In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand In Gear - Issue 3 | Page 12

Members of The Lucy Foundation and local families from Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico.
COMING FULL CIRCLE
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When you’re told Robbie Francis’ social
enterprise venture, a visionary collaboration with
coffee farmers in Mexico, is run under an entity
called The Lucy Foundation, the natural rejoinder is:
‘Who’s Lucy?’
Robbie’s middle name, maybe? A beloved aunt?
Wrong? Okay, then – some kind of acronym, perhaps?
Artificial limb doesn’t immediately jump to mind.
Born without a lower left leg and most of the major
bones missing in her right due to phocomelia, Robbie
learned to walk with the use of a prosthetic she, as a
pre-schooler, nicknamed ‘Lucy Leg’.
Naming the foundation she hopes will eventually bring
many disadvantaged great empowerment after ‘Lucy
Leg’, which has been such a crucial support in getting
her to where she is today – literally and metaphorically
– seemed only fitting.
Somewhat paradoxically, though, for one whose
passion for broader human rights grew from such a
very young age, Hamilton-raised Robbie didn’t make
her way into the disability community, as such, until
very recent years.
It was a fascination with peace building that proved
her guiding light, leading her to study world religion
and human development at the University of Waikato,
where it was inter-faith dialogue as a means of peace
building and conflict resolution that piqued her
interest.
On graduating, she made a decision that would change
the course of everything. She applied for a Rotary
ambassadorial scholarship.
“I applied – and, lo and behold, I got it. I was just
amazed,” Robbie recalls.
“It was just this incredible scholarship – $US25,000
– and it covered my flights, my accommodation, my
study.”
Her choice of university, however, raised more than a
few eyebrows.
Page 12 | In Gear - Rotary in southern New Zealand - District 9980 | www.rotarydistrict9980.org