It's hard work trying to do good.

The emails have been flying back and forth between St. Paul, Kigali and India.
Terry, our kind-hearted Dir. of International Solar installations (I can't pay him but I can give him a well deserved title) has been pulling his hair out waiting for a site assessment to come in from Kigali. We're getting ready to leave soon for Rwanda to light a medical clinic inside a refugee camp with solar lighting. Delays, holidays, and more delays. In the mean time I put in a order with our solar lantern supplier in India for 100 lanterns for our Rwandan coffee growers. I want the lanterns to be shipped as we leave for Rwanda. Terry is growing more anxious everyday. There is energy all around. Life is wonderful.

It's time for me to slow down, take a deep breath, exhale and give thanks to all of my friends, family and supporters. With out your help and understanding we could never keep Fifty Lanterns moving forward. You give your time, money and energy to help a person in need that you'll never meet. Your generosity and faith is nothing short of remarkable.

I want to give a special thanks to Kelly C. Weiley, for her incredible energy and insight.

Bless you all,
-Linda

GREAT FRIDAY!

Good Friday turned out to be a GREAT Friday.

I had the good fortune to speak once again at Best Buy's Corporate office in Bloomington, MN.

The audience was wonderful, everyone was very interested and engaged. They had many wonderful comments and questions about the work we're doing with Fifty Lanterns.

The highlight for me was to be honored for National Women's Month by Julie Gilbert, founder and Vice President of WoLF and Entrepreneurial Initiatives at Best Buy. WoLF stands for Women's Leadership Forum. I was made a member of WoLF and received the little blue box from Tiffany's with a beautiful silver chain bracelet with my unique WoLF membership number engraved on a silver heart charm.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. Julie also handed me a big check, not only was it big in size, but big in dollars. Best Buy presented me with a check for $3500.00 for Fifty Lanterns. It didn't stop there, I was also given two Kodak Easyshare digital cameras to use on Fifty Lanterns projects.

I would like to sincerely thank Best Buy Corporation for support and encouragement.

With special thanks and hugs to my sisters at Best Buy for their great energy and faith,

Kristen Witte, Jennifer Martin, Jennifer Rich and Julie Gilbert.

I will wear my bracelet proudly. -Linda

Rice and Beans, Lice and Parasites. Honduras part 1

Dear Friends,

What a wild ride the past few years have been.

My life has been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world with my photojournalism work and visit places so few get the chance to see. Not to mention being able to bring much needed solar light to those most in need around the world thanks to the generosity of our Fifty Lanterns donors. 

Most recently I had the chance to spend two and a half weeks in Honduras on a medical mission with a group of angels in scrubs.  International Health Services has been working in Honduras for 26 yrs. They have my utmost respect for the great work they do. 

I was able to go along on their most recent mission and distribute 200 of our Fifty Lanterns BoGo solar flashlights, (thank you donors!)  as well as do some photo work for IHS.

The mission consisted of medical teams that fanned out to remote locations in Honduras.

It was a challenging trip to say the least. The teams live together, 24/7 when out in the field. The team members generally, sleep on the floor of Churches, in tents, and sleeping bags, pee bucket in the corner for night.  We filtered our water. The teams consist of Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Students, Ham Radio Gurus, Translators, Dentists and general helpers. There were two surgical teams that patients could be airlifted to for more extensive care then they were able to give in the field. 

(LaCeiba and Porta Lempira)

We flew by puddle jumpers flown by our trusted pilots Yarly and George. (who both graciously put up with endless questions about flying from this wanna be pilot). When my good friend Sonia a pharmacist was afraid to fly in such a small plane, George gave her the reassurance she needed by telling her "honey, I don't want to die either"

One of my favorite places in Honduras was La Moskitia in a small village called Auka, 15 miles from the Nicaraguan border. It is truly a place so remote most Honduran's have never set foot there. The simple houses are built with wood planks on stilts, and the livestock run free. The Moskito Indians are some of the most impoverished people I have ever come in contact with. And most of you know I've spent the last 7 yrs. in refugee camps from Iraq to Thailand, Sub-Sahara Africa and all parts in between. To say that the IHS medical mission made a difference in this area is an understatement. 

All and all, Doctor Joe Thombers (my hero) airlifted 19 patients out for critical care and surgery. Some villagers walked for days to be seen by IHS Doctors or to have the dentists pull an impacted tooth 

I'm still digesting this adventure. I usually travel solo, so traveling with IHS was a completely different, albeit memorial experience I won't soon forget. 

By the way, I'm signing up for next year's mission to Honduras, 

let's hope we can bring in 500 solar lights!

Peace to all,

Linda