Apparently others have started organizations similar to Spotlight. See this note from one of my colleagues.
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How would you like to be a Fairy Godmother? Karen Lassen of Berkeley is one and she can help you start a Fairy Godmother Society group just like hers (karenllassen@comcast.net). Ten years ago she started it with her friends because she realized that working as a group has more advantages than individually especially when it comes to being philanthropic. The 9 members meet 3 times a year for lunch and between lunches they search the East Bay to find organizations that need help. The group votes and sends off a letter to the winner along with their checks. They raise about $1400 per meeting and over the past 10 years have given away more than $30,000 to needy organizations.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
CNN called!
Unbelievably, someone from CNN just called to ask for more information about Dr. Kargbo. Actually, they pretty much just wanted to know that I wasn't affiliated with Johnson&Johnson and Honda, their two main sponsors. After assuring them that I only once owned a Honda which I have since sold, my nomination was somehow cleared and I am now under the impression that it is on someone's desk waiting to be turned into a story. I also sent them Dr. Kargbo's cell number. Fingers crossed!!!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Our first spotlight?
Tonight I finally nominated Dr. Samuel Kargbo for CNN's hero award. He's an amazing, inspiring guy I met for only 20 minutes in Sierra Leone, but I feel compelled to bring attention to his work. Below is what I submitted for his nomination - it's a little clunky because each paragraph had ridiculously tight word limits. Enjoy!
"I have traveled to more than 30 developing countries and Sierra Leone is without a doubt the most undeveloped place I have ever seen. It ranks dead last on the UN Human Development Index – more than 80 percent of the population is illiterate and one in four children dies before his fifth birthday. Koinadugu, with a population of nearly 300,000, is the country’s most impoverished and inaccessible district, with no electricity or other infrastructure. And in this place, where the ten-year civil war brought the health care system to a standstill, Dr. Samuel Kargbo, a Western-educated Sierra Leonean, chooses to work. He is the only medical doctor in the district and earns $200 a month.
Since 2005, Dr. Kargbo single-handedly recruited and now supervises nine health officers in the district. Among his many achievements: (1) creating ‘birth waiting homes’ where pregnant women stay weeks before they are due so that they have access to medical care; (2) forming support groups for pregnant women to share their experiences monthly and receive ante natal care services; (3) instituting village savings and loans schemes that have empowered community members to be able to pay for health services; and (4) establishing an ambulance service.
Because of Dr. Kargbo’s efforts to curb home deliveries, the number of such births has dropped from 70 percent to 40 percent resulting in a 36% reduction in still births, a 35% reduction in maternal mortality, a dramatic increase in Caesarean sections, an increase in clinic attendance and voluntary testing for HIV, and elimination of the risk of fistula formation.
He inspires everyone he meets, including a BBC medical reporter who called him “perhaps the most remarkable doctor I’ve ever met.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7202278.stm
Dr. Kargbo’s brother, a Lieutenant, was killed by rebels March 23, 1991; he was literally the very first victim of the country’s civil war. Dr. Kargbo's response was extraordinary; he organized vaccination campaigns in combat zones sometimes under a hail of gunfire. He has dedicated his life to grassroots medical service in one of the most underserved regions of the world and continues to this day because he feels there is a huge gap between global attention to health-related Millennium Development Goals and community-level action to actually achieve them.
Dr. Kargbo saves lives on a daily basis, works where no one else will work, provides healthcare to the most needy people on earth, is paid a pittance, and could at any moment choose to leave Sierra Leone to better his own life but, instead chooses to stay and work tirelessly and passionately for the people of Koinadugu.
"I have traveled to more than 30 developing countries and Sierra Leone is without a doubt the most undeveloped place I have ever seen. It ranks dead last on the UN Human Development Index – more than 80 percent of the population is illiterate and one in four children dies before his fifth birthday. Koinadugu, with a population of nearly 300,000, is the country’s most impoverished and inaccessible district, with no electricity or other infrastructure. And in this place, where the ten-year civil war brought the health care system to a standstill, Dr. Samuel Kargbo, a Western-educated Sierra Leonean, chooses to work. He is the only medical doctor in the district and earns $200 a month.
Since 2005, Dr. Kargbo single-handedly recruited and now supervises nine health officers in the district. Among his many achievements: (1) creating ‘birth waiting homes’ where pregnant women stay weeks before they are due so that they have access to medical care; (2) forming support groups for pregnant women to share their experiences monthly and receive ante natal care services; (3) instituting village savings and loans schemes that have empowered community members to be able to pay for health services; and (4) establishing an ambulance service.
Because of Dr. Kargbo’s efforts to curb home deliveries, the number of such births has dropped from 70 percent to 40 percent resulting in a 36% reduction in still births, a 35% reduction in maternal mortality, a dramatic increase in Caesarean sections, an increase in clinic attendance and voluntary testing for HIV, and elimination of the risk of fistula formation.
He inspires everyone he meets, including a BBC medical reporter who called him “perhaps the most remarkable doctor I’ve ever met.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7202278.stm
Dr. Kargbo’s brother, a Lieutenant, was killed by rebels March 23, 1991; he was literally the very first victim of the country’s civil war. Dr. Kargbo's response was extraordinary; he organized vaccination campaigns in combat zones sometimes under a hail of gunfire. He has dedicated his life to grassroots medical service in one of the most underserved regions of the world and continues to this day because he feels there is a huge gap between global attention to health-related Millennium Development Goals and community-level action to actually achieve them.
Dr. Kargbo saves lives on a daily basis, works where no one else will work, provides healthcare to the most needy people on earth, is paid a pittance, and could at any moment choose to leave Sierra Leone to better his own life but, instead chooses to stay and work tirelessly and passionately for the people of Koinadugu.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Our journey
Well ladies (Joce, Amanda, Mel & Linds, I'm addressing this directly to you), we've come a long way from cooking and jacuzzi-ing in the mountains of West Virginia (Black Bear retreat I & II). During our first two get togethers we ate & laughed alot. We had that one brain flurry of "what can we all do together?" which led us to where we are now. This year in San Francisco we decided to start Spotlight. I've been putting a couple bucks a day in the bread box in my kitchen... Mostly money saved from no longer drinking any coffee priced over a dollar. I made my quota for April ($50) and am well on my way to making it for May (although I did have to "borrow" for laundry once while waiting for my paycheck). I'm thinking that this will be easier (financially) when I am no longer a starving grad student. I've been having a lot of fun so far thinking about who I will give the "pot" to when it's "my turn." I've already got a few organizations in mind that I think will be able to "parlay" a spotlight grant into something....(else - not sure what). In the running are a couple of organizations I will call "meta-NGOs" - in other words, NGOs that help other NGOs. I guess I've got a few more months to think about this... (What do you guys think about posting our "giving calendar"?)
Monday, May 19, 2008
Beginnings
Spotlight (the organization and the blog) are works in progress. We know we want to work together to build something great. And we know there's lots of messed up stuff in the world that we can try to do something about. So, we've come together and are putting some money into a fund and investing our resources in small, innovative organizations to whom a small amount of money could make a large difference.
We'll post our thoughts, commentary, and rantings about books, articles, theories, stories, travels, and anything else that seems appropriate. And, we'll profile people who are doing cool things.
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