Alright,
Presuming you have something like this:
http://www.kyocera-display.com/SiteImages/PartList/SPEC/C-51505NFQJ-LW-ALN_Eng.pdf
Notice the backlight pins are on the opposite side to "normal" LCDs.
Check the base PCB layout. You need to reroute the backlight pins to the base header.
Wait a sec...
The LCD header has 2*8 pins, but they don't line up with the PCB header?
Better pictures needed!
Don't turn on the power until everything is correctly aligned.