Rays of Hope
January 12, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
By Nicole Wallace
Photograph by Linda L. Cullen
Turning on the lights in the evening is something most people in the United States take for granted. But for poor families in the developing world who don’t have electricity, an affordable source of light can mean extra income and extra hours for their children to read and study.
Linda L. Cullen, an American photographer, saw the devastating effects of such poverty firsthand when she traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2004 to cover elections. Inspired by the time she spent with some of the city’s poorest residents, widows living in the foothills surrounding the city, Ms. Cullen returned from the trip committed to raising money to buy 50 solar lanterns that she could take back to the struggling women. A new organization, Fifty Lanterns International, was born.
Martha Naegeli, who founded the St. Paul charity with Ms. Cullen, says that in the developing world, kerosene can eat up 25 to 50 percent of poor families’ income. Kerosene’s flammability also contributes to thousands of deaths and injuries caused by house fires. The charity’s second project, in fact, was to send more than 200 lanterns to Oghi, Pakistan, after it learned that candle use by earthquake survivors was leading to tent fires.
Ms. Naegeli believes that the fledgling organization’s tangible mission has helped it attract donors. “Foreign assistance is kind of a complex thing for most people to understand,” she says. “They give their money, but they don’t really know where it goes.”
Fifty Lanterns raised $30,000 in 2005 — its first year of operation — almost entirely from individuals, and expects to raise $100,000 this year. The organization encouraged youth groups to get involved in fund raising by providing bracelet kits that included beads, string, and other supplies to make 24 bracelets. Students then sold the bracelets for $5 each, raising $120 per kit.
Here, a family in Kabul, headed by a widow, shows off its solar lantern. The light has allowed the woman to sew clothing she can sell to help support her family.
