Simply heart-breaking

Eric Baxter Eric Baxter - 1629 • Published 2 May 2008 16:30

A GOUROCK man was moved to tears by the poverty of street children in Africa.

Tommy Dobbin, 61, spent six weeks in Ethiopia working for a charity educating desperately-poor street children, some of whom sleep under tables in snooker halls or hotels.

He started voluntary work with SCIAF, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, after a management career at IBM and James Watt College.

Tommy, who is married with a daughter and two sons, said: 'I quickly got into full swing and was recruited as part of the schools liaison programme, showing pupils the work being done with their assistance in Africa, South America and south east Asia.'

SCIAF decided to support a street-children project in Mekelle, Ethiopia, by providing someone who could help with teaching English and confidence-building skills. Ethiopia has been affected by years of famine-related problems and wars with Eritrea and Somalia.

These have left many young children with one or both parents dead, broken families, poor homes, lack of washing and cooking facilities and in need of support to help put their lives on the right track.

Tommy said: 'I applied successfully for the position and, after injections against every possible disease, I was on my way for a six-week trip.'

The street-children project is run by the Daughters of Charity. The children are between 10 and 17, with a few older ones assisting with music and drama programmes. The project provides daily food, showers, washing, education and counselling support.

Tommy said: 'My job as part of a team was to provide English lessons.

'Many African countries adopt English in schools as the chosen language, due to multiple languages and dialects being used.

'The Sisters cater for about 220 young children, who are either homeless or living in very poor homes. For children unfortunate enough to be completely homeless, they drift from friend to friend to stay for a few nights, or live under snooker tables when the snooker rooms close up for the night.

'Local hotels are very good at giving out surplus food, or allowing children to sleep under tables late at night.

'Working with these children and young adults was an unbelievable experience. They were so grateful for the little assistance we were able to offer them, always so happy and just seemed to smile all day long.

'When asked about the things they considered to be most important in their lives, most of the answers fell into the same categories: a home, food, clothing, washing, education and friends.'

Tommy said it was difficult to come to terms with the inequalities and injustices. He added: 'I also became aware of the fact that, instead of me trying to provide educational support, for much of the time it was me who was being educated, not academically, but in prioritising values.

'The economic poverty of the people has enriched them with a very honest and pragmatic outlook in life.

'Stealing and mugging is just not an option most Ethiopian people would adopt as a solution to their poverty.

'It broke my heart to leave behind the many friends and relationships I had built up very quickly.

'The children"s sense of values would make you cry at times as they have their priorities spot-on compared to the more materialistic sense of values of western civilisations.

'It was a very humbling experience to see how happy and grateful the children were for the help being offered.

'The toughest part of the trip was having to leave the children, but I know I will go back again to see them at some time in the future.'

• TOMMY can be contacted at tommydobbin@hotmail.com by anyone who wants to help the project, or by any organisations who would like him to give them a slide show of his trip.

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 02 May 08

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