June 01, 2007
Art Pins in Ethiopia and Nigeria
Joy Lynn Alegarbes got a warning she would never forget last year as she began a journey to Ethiopia and Nigeria, where her mission literally was to save lives.
"I just want you to be careful," Franck Delores, executive director of the Condom Project, told her. "The baggage handlers usually steal anything of value out of your luggage before you can claim it."
Alegarbes hand-carried eight laptop computers and six digital cameras worth about $20,000 onto the plane in Washington. By the time she arrived in Ethiopia, 1,000 Crown condoms, the hottest-selling prophylactic on the market, were missing from her luggage.
In an instant, Alegarbes realized she had protected the wrong thing.
