Kenton Rotary Club Hosts Quest Guest Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson was the quest guest of Rotarian Randy Rogers at a recent meeting of the Kenton Rotary Club.  Mr. Johnson spoke to the group about his upcoming trip to Zambia with Virtual Doctors, an NGO from the UK, to retrace the path of Dr. David Livingstone, 1813-1873.  Livingstone was a Scottish doctor, evangelist, scientist, explorer and anti-slavery crusader. 

Retracing these footsteps he and his group hope to bring medical access in underdeveloped regions of Zambia through satellite connectivity and telemedicine.  There are not enough doctors to serve vast and remote territories. Lives are lost and needless suffering ensues due to a lack of access to high quality specialist care. By linking doctors to doctors over the internet, they will strive to make quality healthcare available no matter where the patient lives. 

Satellite connectivity through StarLink, together with Virtual Doctors and a telemedicine arm of Rotary International called Global Offsite Care, is a catalyst for increasing access to specialized healthcare for all and providing technology platforms to doctors and clinics around the world.

Scott also spoke about Solight solar-powered lanterns (www.solight-design.com ), a product that can bring light and comfort to populations without electricity or those in disasters and war torn countries. These solar lights are a personal device, thoughtfully designed to provide individualized access to lighting via solar energy. 

Inspired by origami designs, Alice Min Soo Chun (a Forbes 50 Under 50 Awardee) created a line of collapsible solar lights that can even power a cell phone and will be accompanying Scott to distribute her lanterns in Zambia.  

Produced with renewable materials, these lights have even been proven to bring safety and security, due to the light they produce, to girls and women in small rural villages.  The lights also help soothe those people in war torn countries deal with PTSD, as the lights can go from blue to purple and produce a calming effect. 

Scott hopes to bring as many of these lights as possible with him on his upcoming trip to Zambia providing light and hope to all.  Scott said that one light touches as many as 10 people when they come together around the Solight lanterns and cost as little as $10/lantern or $23/lantern for ones that can also charge a cell phone.

If anyone would like to ‘sponsor” a lantern(s) for Scott’s upcoming trip to Zambia, contact him at 571-420-8758 for details.