12/04/15 Lonnie Hackett - Healthy Kids, Brighter Future, Lusaka, Zambia

Posted by Ben Lowry

Last Friday, we heard a truly inspirational tale from an amazing young man named Lonnie Hackett. Lonnie grew up in Bangor and fell in love with sports, eventually heading off to Bowdoin, where he began to feel that he was “doing everything for himself." He went to football practice, he studied and he worked out, but eventually he was introduced to Dr. Richard Bale, who worked with the impoverished people of Zambia, in southern Africa. Dr. Bale asked his listeners to “get inspired” so, after some consideration, Lonnie applied for one of five scholarships and, just like that, he found himself on a plane to Lusaka, the capital, with only one instruction: “get inspired!”

After spending time with some of the poorest children in Africa, and understanding that 95% of the young girls on the streets were HIV-positive, Lonnie’s life was altered. Now, at the tender age of 24, Lonnie finds himself as the founder and president of 'Healthy Kids/Brighter Future,' a fledgling non-profit that has found its footing through grants and aid from local Rotary Clubs like ours.

With over two billion people in Africa with no basic health care, education and hands-on training at schools and hospitals in Zambia, they have begun to help with these near-forgotten children, one of seven of which will not see the age of seven. But, with 86% of the children attending schools, Lonnie and his crew have been able to transform the teachers into much more than just educators. With an increased ability to provide much-needed health screenings, as well as improved sanitation and hygiene, the schools have become a gateway in allowing the educators to become entrusted with more of the health concerns that have torn apart entire communities.

Lonnie started in five schools, then 35, and now his agency is providing assistance in 55 schools for 11,000 young Africans, with government promises to replicate the programs and provide help to 25,000 more children over the next two years. Lonnie and his team have made a difference in the world, and Portland Rotary should be proud to have provided assistance. As Lonnie’s motto states: “if not us, then who? If not now, when?”

(President Bowen, Lonnie Hackett and Bob Gravino)