A kind hearted Largs woman is raising funds to help orphaned children in Africa.
Jane Hamilton is hoping to provide a helping hand by raising money for the youngsters suffering from lack of food and malnutrition in Burundi. 
The 70 year old said: “I worked out there, and have seen the difficulties that exist out there for young people growing up - it is something you don’t hear about - there are four major famines in Africa - and this is one of them.
“I am unable to get a Visa to go out with essentials.”
Jane is planning to make marmalade sandwiches in her home, and will be selling them at local fayres and events to raise funds for children rescued and staying in an orphanage in the capital . She has already raised £200 for the charity (registration number 1094388).
She said: “I was a nurse out there, and I went out to Nigeria in the 60s to a teaching hospital. It was very busy and war was simmering; it was horrendous, I was there for 20 months
The British High Commissioner arrived out the blue. He said he wanted all British woman and children out of the hospital. The doctors remained, but I along with many others had to leave in the middle of the night. We were told to go to the airport and when we got there, we were put up there for the rest of the night. We showered and ate, and went back to the airport, and we still didn’t know where we were going until the captain on the plane said that we were on our way to Heathrow, London.”
The conditions were horrendous, and Jane recalled how she had to fight off an infection in her ear and eye, and there was no running water or electricity.
And in 1991, Jane headed to Burundi for nine months with her colleague Chrissie, and helped open up a six bed maternity unit.
Chrissie delivered babies, and Jane was her assistant, holding a kerosene lamp, and did all the ‘running about’.
Jane said: “We were much cleaner than the government hospital, and that is why Africans came streaming towards us.”
Jane’s friend Chrissie is still out in Burundi and they keep in touch about the latest situation by email.
She said: “Chrissie is from Manchester, and she is originally from Edinburgh. I have been in Largs for three years, and was originally an RGM Nurse in Ninewells, Dundee. These children at the orphanage have nothing - there is no food, and a lack of water, so I am doing what I can to help the situation - it is such a shame as nobody seems to know anything about it, and hopefully by doing this, I can bring some publicity to the cause.“
Some 600,000 people are short of food in Burundi due to drought and flooding in the past year and the number could rise to 700,000 by next year, a World Food Programme official said.
In 2015, Burundi suffered flooding caused by El Nino.