 99 countries. Thanks to donors and volunteers like the men gathered at the Rolf Farm, positive changes are happening all over the world.
It is worth noting that the average cost of a Personal Energy Transport is just $425. For more information about Mobility Worldwide, their work and how you can help visit https://giftofmobility.org/.
