A man has travelled to Uganda to film a documentary investigating whether money donated to charity really helps children overseas.
Tomas Sheridan, from Edinburgh, travelled to Katikamu with his daughter Mango to meet the five-year-old girl he sponsors with global children's charity Plan UK.
The documentary, called Finding Josephine, is to be broadcast across 70 TV channels around the world as part of Why Poverty? an international documentary season aimed at sparking global and national debate about poverty in the 21st century.
Tomas said: "I set out to make a film about the pitfalls of charity. But what I didn't realise was how much I had to learn from this journey: the encounter with Josephine's family turned out to be much more emotional and eye-opening than I had expected.
"I was pleased to find out the money is used to implement infrastructure that will benefit the whole community long after Plan has left. The school, the clinic, the clean water bore-holes, the training of locals on money-management, sanitation and women's rights had all been funded over the years by Plan.
"I got the sense that the locals were included in the process and felt pride and ownership of the projects that Plan was facilitating.
"I returned with a different perspective on our responsibilities within a global interdependent world. Many NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) do great work, saving lives and improving futures but they are tackling a colossal problem. Until we find a way to re-distribute wealth more fairly there will always be the need for charity."
Money donated to Plan through sponsorship benefits whole families and communities. Plan UK has over 100,000 sponsors in the UK, generating £24 million a year, and supporting one million children worldwide.
To watch Tomas' film and read his blog documenting his journey visit www.plan-uk.org/findingjosephine.
