Rae Perkins 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rae Perkins first met Franco when she was on a research trip to Uganda, she introduced him to Sean and Sean introduced him to us!

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This is Rae's Story. 

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In 2001, I was lucky to be part of a team of teachers that embarked on a research trip to Uganda sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The purpose of the trip was to increase our understanding of issues facing Uganda and bring these insights back home to share.

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My research group focussed on a small village on the outskirts of Mbale, and this is where I met Franco and the children. The village was basic, and full of children., but very little adults as most had been killed by AIDS.   Here is Franco aged 17 and his cousin Charles aged 15, back in 2001. 

 

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We shared daily life with the village and through translators, our own sign language, and Franco’s then very basic English we got to understand a little bit of Franco’s reality. He was the oldest of the children and felt responsible for their futures.    

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To communicate with the children, we used drawings. Franco drew here what made him happy, he described this as knowing the voice of God, and underneath what makes him sad, and that is death and how easily it comes when you don’t have access to medicine.

 

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Life is tough, very tough, and fraught with daily challenges, just to eat and work. On returning to Sweden myself and two of my colleagues started sending money to Franco to help with daily life. He was always so grateful and kept in touch with updates on how the village was progressing.

 

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I moved back home to New Zealand with my husband to start our family here and met Sean Thomas through a mutual friend Michelle Jackson. Sean’s drive to make this world a better place blew me away. He was committed to helping Franco and the village out and the rest is history.

 

Sean has supported Franco to be able to create a future for himself and the children. To hear that they all study now at school is incredible.  I am so pleased to hear that Sean’s story continues with Suzi Seeds in Sean’s Footsteps. To support the village directly without layers of bureaucracy means all of the donations get spent on supporting Franco’s orphans.