I’ve always been fascinated by the ability to convert sunlight to electricity. As a child, while going to (or returning from, I can’t recall which) a foreign destination with my diplomat-father, I recall playing with a small solar-powered motor boat on a lake in Paris, France. I was hooked to see it glide across the water.
Years later, as an adult, I converted an ancient BMW 318i into an all-electric car that I continue to use in my 11-mile commute to work each day. I recharge its batteries, in part, from solar panels on my home roof.
Then, I got to thinking: Because I enjoy working with solar power, why not donate solar supplies to nations short on electricity. According to the World Bank, worldwide, about 15% of inhabitants have no access to electricity whatsoever, which means over a billion people live in the dark, so to speak.
I made my first solar donation in 2013 when I traveled to Bangladesh to install solar panels at a remote hospital called Kailakuri Health Care Project. I followed it up with two more journeys, both to Zambia (2015 and 2016) to install solar panels at a divinity school and two primary schools in very remote sections of the country.
These trips infuse my novel writing. My first journey to Zambia, for example, inspired me to write The Leopard’s Lines, a thriller about protecting African wildlife from poachers.