ABSTRACT
In the 1960s, Maine-Soroa was a village of fewer than a thousand inhabitants in the Department of Diffa, one of seven administrative units of Niger, West Africa. The timing may have been considered right for founding Africare, but there remained the question of how to appeal to the African American community. The new stationery, with an outline of the African continent and the word "AFRICARE" printed across it from Senegal to Somalia, bore the inscription, "Bringing Medical Care to African Countries". The early 1970s was an opportune time for launching a charity appealing for support from the African American community. All of these political, cultural, and foreign relations aspects were important for Lucas in 1971 when he began calculating where he would raise financial and logistical support for Africare. The momentum of an accelerating seventy-year drive for social, economic, and political equality in the United States, although frequently interrupted, had created an open and positive atmosphere.
