1. Ms. Carol Levy, tell us about the beginnings of The Pilot Light Foundation. How did everything started? How long did it take you make this dream into a reality?
I was on a fact finding mission in Uganda with UNICEF, as I was on their national and regional board for many years, when I met and became friends with a Ugandan doctor who works with UNICEF. She asked me if I could fundraise for a project she and her husband were doing in the village where they grew up. I found that people were very responsive to the fact that I was going to spend the money myself, so they knew it was really being used for what they expected it to be used for and that I was able to give them a full report with photos on what and who their money had gone towards helping. That project led me to a second project in the same village and then my Ugandan doctor friend connected me to another UNICEF office in West Africa that introduced me to a couple of projects they thought were very worthy and run by dynamic women, but fell outside of the parameters of UNICEF’s work. I was connected to people in Rwanda through a dinner conversation with a university president and things really just snowballed from there. Six years ago in Rwanda, I met the man that is now the Pilot Light Program Director, Delphin Muhizi. His area of expertise is in the type of business models we use in our projects and we decided to focus solely on income generating projecting. In other words, we strive to help people living in extreme poverty to have the capacity to support themselves financially in a sustainable way. The idea of the pilot light is that we light a small spark that then becomes a larger flame after we are gone.
2. Ms. Levy, tell us about the scope of the communities PLF serve. How many villages? What specific countries in Africa do you have families and communities being recipients of the good will of PLF?
We currently have 12 projects in Rwanda and all over Uganda, serving more than 5500 beneficiaries and over 39,000 indirect beneficiaries, which is the family members living with our beneficiaries and in other cases it can be farmers who are benefitting from our processing plants. These farmers live in areas where they had no access to process their crops before we built one. The processed product brings in more income than the unprocessed one, i.e. rice or coffee. We have, in the past, also worked in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but are now focusing just on Rwanda and Uganda, as it is logistically difficult to cover such distances when Mr. Muhizi must visit each our projects every couple of months.
3. Ms. Levy, what is your ultimate dream with Pilot Light Foundation? How many people you want to reach and support in the next 5 years? How many countries will PLF will be supporting? How can volunteers and everyday people can be part of it and help PLF achieve its mission?
Interdependence is an important part of everything we do and is what brings us success. We work on each project in partnership with a local grassroots organization that is already working in that area. Over the years, we have learned what to look for in a partner and we have some really dynamic ones. As long as there is extreme poverty, there is an endless number of groups that need funding and an endless number of worthy partners. My goal is improve my fundraising abilities in order to increase the number of projects and, ultimately, the number of beneficiaries we serve.With each project we learn what we can do better. We strive to always make the most impact possible with as little waste and administrative cost as possible. The best way people can be a part of what we do is to make donations and to raise awareness and funds within their own circles.
Pilot Light is not set up to handle volunteers, but there is company, VOVAfrica, that offers volunteer vacations and working at our Mother/Child Development Center project is one of their opportunities. More of our projects will be included in the future, as well.
BIO
Carol studied anthropology at UCLA, always having a special interest in Africa. She was a dealer of ethnographic art and owner of World Collection Gallery in Los Angeles, which took her traveling in West Africa on buying trips and fed her love for the art, culture and history of the countries she visited. Carol was a national board member for the US Fund for UNICEF for 4 years and was one of the founding board members, serving 17 years on the US Fund’s Southern California Regional chapter.
It was through Carol’s travels with UNICEF to Uganda that she made friends and contacts in Africa that brought her attention to the types of problems that Pilot Light is focusing on. Carol lives in Los Angeles with her husband and has two adult children. Carol has worked hard to build relationships in those areas hit hardest by poverty and malnutrition.Carol also builds lasting relationships with collaborators, partners, and beneficiaries. She partnered with Delphin Muhizi of the Millenium Village Project years ago. After their successful collaboration, Delphin joined the Pilot Light team. For over six years now, Delphin has been working as Pilot Light Foundation’s Director of Programs, and his regional expertise and residence in Rwanda allows him to supervise Pilot Light Programs regularly. Today their close friendship drives the success of programs throughout Africa. For more information, visit: http://www.pilotlightfund.org/