Lightfine lives out dream in Somalia

Oct. 7, 2004
By Anna Anderson
Staff Writer

Mary Lightfine credits Tarzan as part of the reason why she does what many people would call crazy.

Watching Tarzan as a kid, Lightfine said she wondered what life was like in faraway lands and exotic places.  But as childhood dreams often are, her childhood wonderings were lost “getting caught up in capitalism.”   She went to college, had a house to live in and a car to drive.

Then one day in the early 90’s, Lightfine read a newspaper article about what was happening in Somalia.  That was when she remembered her dreams.  On Sept. 13 Lightfine came to campus to tell about where those dreams took her.

“I found out the name of a doctor in the story, called him up and three weeks later I was living in a war zone,” she said.

She’d already been to 36 different countries, spoke two languages and had worked in emergency rooms around the United States.  However, Lightfine said she was unprepared for what she found in Somalia.

“When I landed on that dusty airstrip and stepped off of the airplane, a furnace blast of heat nearly knocked me over,” Lightfine said.  “It was deathly silent except for the burst of AK-47s.”

Lightfine said that the people who met her at the airport told her that it was so dangerous there she would be like a prisoner in her own home. She lived enclosed behind 12-foot walls and barbed wire, and personal guards would have go with her wherever she went.

At one point in her travels, Lightfine was so sick all she could do was lie in bed.  Neither she nor her colleagues knew what was wrong.  She said that a man came to her bedside day after day and said, “I’m sorry.  I’m sorry you’re sick.”  Lightfine said that this man knew what was wrong with her.  After dedicating her life to caring about other people, Lightfine needed someone to care about her.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, show someone you care,” she said.  “It makes a huge difference.”

As a part of her presentation, Lightfine demonstrated the way that the Sudanese women dress.  She invited a female volunteer to the front and as she began wrapping colorful robes around her, Lightfine explained how the Sudanese women are very modest.

They cover the curves of a woman’s body, as well as the hair, she said.  The hair is considered by the Sudanese to be the sexiest thing a woman has, so they have to cover it up to keep the men from going crazy.

Lightfine wore this costume while she was in Sudan and she said that she felt like a princess.

“I felt very attractive, even though I was modest,” she said.

Lightfine said she felt a fulfillment in her work, going into war zones and other places that doctors had fled.

During her lecture, Lightfine told about the time she has spent working in Somalia, Sudan, Sri-Lanka, Afghanistan and other places around the globe.  From her experiences she has started an organization called Volunteers Without Boundaries.

This organization is less than a year old and offers the opportunity for students and others with little or no medical experience to have what Lightfine calls “the opportunity of a lifetime,” helping communities with medical professionals in Mexico.    For more information look up the website at www.volunteerswithoutboundaries.com.

“The more you give,” Lightfine said, “the more you get in return.”

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