A noteworthy article written a couple of years ago about our own Lynda Howland and her work here at home and in Aftrica. Lynda continues to personally support InterVol and many clinics/communities around the world---thank you for your tireless support!Woman seeks help for two clinics in UgandaDolores Orman Staff Writer (June 14, 2004) —
PITTSFORD, NY
— For nearly 20 years, Lynda Howland has been traveling the world, especially to developing nations.
Howland is constantly looking for ways to help those in need. “I have seen the whole world,” she said. “I don’t want to die knowing I didn’t help people as much as I could.”
Through her own purchases and items contributed by others, Howland, 60, has donated books, school supplies and clothing to schools in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
And, since 2002, she has been donating clothing to two orphanages for children with AIDS or whose parents died of the disease, one orphanage in Botswana and the other in Zimbabwe.
Now the retired child protective worker with the Monroe County Department of Social Services is tackling another project and hoping the medical community will help.
She is gathering medical supplies to donate to two clinics in Uganda.
One is the Kampala Hospice, which serves terminally ill cancer and HIV/AIDS patients. The other is a clinic being established in Abayudaya, a community with a large number of Africans who practice Judaism.
Howland wants to collect as much as possible by the time she leaves for Uganda on June 30 with three friends. It will be her eighth trip to Africa.
She has obtained some things, such as a large supply of syringes, through InterVol, a Rochester-based nonprofit organization that recycles unused medical supplies for distribution to charities at home and abroad.
But the “main need” is items related to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Howland said.
Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region Inc. already has donated 1,000 condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention.
”I just thought it was a worthwhile endeavor,” said Rick Bartell, Planned Parenthood’s regional director of education and outreach.
He said he looked over e-mails Howland had received from Africa and was impressed that she “had a lot of good contacts on the ground there — grass-roots connections.”
Sue Morrison, a neighbor of Howland’s in Pittsford, has been donating clothes from her children, who now are in college, and other items for the past few years.
”She does a lot with the resources she has,” Morrison said of Howland. “If everybody did just a little, we wouldn’t have the sadness in the world that we have.”
Individuals or organizations interested in donating medical supplies, especially HIV/AIDS-related items, to the two African clinics should contact Howland by phone at (585) 381-7420 or e-mail at: lynhowl@yahoo.com.
