How many flashlights do you have? Personally, I have about 10, counting the normal size ones (mostly with corroded batteries), the one on my keychain, my headlamp and camping lantern. On the off-chance there is ever a power outage, I will certainly be well-lit!
What about you? Is there a surplus of lighting devices in your life? Before you answer, let me share a little bit about why I’m asking.
Some of you may know that I went to Kenya recently to report on a treatment project for malaria, which is the leading cause of death for children there. Volunteers with the Kenya Red Cross were trained to treat sick kids in some of the most remote and poor villages in the country, and their work was having incredible results. After only 18 months, the number of children dying had dropped dramatically and more than 80 percent of kids were receiving treatment within 24 hours, the pivotal time window when malaria infections become deadly. This life-saving success was a direct result of a small army of dedicated volunteers, and I was blessed to hear their stories.
The volunteers were individually selected by community members where they served, nominated because they were trusted and respected by their neighbors, friends and families. They all have other jobs as farmers or teachers, shop-keepers or students, and the work they do as on-call “little doctors” in their villages is strictly voluntary. When they get a knock on the door in the middle of the night, they go. When they’ve treated a sick child, they go back to follow-up and ensure treatment is continuing, not once, not twice, but three times, along with keeping detailed records that would rival any doctor’s office anywhere in the world.
They are typically the only health care providers of any kind within twenty or even thirty miles -- and that’s on foot! Before the project started, if you were a mother with two sick kids, you would carry one on your back and one on your shoulders to the nearest clinic, regardless of how far it was, so that your child would get treatment. But now, mothers only have to alert their local volunteer to ensure their kids are cared for. No more long journeys required.
But it is the volunteers, though, who are called out at night by text message or by concerned family members, to rush out into the darkness with their kits of life-saving medicine. They navigate pathways between huts and trees that I couldn’t even see in the daytime, and since these are all rural areas, natural predators of the Kenyan wilderness lurk around every corner -- snakes, lions, you name it. It’s not only a tough job, it’s an extremely dangerous one as well.
As I talked with these volunteers, I began to hear a single common challenge among them. It wasn’t the exhaustive nature of the work or balancing volunteering with their many other jobs -- it was something very simple. They all needed a flashlight. Of the dozen or more volunteers that I talked with, every single one of them said that having a flashlight would help them the most with their work. Not money, not transport, but a flashlight. It was that simple.
That need resonated with me as I traveled home and wrote the report about their project, about their amazing work -- a report that was later presented by the President of the Kenya Red Cross at the UN General Assembly in late September. (Their work is just that good, that the world truly needed to know about it, learn from it and replicate it.) But it was also during that time that one of the volunteers, a young man named Benson Fujo, was killed by a wild animal while on his way to treat a sick child in the middle of the night. It was then that I really knew I needed to do something…
You all know I have seen lots of projects over the years and even more disaster scenes, but this time was different. Their need was so simple, and our means are abundant.
So now I ask you again, how many flashlights do you have?
I have begun collecting solar-powered waterproof flashlights to send to them and wanted to ask you if you would like to help as well. There are no batteries for sale in their villages, so these sturdy, compact solar devices seem just perfect, and they are only 13 bucks.The project operates in 113 villages, so that’s how many I’m aiming to collect -- one for each community volunteer. It’s taken me this long to organize plans and full approvals on the Kenya side, but now this modest effort has received the green light. I would truly love for you to join me in sharing a little bit of light on the work of my new, inspirational friends in Kenya.
The easiest way to contribute is to order them directly from Amazon and just have them shipped to me. You are also welcome to send me a check and I will gladly order them for you -- whatever you prefer. The timeline is immediate, and three weeks or so from now, I will make sure any difference is covered and have them shipped to arrive in Kenya early in 2011. If we collect more than we need, all the better -- the project will soon be expanding due to its unprecedented success!
If you want to learn more about the project, please check out the report, my blog about the trip with pictures of the volunteers, or this video from the Red Cross with my photos-- whatever your media preference may be! Also, don’t hesitate to contact me directly with any questions or ideas, and feel free to share this link with anyone you think would be interested in helping out or spread the word via facebook or other social media.
Again, the flashlights can be found here = http://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-
Just use your own account but have them shipped to me at 446 Woodhaven Dr., Decatur, GA 30030.
Thank you, thank you, thank you… for sharing the light of your love and generosity. I promise it will be a blessing and a help to someone who is working tirelessly to help others as well.
Love,
Bonnie
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| One of my favorite volunteers, Jacob, showing me his supply of medicine. |
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| This Mom named Jumma with her two youngest kids, demonstrating how she used to carry them to the clinic when they were sick. It was over 20 miles away! |
