A humbling experience I’ll never forget… UTV Sport presenter and Local Women Sport columnist Ruth Gorman’s moving account of life lessons learned on aid mission to orphaned African children

PURPOSE… the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

We all have purpose in our lives and, if you’re reading this, that probably involves sport in some capacity.

My life has been filled with sport since I can remember, it’s always been a huge passion of mine and has taken me around the world to tell some special stories about some of our most amazing athletes.

But recently I experienced the most purposeful trip of my life to date.

I was part of a team that travelled to Eswatini in Africa to help those much less fortunate than you or I.

I have always wanted to experience something like this before but the timing was never right. This year the charity trip happened to be during Euro 2024. With both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland failing to qualify for the tournament I knew I didn’t need to be in Germany so was able to get the time off work.

I have friends who have been on trips like this before so had heard many stories of what to expect but, until you do it yourself, your understanding is limited.

We’ve all seen the adverts on television of poor children in need of food and clothes but when you see that in real life, it can’t not change you.

Challenge Ministries Swaziland raises funds to house, feed and educate orphans in Eswatini, Southern Africa (formerly Swaziland).

Giving out baby packs in the maternity ward

Eswatini has the highest prevalence of HIV AIDS in the world and the average age of the population is now only 18 years, with 70% living under the poverty line. Eswatini has become a country of orphans and vulnerable children.

CMS help provide for the vulnerable children of Eswatini. Each child is placed into a family unit of 6-8 children, cared for by a house ‘mother’. They also run a farm, providing life skills for young people and a range of other projects based in rural communities of Eswatini.

In 2006, CMS bought Bulembu, a disused mining town in Northern Eswatini. They converted derelict buildings into homes, schools, clinics and businesses, effectively building a town to care for orphans and vulnerable children.

Teams from Northern Ireland have been travelling to Eswatini for over 20 years to show love and care.

I was privileged to be on one of those teams this summer and will never forget it.

The itinerary was very busy. We visited schools and pre schools each morning. We would sing, dance and do crafts with the children as well as giving out gifts. Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces alone made the long journey to Africa and early starts all worth it. These children, many of whom are orphans, had walked for miles to get to school over dirt roads and some with no coat on their back. Our trip was during their winter so morning and nights were very cold.

I learned that these children get up at 5.00am each morning to do their chores, get ready for school and many walk to school for at least half an hour to get there.

We also took a kids club in the afternoons during the week. Again we would see kids walking over the dirt roads, some with no shoes and some wearing clothes, either ragged with holes or too small for them.

One day we took suitcases of used shoes and clothes that had been sent from back home and we gave those to the kids in need. This was an experience I’ll never forget. It was heartbreaking seeing the kids with nothing. It wasn’t about the latest Air Jordans for them, they stood in front of us empty handed with no expectations and no entitlement. We held used shoes up to their feet to check if they were the right size. Some were shocked at the gift, others expressed their gratitude. I will never forget that day.

We hosted fun days in different communities filled with the likes of football, face painting and games for the children followed by food and juice – 600 children turned up to the first fun day and 700 to the second. It was a challenge as there were so few of us but we all pulled together and had great days with the local children. Again, giving a few sweets each to them as we left was like giving them a hundred pounds!

On one of our days we visited a hospital. It was like going back in time compared to our health service. My sister is a nurse and was on the trip. too. She could see equipment being used that would have been obsolete years ago here. The beds were very old and not like our hospital beds with multi functions and comfy mattresses.

We visited the maternity ward where 50 babies had been born that very day. We brought pre-wrapped baby packs with us to give out to all the mums. People from back home had sent these over made up of knitted baby wear, nappies, blankets, tubs of Vaseline, practical things like that. Again it was like giving the mums a million pounds, they were so grateful.

Going into the orphanages was another humbling experience I’ll never forget. Some of the children have been through trauma we can’t even imagine and have been placed in adopted families with a ‘mother’ of the house to look after them. The houses were small with one living area, a kitchen and shared bedrooms. There have no TV to go home to after school, no X-Boxes or PlayStations but they are loved and they are happy.

We asked a lot of the children there what they want to do when they are older.

Many of them have dreams. They are working hard in school to try and one day make it as doctors, medical scientists, engineers… the list went on.

Visiting the orphanage

During the early Covid lockdown days many of us reflected more and reevaluated a lot of things in our lives. I felt like this was another one of those moments for me. It made me realise I’ve more clothes than I’ll ever need for a start! It showed me purpose for living in helping others. And it made me even more grateful for the things we so often take for granted. Family, food, water, a roof over our heads… the list goes on. We are so blessed and most of the time we don’t take time to realise it.

Coming back home straight into work again, I found it hard to adjust to going back to normal life so quickly but it’s been amazing reporting on the Olympics from here and cheering on all the success we have had with Team Ireland and Team GB.

Listening to all the athletes interviews. I’ve been so impressed with the attitudes many of them have. “It’s only sport,” Kelly Harrington told the media before going into her 60kg boxing final to become Ireland’s first female two-time gold medalist at back to back Olympic Games. “It won’t define who I am as a person if I win or lose.”

That kind of perspective keeps your feet on the ground and your priorities in the right order.

A wise man once said, “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”

Visiting one of the schools

Plenty of clothes have made their way from Northern Ireland to help with the needs in the orphanage – I found this Bangor FC hat in the middle of it!