Paddy enjoys making fund raising films for charities. He shot a big one for the International Planned Parenthood Federation in Africa. The IPPF is the biggest charity in the world, closely connected with the UN and promoting the benefits of birth control in third world countries. Paddy remembers a poignant incident. He had been filming in a barren region in the north east of Kenya. Life was very hard there with arid wasteland stretching as far as the eye could see and very little food. Starvation was ever present there. Afterwards back in Nairobi, the crew were eating dinner in a smart hotel. Suddenly, Paddy became aware of this little face at the window beside him begging for food. The pathetic eye contact was a meeting of two very different worlds. Paddy nearly became a charity worker on the spot but then realised his films would help the world more. Another very interesting and taxing one was for a charity called, 'Co-operation North'. You could be excused for thinking this was to save polar bears. In fact it was to help promote peace in Northern Ireland. The aim of 'Co-operation Ireland', as we renamed it in the film, was to bring together school children of sixth form age from both sides of the border - in other words, the future leaders of the island of Ireland - to work on mutual projects living in each others' homes. It had been very successful for a number of years but it wanted more funds to promote its good work. Hence the film. Paddy's idea was to take the audience down into the agony of personal stories and then to show 'Co-operation North' at work joyously lifting people out of the morass of violence to give hope for a better future. It was essential to be unbiased and seek out stories from both sides. There was a lady from the Ardoyne who had been blinded one night by a paratrooper's rubber bullet. Her interview crystallised the pointlessness of the violence. She told us her story and showed us the damage to her eyes. As a final question Paddy asked her, "If you had a wish that could be granted, what would that be?" She thought for a moment and then said, "To have a few seconds of sight back to see how beautiful my grand children are!" After the interview, the lady asked Paddy and the crew into the kitchen to have a cup of tea. A couple of her daughters and their kids were there, the usual excited frenzy after school in households all over the world. Everyone was introduced. Suddenly, 'Grannie', our interviewee turned to me and said, "Paddy?" "Yes?" "Are my grandchildren beautiful?" Paddy has just recently put together a fund raising film for MACS, the Micro Anopthalmic Childrens' Society, to aid children born without eyes.

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