Life

Co Down woman Paula McCann brings tender loving care to Ugandan orphanage

A simple act of washing and massaging African orphans' feet has given Co Down woman Paula McCann a new appreciation of what we have in the Western world. She tells Joanne Sweeney how a local charity is helping to raise happy and healthy children

Paula McCann with one of the 'lucky' children from New Beginnings children's village in Uganda
Paula McCann with one of the 'lucky' children from New Beginnings children's village in Uganda Paula McCann with one of the 'lucky' children from New Beginnings children's village in Uganda

IF TLC – tender loving care – was a medicine, then it was ladled out to the children in a Ugandan orphanage recently helped by Co Down woman Paula McCann.

In a country were charity workers fight to protect children from the ravages of Aids, famine, war, displacement and poverty, a kind human touch can also often be exactly what is needed.

Paula, from Banbridge, was a member of a team of 18 local people who went out in July to work and care for around 160 boys and girls in a children's village run by Kilkeel-based New Beginnings Charitable Foundation. The team was there to provide practical support to teach and care for the children in a range of ways over a two-week period, with the volunteers each raising a minimum of £300 for the charity while they covered their own expenses.

New Beginnings is a Christian charity founded by Roger Annett from Kilkeel.

It now owns an eight acre piece of land in the Nakasangola District where it has created a village to look after the orphans with ages range from toddlers to teenagers.

The children have been orphaned through Aids, or the war in northern Uganda, or were abandoned as babies. Without the care and protection of the village, their lives would be much bleaker.

There are an estimated 2.3 million orphans under the age of 17 living in Uganda so the need is never-ending. Paula, a former nurse, says that she got as much out of the trip as she hopes the children did.

"All the members of the team were there to help out in a specific role, whether it was teaching or cooking or telling them Bible stories," explains Paula, a grandmother-of-four.

"My speciality was to massage and lotion their feet and hands. I went out there to really show them a little bit of TLC, not that I'm an expert in massage. Their feet really needed some attending as they are barefoot most of the time. So I would have given them a cleanse, a foot soak and then massage.

"The children really loved it and for most of them, it was the first time that they have received this particular kind of one-to-one personal care."

She added: "You can't help but get close to the children and there were several little boys that I easily could have taken home with me but they are in the best possible place for them."

The trip was important to her as she had always wanted to help African orphans. After going through breast cancer six years ago, the desire to help had increased.

She said: "The work that New Beginnings does at the children's village is absolutely wonderful. This village was a wee paradise to these children, who are the lucky ones compared to other children there.

"Although they did not have as much as compared to what our own children have at home, these children are so happy. They have house parents who ensure that they were fed, clean and go to bed at night for a rest and are able to get up to school in the morning, as many others don't get to school, and they can medical treatment as soon as they need it."

Paula said that attention was particularly given to the children who were HIV-positive and to any indication that they might have contracted malaria.

Having worked for years as a classroom assistant at Donard School for children with special educational needs in Banbridge, Paula is surrounded by children at work and at home. She says that she has learnt a lot from her experience.

"I would go back tomorrow," she stresses. "And I'm really grateful to all my supporters in Banbridge who made it possible. It made me realise that today's children take so much for granted and it has just enhanced my appreciation of what we have at home and what my children and grandchildren have."

Paula has continued to help the orphanage out and supported by her family, friends and work colleagues has recently sent out a suitcase of shoes to protect the children's feet. And some of the children will be touring the north next year with their choir.

:: To donate to support the work of New Beginnings, or to find out more about how to help visit www.newbeginningscharity.org/