MORE than 100 African children will be enjoying a priceless new year gift from a Worcestershire charity - the ability to walk, writes Jon di Paolo

Worcestershire Farmers Overseas Action Group (FOAG) has collected over £3,000 in donations to fund an orthopaedic surgery in Uganda.

The project is just one of many run by FOAG, which sends tens of thousands of pounds to Uganda every year.

It is a far cry from the day in 1981 when a group of friends concerned about the plight of Ethiopia got together.

At first, their involvement stretched only to organising talks on Africa. Little did they know when they accepted an invitation to visit Uganda three years later, that it was the start of an association with the country that would last decades and see a worldwide network of support established.

Malcolm Rankin, one of the charity's founding members, recalled a trip that changed his perspective irrevocably.

"I can remember it like yesterday," he said. "There was no fresh water anywhere, not even in the towns. I remember people fighting over a plastic water bottle - an empty one that you or I would throw away - because it was a container."

The lack of food, water, healthcare and law and order made such a profound impression on Mr Rankin that by the time he touched down at Gatwick three weeks later he could barely make sense of the world he'd returned to.

"I remember getting off the plane and looking at this shop in the airport terminal with its shelves stuffed with goods and for a moment I just couldn't equate it," he said.

That trip was to be the first of dozens to the East African country to launch initiatives such as the Teso oxen restocking project, where the charity pays for a pair of oxen and a plough at a cost of around £300. These are shared between four families, who use them to build up a surplus of crops. They must pay the money back to FOAG, which then buys a plough and oxen for another group of families.

Since its inception, the scheme has funded 140 pairs of oxen, helping hundreds of people to a better quality of life.

FOAG supports many other schemes, including sending money to help pay teachers, providing reliable sources of clean water, funding a school for handicapped children and helping a small group of widows raise chickens, freeing up some time for them to spend educating local children.

All the projects are vetted by one or more members, who fly over to inspect them on a regular basis. Money is the only commodity they send, as high costs prevent them from exporting tools or materials.

Mr Rankin is acutely aware of the need to vet the destination of all donations, to avoid pitfalls and con-men. This is accentuated by the fact that many of FOAG's associate members continue to send money, despite suffering severe financial hardship as a result of the poor state of British farming.

Each project bidding for the charity's support must be scrutinised by a member of FOAG, who will then return to England and put the project to the committee, which is made up of 14 families from around Worcestershire. If approved, the scheme is then visited and audited at least once a year to make sure the money is going where it should. Where possible, the charity will use tried and tested methods of distributing money through people it knows are reliable.

Frequent trips to the country also enable Mr Rankin to see first-hand the beneficial effect the money has on people's lives.

Making several trips a year to Uganda is not cheap. However, a few years ago Mr Rankin had an idea that would not only allow him to visit the country three or four times a year, but also to draw in members from all over the world.

He decided to start up a one-man travel company, using his experience of the country to guide groups of foreign tourists, to subsidise at least one solely FOAG-based trip every year. At the end of each holiday tour he would include a trip to a FOAG project. As a result of this, FOAG now has associate members all over the world. Mr Rankin estimates this has led to 200 people joining the charity, whose membership now numbers around 500.

In October, Mr Rankin took his first holiday group on an excursion purely based round FOAG projects. It was a great success and he is considering doing the same thing in future.

FOAG celebrates it 21st birthday in 2002 and it is still going strong. Despite the large workload, Mr Rankin has no intention of slowing down.

"We were going to run for one year but it has not quite worked out like that," he said.

Anyone wishing to join FOAG or make a donation should call 01905 831745.