Shoeboxes full of love reach children in need

Hampshire News
By Vicky O'Hare

NUMB is the only word I can use to describe the harrowing sights I saw when I arrived at a gypsy camp in Podgorica - the capital of Montenegro.

I had been invited over to the eastern European country, along with Gazette photographer Sarah Gaunt, to find out exactly where the gift-filled shoeboxes collected by the Rotary Shoebox Appeal actually end up.

The three Rotary clubs in Basingstoke - Basingstoke, Basingstoke Deane and Basingstoke Loddon - worked together to collect more than 700 gift-filled boxes from schools, businesses and Gazette readers in the run-up to Christmas.

There was a delay in transporting the boxes, which were meant to arrive in time for Christmas, due to reasons beyond Rotary International's control - but last Friday was when they finally reached the needy children they were intended for.

Members of The Rotary Club of Ulcinj-Uqin, who were looking after us while we were in Montenegro, had explained a little about what to expect from the visit to the gypsy camp - which has been there since 1999.

But nothing prepared me for what I experienced that day.

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