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neck of the woods | prof ile

about how we could intervene early and pre-
vent these kids from becoming street kids
and to help build a healthy family for them.

CHRIS - We have to allow women to have
healthy pregnancies and healthy deliveries.
We have to allow women to have their own
reproductive choices. We can’t continue to
say, “You need to lift yourself out of poverty,
but you have to have 12 kids.” It doesn’t
work.

DOCTOR FRANKLIN SEEMS TO BE A
KEY FIGURE IN MAKING THIS ALL
HAPPEN. TELL US ABOUT HIM.

CHRIS - Some people say, “God doesn’t have
accidents, things happen for a reason.” When
we complete our service, we finish with a
brief safari. Dr. Franklin happened to be our
safari guide. “You guys are medical?” and we
said, “Yeah.” Then he said, “Yeah, I’m a doc-
tor too.” At first, we didn’t know whether
to believe him, but Franklin is not only a
doctor, but an outstanding doctor, very well
trained. He could make more money as a
safari guide than as a doctor in Uganda. He’s
the one with the vision and the connections.
His dad was Minister of Education under Idi
Amin. Dr. Franklin is very savvy; he under-
stands the politics of education, the politics
of healthcare, and the politics of transform-
ing a country. Dr. Franklin had a vision for
how to make the medical clinic self-sustain-
ing. Our medical clinic charges those who
have the financial wherewithal and provides
free care to the others. Both Dr. Franklin and
Caleb Rukundo, with the children’s home,
are extraordinary leaders. They are working
to make Uganda a better place.

WHAT’S SERVES AS YOUR
INSPIRATION?

CHRIS - I think we all want to make
Jackson County, Oregon, the United States,
or the world, a better place. When it comes
down to it, when we leave this world, that’s
what we’d like to leave. That is the inspira-
tion. Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation
is inspiration. Father Gregory Boyle is inspi-
ration. Father Boyle spoke in Ashland a year
ago about his work to make the world a bet-
ter place. I knew he was on the right track
and I was inspired by him.

52 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2020