zactovanuatu

Fund-Raiser Back home to Vanuatu 2017 Trish Robinson’s Story

FROM TRISH

“A holiday in May 2008 was the beginning of an amazing journey.

It began with a trip in an old van driven by “Joe”, who drove around Port Villa and showed us all the sites including his family in a small village called Mele. To me this was a life changing experience seeing how they lived.

Their smiling faces touched my heart.

Joe asked us if we could find work for him in New Zealand so he could support his family. We asked the New Zealand Embassy if it was possible to employ Joe for a season visit. Unfortunately the reply was “no.” We then asked if we could sponsor a child, unfortunately this was not possible either. We were told to go and talk to a lawyer, if we wanted to take it further.

We decided to visit a lawyer we sat and chatted for an hour, the only option was to consider an un-born baby. My response was, “No but if you had asked me 20 or 30 years ago maybe. “After some soul searching and seeing the need of the family and ................. it was the beginning of the journey to a much-loved son.”

Trish adopted Zac in 2008, his parents are still alive but Zac’s family and extended family weren’t in a position to care for him. They already had four children, grandparents were looking after other grandchildren and Zac’s birth-mother already had a baby under a year old. The family have kept in regular contact with Trish through facebook and are excited about the possibility of seeing Zac in person again.

During his early years in NZ, Zac was in and out of various hospitals including Starship. He had severe seizures and issues with body temperature but is much healthier now. A paediatrician commented that if Trish had not adopted him and brought him to New Zealand he would not have survived. He is now an active 9 year old and now attends Totara College.

Trish works part-time in Dannevirke as a Care assistant in a retirement home. She is a single parent so finishes work mid-afternoon so that she is home when Zac arrives from school.

Trish Robinson led an effort to support her adopted son’s village after a cyclone devastated it in 2015. Container loads of essential supplies were sent from New Zealand following the terrible storm and provided much needed relief. Now Trish needs help.

Her medical condition is such that she will eventually be fed at night through tubes into the stomach. This will prevent her from travelling without comprehensive medical support from 2018 onwards. The school’s senior students will be visiting Vanuatu later this year. Trish wishes to accompany her adopted son and visit his home village.

This is a wonderful opportunity to support the Robinsons to revisit Zac’s family in Vanuatu so he can maintain and strengthen connections with his biological family there. This fundraising effort will enable Zac and Trish to fly with the school group and reconnect with his extended family.

Target of $2800