Epsom Teenager To Darkest Africa ? Why?

Epsom Teenager To Darkest Africa ? Why?

When radio and tv personality, Paul Henry, decided to take his 14-year-old daughter Lucy to Tanzania and Uganda, friends and colleagues thought he was being a bit foolhardy, if not stark raving!

Lucy Henry’s immersion into Africa is the focus of a TV One Documentary to screen shortly.

Paul himself is no stranger to the world's hotspots; during his time as a foreign correspondent he reported from the jungles of South-East Asia in the reign of Pol Pot, dodged bullets in the Congo and sweltered in the Sudan.

But taking a New Zealand teenager to Africa, exposing her to the effects of AIDS, FGM (female genital mutilation), hunger and poverty? Why?

Paul wanted to make a documentary on how poverty in the developing world can impact on a New Zealand child who has never known what it is to go without food, clothing or shelter. It is hoped the documentary with the working title, "Lucy's Adventure" will screen on TV One shortly.

A sneak preview of Lucy's Adventure on Flipside TV last night drew over 40 enquiries about child sponsorship, and World Vision is thrilled.

"This comes right at the beginning of our 3000 Campaign, which we launched today," says Marketing Director Bruce Waldin. "And what Lucy is saying, without any prompting from us, is that it does take such a little amount of money to make such a huge difference in the lives of children living in poverty.

"Paul deliberately didn't prepare her for what she might see; he wanted her raw reactions, and she's just responded with such a mature attitude, it's very impressive."

World Vision's 3000 campaign is urging New Zealanders to sponsor 3000 children before the end of September. Child sponsorship is $36 a month, and the campaign number is 0800 90 3000.

Caption: Lucy met this young girl and boy in a banana plantation in the heartland of Northern Tanzania. A very poor part of the country - this plantation is full of the graves of those, mostly young children, who have died from Malaria. Lucy talked with a young father who showed her where he buried his five children.

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