Suranne sees ‘desperate’ Congo situation first hand

Photo: Pictures by CHRISTIAN AID/LEE THOMPSON

SURANNE shows her support for Christian Aid Week

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Ex-soap star Suranne Jones tells of her visit to Africa to support the vital work of charity Christian Aid
OLDHAM actress Suranne Jones and fellow Corrie star Sally Lindsay have seen first-hand the horrors and tragedies that play out day to day in Africa.

The former-”Coronation Street” star made her trip to help publicise Christian Aid Week.

Suranne, who played Karen McDonald in the soap, travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to see the desperate living conditions forced on families by poverty and sickness.

She and Sally — who played Shelley in “Coronation Street” for five years — completed a seven-day tour near the capital, Kinshasa, to see some of the work Christian Aid is doing. The friends are now appealing for support during Christian Aid week (to May 16).

Suranne told the Chronicle of the profound effect the visit had on both of them.

“We visited some of the projects Christian Aid supports, and the first thing that struck me was the openness and warmth of the workers.

“They are so proud of the work they are doing with the little resources they have.”

She explained: “Life is stripped right back, and it’s such a contrast to the day to day life we all take for granted.

“You go into someone’s house and all they have is a bed and a toilet. There is rubbish everywhere and no sanitation.

“There is all that poverty and yet the country is so rich.”

The third largest country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo has massive riches within its natural resources, including the world’s largest diamond reserves.

But HIV is rife, leaving thousands of children orphaned, and many more outcast by their families after contracting the disease, often through rape by soldiers.

Average life expectancy is 45, and 30-year-old Suranne — who moved back to Didsbury from London because she missed her family — was moved by the plight of people abandoned by their own families through no fault of their own.

She said: “It’s a desperate situation and I just couldn’t get my head round that.

“I met one woman in a hospital who had her children taken off her and was disowned by her family after she was raped by five soldiers and contracted HIV.

“A young boy was accused of witchcraft because his parents had HIV, and a 19-year-old lad who was learning how to use computers through one of the projects really got to me.

“He had been disowned because he had HIV and people were shouting at him across the street. The only friends he had were the people who were teaching him, it’s so sad.”

Suranne, whose parents Chris and Jenny moved from Chadderton to Alkrington, said: “People back at home live with HIV, they go to clinics, get medication and live a relatively normal life.

“The only way to make a difference is by educating people and supporting them to help themselves, and that is what Christian Aid projects try to do.”

The former Oldham girl worked as a bar maid at the Red Barn in Chadderton before she got her TV break and subsequent parts which include Ruth Slater in ITV’s “Unforgiven”, seen by nine million viewers.

She is a long-time supporter of Christian Aid, and went to Sierra Leone with the charity five years ago.

She said: “I wanted to know where the money we put in the envelope goes, I was a lot younger then, and looking at the pictures now I looked like a scared rabbit.

“It came as a great shock. I was a young girl, I had just started in ‘Coronation Street’ and going to parties, and the world was at my feet.

“It certainly gave me an education on how the world works.”




Last year Christian Aid Week raised £14.7 million to help it continue its work in 49 of the world’s poorest countries. To make a donation, go to www.caweek.org or call 08080-006 006.