Orphan Michaela's on mission to help others

Published 28 Aug 2010 09:30

VOLUNTEERING in an orphanage in Nepal would be emotional for most people, but for one youth worker it has unlocked a mission to discover her roots.

Michaela Rowntree, of Clarence Road, Windsor, was placed in an orphanage in Suceava following the death of her father days after she was born.

A couple from Slough visited Romania wanting to adopt and brought her back to the UK at the age of three, where she was officially adopted in 1990.

At the age of 23, Michaela decided she wanted to help others who have had the same start in life she did.

She said: “I found it hard growing up knowing I was adopted, but as I grew older I realised how lucky I was. I wanted to go to a developing country to help an orphanage, after having a rubbish start in life myself.”

After searching for volunteering schemes, the youth support worker at the Royal Borough decided to sign up to Platform2, a scheme aimed at less advantaged people in the UK to help teach them about global development issues such as poverty and climate change.

In March this year, the programme took her to Nepal, where she was able to see how different orphanage conditions were to what she had experienced in Romania.

Michaela spent 10 weeks in Nepal working with children aged five to 19-years-old, pictured right.

She said: “I had such a horrible impression of orphanages and I was delighted to see how happy and well looked after the children were.”

Michaela does not remember much about her days in the orphanage, but knows she had seven brothers and sisters, who she is hoping to trace when she returns to Romania.

She said: “Going to Nepal has made me want to go and see where I was born, and to share my experiences with other people my age. People have to know what developing countries are like and what issues the people face every day.

“I hope that I can go back to Romania and find out more about myself.”

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This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 27 Aug 10

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