Personal Energy Transportation

PET is both a faith-based, volunteer-driven, 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization and an acronym for the "Personal Energy Transportation" vehicle that the group constructs and distributes at no cost to provide mobility to disabled children and adults worldwide.

History

In 1994, Reverend Larry Hills was a Methodist missionary in Zaire, located in southern Africa. He saw scores of victims of polio and landmines who lost the use of their legs and could not walk. Most lived in rural locations without paved roads, so normal wheelchairs were useless. Rev. Hills told Reverend Mel West of the great need for a three-wheeled, hand-cranked vehicle, who in turn contacted Earl Miner, product designer, long-time friend and mission partner. Design and prototype began immediately using three principles:
# STURDY, to provide service for many years
# SIMPLE, to easily maintain in outpost conditions
# LOW-COST, using common components The following year, 4 prototypes were constructed and sent to Reverend Larry Hills for field testing and told to "put these in the worst place you can find, and see if they pass the test". Their performance was outstanding and Rev. West began building PETs in his garage for regular shipment to Zaire.

Bishop Machado of Mozambique saw the PET in 1997 and requested a project there, as did others. With production headquartered in Rev. West's garage, and using a room at Community United Methodist Church, the project grew despite limited funds. Tom Algiere, a shop teacher, was sent by the United Methodist Church to Mozambique in 1998, where he set up two PET production shops.

In 2000, Reverend Mel West set up a production, receiving and shipping facility in Columbia, Missouri USA. The facility also receives parts made by volunteers and donated by businesses. The PETs are assembled and shipped around the world. That same year, Reverend Larry Hills returned from Zaire and set up a production shop at the Penney Farms Retirement Center located in Penney Farms, Florida USA (near Jacksonville, Florida) to focus on mobility needs in Haiti. Jake and Gwen Royall, members of the First Christian Church, set up a production shop in Luling, Texas USA in 2003.

Explosive growth

By 2004, over 1,000 PETs were produced and shipped from across the US. The PET Mobility Project, under the visionary leadership of co-founders and Reverends Mel West and Larry Hills, has experienced extraordinary growth. It was apparent PET needed an umbrella organization to coordinate its growth, maintain quality control over PETs being built throughout the world, and a host of other issues common to a growing ministry/business.

PET International was incorporated in 2004. Their purpose is to:

*promote PET vehicles for individuals with disabilities who have no appropriate means of mobility in poor and underdeveloped countries
*coordinate PET work sites where PETs are constructed
*assist in the dissemination of vehicles to international agencies/sponsors Now with a committed team of several hundred volunteers scattered around the world, a formal organization governed by a Board of Trustees and staff, PET can concentrate on its primary objective—giving dignity, hope and mobility to the millions in need. New PET assembly sites (PET Affiliates) are being established throughout the USA and in Zambia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Mexico. The cost of the components for a PET have dropped to $250 from the initial amount of over $300.

Countries

PET machines have been shipped to Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Gabon, Georgia (Russia), Gaza, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, West Bank, Western Sahara, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

References

External links

* [http://www.petinternational.org/ PET International website]
* [http://www.giftofmobility.org/ PET of Columbia, Missouri]
* [http://www.petflorida.org/ PET of Penney Farms, Florida]
* [http://www.pettexas-luling.org/ PET of Luling, Texas]
* [http://www.pet-texas.org/ PET Texas website]
* [http://www.austin.pet-texas.org/ PET of Austin, Texas]
* [http://www.petsanantonio.mysite.com/ PET of San Antonio, Texas]