Creating the Spring 2020 edition of our Mobility Worldwide, Stow, OH newsletter testifies to the dedication of many people for whom MWW is a priority – despite a worldwide pandemic! As I am sure you can imagine, with a volunteer workforce often referred to as being in the “Covid-19 high risk category”, we lost some cart production time in March and April as our volunteers sheltered in place at home. Working remotely however, we have revised aggressive plans for 2020 based on lessons our teams learned in January when they took carts to Haiti and Kenya.
We have also advanced plans for field testing of the innovative Step2 plastic resin bodied mobility carts. For example, as of June, 2020, Mobility Worldwide plans to ship 100 of these carts via the Columbia, MO affiliate to Partners for Care in Kenya. The plastic carts have already had preliminary lab testing by our international organization’s team and ‘shake machine’ equipment. The Partners for Care team in Kenya has a substantial presence and experienced cart maintenance team that can aid in the next step of assessing how well the molded body carts perform in the rough terrain of remote areas in the ‘real world’. Likewise, 50 carts are being made available to Mobility Worldwide affiliates who choose to test out the ease or challenges of assembly of plastic body carts in production shops. The process of testing the new carts will also determine how well the product design goes through the logistics processes that deliver mobility carts to recipients in various developing countries. Overall, Mobility Worldwide intends to complete field testing of the Step2 carts in the Fall of 2020.
While 2020 promises to be a challenging year for the Mobility Worldwide Stow, Ohio affiliate, our team encourages you, our friends, prayer partners and financial supporters, to move forward with us as we share our passion to provide hand-cranked carts for those unable to walk – and in the process have an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and brighten our world.
