His death touched thousands of people. Franek or Prince. That’s what we called him. He is the one you see in the foundation’s profile picture. He became a kind of symbol of the fight for life, although at the beginning he did not care at all. 10 years have just passed since he is no longer with us.
He was 16 years old when he came to Kasisi. He weighed just 18 kg. Devastated by AIDS, all possible complications and the uncaring attitude of his relatives. He was very sick. He wanted to give up. Sister Mariola convinced him that there was a chance for him to get stronger if he just let himself be helped. We wanted Franek to believe that finally someone cared about him living. We succeeded. In Kasisi he got back on his feet, went back to school, gained weight.
He spent two happy years with us, feeling loved and with the greatest dignity. On 7 January 2014, a person passed away who taught us that there is no such thing as dying, there is LIVING to the end!!!!
Grateful for his life, we set up a Dream Fund named after Frank Banda, which later turned into the Toys & Fun Shop – a place where we make our kids’ dreams come true.
Prince is probably looking down on us right now. Wave to him today and, if you can, add something to the basket in our Toys & Fun Shop.
The metal cots and worn-out mattresses have lulled generations of Kasisi kids to sleep, but are now in desperate need of replacement.
Our dream is to make the babies’ bedrooms look like a truly homely, safe environment that is associated with warmth. Will you help us make this dream a reality?