Part of the inventory control process we have been going through for two years with Justin Clark's invaluable help, has been saving what needs to be saved for long term use, and getting everything organized to then get everything out that does not need to be saved.
He and Jorge filled the garage full of things that were either in disrepair, brand new and not needed for long term storage, or used but no longer needed. We opened up the garage to the pastors to see what they could use in the Churches or personally, or distribute. This is just one truck load's worth of many truck loads that they were able to take.
FAME sent us some PET devices, made especially for people that cannot walk, but where wheelchairs would not be a practical solution. (PET stands for Personal Energy Transportation I believe...the device works like a bike, but you pedal with your hands. Unfortunately, in many places in Honduras even these are not very practical since we have so many hills.
That makes distributing them somewhat problematic...not often do we get requests for them. We had three, and during this cleaning and sorting process, we decided to put them out there in the garage to see if there would be any interest. Jose Luis took them back with him in his mission Land Cruiser to Talanga, and in an extremely short period of time announcing he had them via our channel 15 TV station there, they all found new homes! Talanga is relatively flat (well, for Honduras especially), but roads are still dirt and rock, and most of the city has no sidewalks, so these PETs should be a huge help to these families...
I did not get this gentleman's name, but he got the adult version we had. He was in an accident and is now paralyzed from the waist down.
PETs are sometimes used by adults in cases like these not only to be able to just leave their homes, but as messengers or transporting things if in a ciy...a way for them to still work.
This is Carmen, she has polio, a disease I thought had been eradicated, but apparently I was wrong, (she did not get vaccinated.) I love that her brother is relaxing on the box, and that she is posing for the picture (I have multiple pictures of her...she is smiling/posing in each). She seems happy and has not even got to see the PET yet!
This is Carlitos, he had to have his leg amputated because of a burn. Just three examples of things the mission gets to do, ways it gets to help, that were not planned, anticipated, or sought out, as we did not even ask for these PETs...God orchestrated all that to come together through quite a few different people in the US (the people that make them, FAME for warehousing them and then getting them to us, Master Provisions for handling the shipping) and then the His Eyes staff here in Honduras as well.
Thanks be to Him for these efforts, and join us in praying for these families that the PETs might be of use to them, and for ongoing health issues, recovery and perseverance for the future in Him.
