SAN ANTONIO – Polio, landmines, diabetes, and birth defects are some of the reasons people in underdeveloped countries end up without legs.
With that, they lose their ability to work, provide for their families, and help raise their children.
“You see somebody who has been on the ground, who has been crawling for so many years, and now they are at levels where they can go again,” said Jodi Sell, chief volunteer for Mobility Worldwide’s San Antonio chapter.
Sell and the local team help build mobility carts in a San Antonio warehouse. They’re among 21 teams in the U.S. making the carts.
Globally the international organization just shipped out it’s 100,000th mobility cart.
The San Antonio chapter has made 2,000 of them.
“We have the wood section here, and we have the metal section here,” Sell said, showing us around the warehouse. “I mostly cut the wood. Then we drill, we paint and then we finally assemble.”
The work is intricate. Each cart has about 260 pieces.
The team is made of up of 12-15 volunteers who come in once or twice a week to help with different stages of the assembly.
The work is focused, but the reach is enormous.
“In 2019, I got to go to Haiti. So, I got to see the people who actually got the carts. We trained them on it and then they take off down the roads,” Sell said.
The cart has three large wheels that help people who live in areas with rough, uneven roads.
“Once they have mobility, this enables them to do other things,” said Mobility Worldwide San Antonio Chapter President Thomas Martin.
Martin began doing this work in 2004, and the results are what keep him going.
He showed pictures of some of the recipients who had converted their cart into stands to sell food and goods.
Others are now able to transport their children to school for the first time, allowing their family to get an education and create generational success and health.
“I just view this as a tremendously good cause,” Martin said.
To keep up their pace, the organization needs funding.
“The prices of goods have varied but right now I’d say each cart costs $350 to $400 to build.
The main thing they need, though, is volunteers.
“During the pandemic, everything dropped off. And since the pandemic is over, not all of our volunteers returned. So, our basic deficiency today is man hours,” Martin said.
Martin said it’s the perfect job for anyone who likes to work with their hands, learn new skills, and help provide strength, joy and dignity to people all over the world.
If you want to volunteer or take your company on a philanthropy day – call 210-596-4584, email tmartin11@att.net or visit mwsanantonio.org.
