April 1, 2010The founder and creator of ‘second-skin’ technology
Microskin, Linda Lowndes, yesterday became a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow in recognition of her humanitarian work.
Microskin is a simulated skin which can be used to alleviate the aesthetic disabilities associated with burns, scarring and other disfiguring skin conditions.
When Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) brought young Indonesian girls Rafika and Uswatun to Australia for extensive burns treatment, Lowndes assisted the recovery process by providing Microskin to successfully disguise the extensive scars resulting from their injuries.
Rotary recognised Lowndes’ efforts with ROMAC at a ceremony in Brisbane by awarding her a Paul Harris Fellow– the most esteemed award a non-Rotarian can receive from the club.
“I didn’t expect anything like this, there was nothing behind it other than being able to make a difference to a child - that’s all that matters,” Lowndes says of her surprise win.
“I’m in shock, I didn’t think that doing something that seems so small a thing could be such a big deal,” she says.
Walter Buchanon, Governor for Rotary District 9600 – which includes parts of South East Queensland, all of Papua New Guinea and all of the Solomon Islands) – presented Lowndes with the award.
“The work that Linda’s doing, and has done, with Microskin is something that can work very well with people in the two emerging nations of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands where people have suffered burns,” Buchanon says.
“These young children live with these burns until the day that they die. Here is an opportunity, through Microskin, to be able to give them a quality of life,” he says.
“It’s that sort of work that she’s doing that we, as Rotarians, respect, because she’s going into the international field of humanitarian service. That’s why we have awarded her, and made her recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow.”
