Having just returned from Uganda – where I was lucky enough to be the first media volunteer to travel to Kampala with Lucy – the adjustment back to grey, old London is a reluctant one! And the experience was so beautiful and rich that I’ve actually found myself craving the sound of buzzing mosquitoes!
I met Lucy almost a year ago now, after hearing about Child’s i Foundation through a friend. I have volunteered with various charities and been interested in development issues since I was a teenager and I’d dreamed of visiting Africa – so I was really excited when I thought that I might be able to volunteer and use the skills I’d been developing through working in TV to help support a charity like this one.
So going to Uganda was a true privilege and one I will never forget.
It is an amazing and welcoming country – and despite only intending to stay for 3 weeks, I ended up staying for 6. And I’d go back right this second if I could.
The people I met and things that I learnt in that time have changed the way I see the purpose of charitable organisations completely. What Child’s i are planning to set up out there is truly extraordinary. Supporting new mothers in their moment of crisis is about empowerment as opposed to aid. Stopping institutions from replacing the family.
I met young mothers-to-be who were able to dance despite the adversity that life had given them and laughing children who didn’t realise that they were living in poverty. And they didn’t seem to feel any self-pity whatsoever. Just the desire to wake up every day and lead a happy life.
And it was then that I truly understood the importance of the approach that Child’s i Foundation seek to take.
I realise now, more than ever, how fortunate I am to have a mother like mine. For she alone is reason enough to get up every morning. And it is because of her that one day I’ll be in a position to love and support my baby in exactly the same way.
Every child, throughout the world, deserves the same.
If you’re interested in volunteering or want to ask me any questions, please email me claire@childsifoundation.org and if you’d like to see the videos from my time with Child’s i Foundation go to the Child’s i YouTube channel.
