By now, he knew the drill. When the fish arrives, head to tail, you pick it up with your fingers and pull the meat off with your teeth. It was the last night, so Tom decided to splurge: a beer to go with dinner, 4,000 shillings, about one US dollar.

Even then, when the beer arrived, he held it a moment and thought about the dollar. How far could that go for a family in need? The past two weeks were still burning in his mind, the poverty, the intense need, and alongside it the intense gratitude and the abundant joy. This was his first quiet moment to reflect on the whole trip, and it was overwhelming. His thoughts drifted back to how it all began.

“It just happened.”

That's how Tom describes the start of the Uganda trip. But really, a trip like this was woven into the foundation of GoodBulb, the light bulb company Tom and his wife Tammy founded in 2015.

GoodBulb was born after Tom and Tammy lived through a life-changing medical miracle with their son, the kind of experience that does not leave you unchanged. For them, it became a challenge to live with purpose and to give back in any way they could. Tom had spent decades in the light bulb industry, and he decided to marry that trade to a purpose. GoodBulb was born, built on a simple idea: Be Good. Good quality, good prices, and good causes, locally and around the world.

Because so many communities still live without electricity, the team focused their expertise where it could matter most: getting better light to people who have none. That path led GoodBulb to a nonprofit partner, One Million Lights, which brings solar lanterns to places off the grid, communities that otherwise rely on kerosene, which is expensive and dangerous, and a frequent cause of fires and smoke damage.

Once GoodBulb partnered with One Million Lights, Tom wanted boots on the ground to hand the lanterns over personally. So he called and asked a simple question. "Are there any villages that need lanterns right now? I can go." The answer: "As a matter of fact, yes. There are many communities in Uganda that need help."

And just like that, the trip was in the works. Soon Tom was packing his bags in Fargo for the longest flight of his life, a videographer alongside him to help tell the story, a contact number for a guide named Gando, and more than 2,000 GoodBulb solar lanterns bound for families without electricity.

The air was still warm the night they landed in Entebbe. The small crew drove into Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city, where their guide Gando met them with a smile. "They will be expecting you." Tom was anxious and brimming with excitement all at once. 

This, he thought, this is why we founded GoodBulb.

Gando led them to their trusty steed, a gray 4×4 Toyota, and laid out the plan: a couple of nights in Mbale, then south, finishing in Jinja before circling back to Kampala. "In total," Gando said, "we will bring new solar-powered light to 11 villages." Then he turned and grinned. "Are you ready?"

Click here for Part 2…