Rachel's off to help Congo orphans (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Rachel's off to help Congo orphans

7:44am Friday 19th November 2004 in News By James Adlam

A COMMUNITY worker from the borough will soon be taking part in a life changing experience.

She is swapping her work with the disadvantaged kids of Richmond to go and work in an Aids orphanage in a remote part of west Africa.

Rebecca Windsor will make the trip to the Aids orphanage, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the end of November, taking a six week sabbatical from work. Rebecca has always been interested in helping others. Her current job is a role with Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP), the largest social landlord in the borough, as a resident participation officer. Her role entails working with various estates and their residents' associations to create opportunities for people and help build sustainable communities.

Rebecca said: "This is something I have wanted to do for many years, and now I have been given the chance to make it happen. The recent war in the Congo claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition. To add to this, the HIV/Aids epidemic, which is affecting the whole of Africa, has hit the country hard."

"I am going to a small province to work with an Aids orphanage for children aged 0 to 14 years. I'll be working alongside local volunteers providing support and guidance, and will be taking part in two key roles whilst I'm out there. The first is to try and integrate four older boys from the orphanage back into the local community.

"Unfortunately, many HIV/Aids suffers are ostracised by their family and their community; my aim is to educate the local people about the virus and help the boys find a place back in community life. My second role will be to work in the orphanage caring for the children who have all lost their parents to the war or the Aids virus, and many of whom have HIV/Aids themselves."

Rebecca will be missed, not just by family and friends, but by her work colleagues and the RHP customers she has come to know well over the past 16 months.

The residents of Sandown Court, one of RHP's 18 retirement schemes, surprised Rebecca recently with a farewell evening of wine and nibbles. The residents wanted a chance to wish her luck, and make donations to the orphanage.

Rebecca is frantically fundraising for the trip, to enable her to take much needed medical supplies and extra funding for the orphanage. She is asking people to sponsor a child for the duration of her trip, giving them a Christmas to remember. £60 will provide a child with three meals a day, all medical supplies, clothing, a home, running water, schooling, care and a present for a period of six weeks.

So far Rebecca has raised a total of almost £500, from friends and family, RHP work colleagues, the residents she works with, and general well wishers.

If you would like to make a donation, of any amount, to the orphanage Rebecca is travelling to, you can contact her on 8404 5170.