Be the Source to Be the Change

Maria's story really struck a chord in me.

What really got me is that she didn't fail her grade because she wasn't smart enough or she wasn't trying hard enough, but simply because she didn't have any electricity.

I wanted to do something about this.  I wanted Maria and people like her to have some source of energy and light.

Will Ann Makosinski make money from her invention?  Probably.  She's already gaining fame for an idea that could have a significant impact in the world - not just in poorer countries without strong electricity grids but also ones like ours that are suffering increasingly from power-outages related to weather and other issues.

But it wasn't wealth or fame that motivated her, was it?  

Laissez-faire doesn't get you anywhere - to change the world, you have to be a catalyst.  The rest just happens by consequence.

Winning a science fair is awesome and it feels pretty good but this, my flashlight, isn't about the prize, the trip or the free laptop.  It's about people like Maria.  It was about taking a problem that is very real to her and thousands of other kids around the world and trying to make it better.