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Jan 16 2009 by Lisa
Jones, South Wales Echo
A CHARITY worker is preparing to swap her cosy Cardiff home for one of
the world’s poorest nations.
Oxfam Cymru’s communications officer, Luned Jones, will travel to Sierra
Leone where she will undertake her first assignment abroad.
The country is still recovering from the devastating civil war that
broke out in 1991.
She will spend two weeks visiting Oxfam projects in remote parts of
Sierra Leone before she is joined for a third week by Cardiff nurse
Angela Gorman, who runs her own charity to support the vital health
needs of pregnant women in Africa.
Luned said: “I am excited about it but I’m trying to prepare myself for
being completely overwhelmed.
“I know it’s going to be amazing in many ways. I’ll see things that I’ve
never seen before and probably never will again but I’m very aware that
it’s going to be emotionally tough.
“I’ll be speaking to the people who benefit from our work, including
those who have been in the thick of the civil war.
“We might have the chance to speak to some of the child soldiers who are
now in their late teens and early 20s.
“It will be gruelling and it will push me out of my comfort zone just by
talking to them about how they deal with life day to day.
“Mentally, emotionally and physically it’s going to be hard.”
Luned’s trip will enable her to speak about Oxfam’s work with first-hand
knowledge of the projects which the charity funds.
She will be visiting the remote towns of Kailahun and Koinadugu, where
she will visit projects funding water and sanitation systems as well as
schemes to help women find work and encourage them to get into politics.
Luned will also accompany Angela to the African country’s capital,
Freetown, when she flies in on January 30.
Angela is due to set up an infrastructure whereby her charity, Hope for
Grace Kodindo, can ship in life-saving drugs to help cut the number of
deaths of women from childbirth.
It already works in Liberia, Chad, and Somaliland.
Angela said: “I’m thrilled about going.
“It’s the worst country for post- pregnancy mortality in the world. I
need to set up some form of governance arrangements to make sure what we
send is used appropriately.
“I’ve been working with Oxfam Cymru, who are involved in a campaign with
maternal mortality.
“Luned mentioned about going and I worked out I could go for a week.”
To find out more about both charities, visit www.oxfam.org.uk or
www.hopeforgracekodindo.org
echo.newsdesk@mediawales.co.uk
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