0:00:00 > 0:00:04Extraordinary stories from a shared past.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06There was 12 people on board the aircraft that day.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Six of us made it, six of us didn't.
0:00:08 > 0:00:09Bonds forged in tragedy...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11- SHE SOBS - Sorry.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13..and triumph.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14THEY CHEER
0:00:14 > 0:00:17The little girl that you helped 15 years ago...
0:00:17 > 0:00:19'Brought together by fate.'
0:00:19 > 0:00:21It's just overwhelmed me a little bit.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23'But separated by time.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:25God, where did all those years go?!
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'Decades on, we reunite them.'
0:00:30 > 0:00:33The Northern Irish are well-known for their generosity
0:00:33 > 0:00:34when it comes to charity.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And so it was when an appeal to help girls in an orphanage
0:00:38 > 0:00:41thousands of miles away was answered.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The kindness and self-sacrifice of a group of volunteers then
0:00:45 > 0:00:48would change the lives of the young orphans forever.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57January 1999,
0:00:57 > 0:01:02and a Belfast-based charity received shocking photographs of neglect and
0:01:02 > 0:01:04deprivation at a children's home in Moldova.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14The charity Romanian Connection had already been helping orphans in that
0:01:14 > 0:01:17country, but its director, Karen Kelly,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20couldn't ignore the terror of these images.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22It really was heartbreaking.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24It was like these kids had just...
0:01:25 > 0:01:27..given up.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32You know, nobody was ever going to lift them up, talk to them, you know.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34That's what it felt like.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36You just can't walk away from this, it's terrible.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43The call went out to churches, schools and communities for help.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Within three weeks, they'd collected a warehouse full of aid,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51from beans to boilers and jumpers to jerry cans.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Even after years of charity work,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Karen Kelly was taken back by the kindness.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00It's unbelievable how generous people will be.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Whenever you get an old-age pensioner walking up to you and
0:02:04 > 0:02:08handing you a black bag, and said, "There's a few things for the children,"
0:02:08 > 0:02:14and you open it and there's ten brand-new coats out of Dunnes in it and ten brand-new pairs of pyjamas.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Now all they needed were the volunteers to go to Moldova.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Electrician Colin Kenny was one of the first to step forward.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23For some reason it just clicked.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25You hear the advertisements all the time,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and for some reason this one hit me in the gut.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Local haulage firms offered their trucks and drivers.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Among them, McCulla Transport, and son Ashley was up for the adventure.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40I didn't really know much about Moldova at the time.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44I knew where it was geographically.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47It was more the excitement of helping,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50being involved in...
0:02:50 > 0:02:51I'm from a trucking background,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55so a convoy's quite a fun thing to be involved in.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Nobody can prepare you for what you're going into.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00It's all right telling stories,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04but until you actually physically see and smell and hear the noises,
0:03:04 > 0:03:05you could not be prepared for it.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09It is extremely harrowing.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11There wasn't a life for the kids.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12They were animals in...
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Really treated like animals in cages.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20The unique trip would be filmed by documentary-maker Jeremy Higham.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25We didn't realise that we were stepping into a project
0:03:25 > 0:03:29that would take two years to complete,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34impact everybody's life who took part, and end up being
0:03:34 > 0:03:39an international BBC documentary that went all over the world.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47A convoy of seven trucks packed with the much-needed aid left for Hincesti in Moldova.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Nothing could have prepared the volunteers for what they'd encounter.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04There was no lights on whatsoever.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07We pulled in, the director came out to meet us.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10And then we were led into the orphanage.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12'First, we are taken into Block A.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15'There is heating in these rooms.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20'The girls seem relatively healthy compared to the photographs we've seen.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24'As we go down into Block B, however, the situation is very different.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26'There is no heating whatsoever here.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'The stench of human waste is overwhelming.'
0:04:30 > 0:04:32It was like something from a horror picture.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34It was like one of them islands of Dr Moreau,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38where you go in and hear the screaming, and it's freezing cold.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41It was -16, there was no heating.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43And the girls were all cuddled in the corner.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47I've never seen anything like it in my life,
0:04:47 > 0:04:48and I've been in many orphanages in Romania.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50And I'd never seen anything as bad as that.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52It was utterly shocking.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56The only thing that kept me going was, when I had the camera in my hand,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I really felt like it was a weapon and it was like,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02"I am going to tell this bloody story."
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Because I don't think otherwise I could've coped with it, I really don't.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I think there's a couple of rooms we've been in here that they actually
0:05:11 > 0:05:14would have asked us not to go into if we had have asked for permission.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19When they open the shutters and you see, you've maybe got six or eight cots,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24and the kids were in them, and they were lying in their own, erm, dirt,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27basically, and it was just horrible, it was horrible.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29'For some of the volunteers,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32'their encounter with the children is hard to bear.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'Some break down, others are physically sick.'
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Oh, it's disgusting.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Shocked by what they'd seen,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44the volunteers were more determined than ever to try to do what they could
0:05:44 > 0:05:46to make life better for the girls.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49This place is going to be right.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I don't care how long it takes, it is going to be put right.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54I want to see these kids up, healthy,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and I want to give them a start in life.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58They're not going to be the dregs of the earth any more.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00These kids are going to have a life.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'The first task is to rip out the old heating system in Block B.'
0:06:03 > 0:06:05ELECTRIC SAW AND HAMMERING
0:06:05 > 0:06:09But the poor state of the heating was just part of the problem.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14It soon became obvious those in charge at the home weren't in any rush to
0:06:14 > 0:06:16get the much-needed aid out to the children.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23The home's director insisted he had to do an inventory check on every item
0:06:23 > 0:06:25before it could be released from his stores.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'Six days have passed, and the counting hasn't even begun.'
0:06:33 > 0:06:36And then we came across a door which was locked.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38It seemed strange why this door's locked.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41With a new padlock on it.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43So, drivers being drivers,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47we took a wee liberty ourselves to look inside this room.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51And just seen loads of food, loads of food there.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52There was fresh food which was rotting.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55There was cans of food.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58There was loads of food. Yet the night we arrived they were getting fed
0:06:58 > 0:07:00like what you would only call gruel.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Very, very angry.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Uh...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06We would have hung him up if there had have been gallows there,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08if we'd have been allowed to do it.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Forced to wait on the director to release the food,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16the volunteers decide to take things into their own hands.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20They remove the bedding and clothes, and, in a highly contentious move,
0:07:20 > 0:07:21burn the lot.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28The kids'll just go straight back into these clothes if we don't do it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And they'll take all the brand-new clothes to one side,
0:07:30 > 0:07:31which isn't what you want.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34These clothes were sent out for these kids to wear.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Just opened up the back doors of the lorry and started carrying all the beds in.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39We worked late into the night there,
0:07:39 > 0:07:45getting all the beds in and getting the kids into comfortable, clean beds.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46- That was a great day. - HE LAUGHS
0:07:47 > 0:07:51That was brilliant, that was a super, super day.
0:07:51 > 0:07:52- Even the girls were helping us. - HE LAUGHS
0:07:54 > 0:07:56The risk was worth taking.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Unable to resist any further, the storerooms full of food were unlocked.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Yes, seeing the girls getting fresh beds, fresh linen, fresh food,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09that was, aw, totally unbelievable.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11But that wasn't all.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14The volunteers wanted to leave a legacy of their trip.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Building a play room and filling it with toys so generously donated by
0:08:18 > 0:08:19people back home.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23It was great, it was great.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26You know, just giving a child a teddy bear, a dolly, or, you know,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28a little bracelet or whatever, I mean,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31they were all over the moon, cos they didn't have anything of their own.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And you could see the hope on the nurses' faces as well.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38It was a sense that this long, cold, winter was over.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And all this hope was breaking out.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46Colin would return to the home later that year to work for nine months.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51Karen and other members of the charity lobbied the Moldovan government for change.
0:08:51 > 0:08:57Eventually the director was removed from his post and a new regime put in place.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01# We'll never get over the girls of Moldova... #
0:09:01 > 0:09:06The BBC broadcast the award-winning documentary in 2000.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10The hard-hitting story would create ripples that would lead to great
0:09:10 > 0:09:13changes at the Hincesti home.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16# We have plenty and much more to spare... #
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Neither Colin nor Jeremy have been back at the home since.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Today they will make that emotional return journey.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Hi, Jez!
0:09:31 > 0:09:34- MUFFLED:- How are you, bud? Good to see you.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Yeah, really good. I see you've lost all of that...
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- You're getting a nice colour like I am.- Seeing your face does take me back.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Yeah, back into the place again.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- It's going to be interesting going back.- Yes.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48It really is good to see you.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49Coming up later in the programme...
0:09:49 > 0:09:54The pair see first-hand what became of the girls that so touched their lives.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10MUSIC: Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Paraffin Pencil, the Rocket and the Great White.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30A plane so special, one name wasn't ever enough.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Concorde, the supersonic, record-shattering speed machine.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41- ARCHIVE:- It is without doubt the most beautiful aircraft ever to evolve from the mind of man.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45But this form of 12-mile-high luxury travel was only for the
0:10:45 > 0:10:48super rich, celebrities, and royalty.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52LOUD ENGINES
0:10:52 > 0:10:54That was until May 1983,
0:10:54 > 0:11:00when the supersonic aeroplane made a unique detour here to Belfast's
0:11:00 > 0:11:01International Airport.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04This time her passengers would be very different.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Winners of a competition run by the Belfast Telegraph.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Ordinary people on an extraordinary trip of a lifetime.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23On board that day to look after the passengers was Belfast-born BA purser
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Margaret Dolan.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Suddenly a celebrity in her own home town.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32What did you feel like when the aircraft arrived over Northern Ireland?
0:11:33 > 0:11:36It was the most exciting moment, for me, of my life,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39to actually come home on that fabulous aeroplane.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Margaret Dolan worked with British Airways for 25 years,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49nine of them on Concorde travelling at high speed all over the world.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52But this trip, the first out of Belfast,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54was one she was determined to be part of.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I spoke to a person and said,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03"I would love, love to be on that flight."
0:12:03 > 0:12:05You were going to be on that flight come hell or high water?
0:12:05 > 0:12:10Because I was flying into my own home on this beautiful aeroplane.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15And the captain very kindly, I don't think he had much of a choice,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18poor man, but he let me sit in the flight deck for landing.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21So, you know, I came in and I could see the whole thing.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22It was just wonderful.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31One of those excitedly waiting to board was nine-year-old Gillian Caroe,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34the youngest of the competition winners.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39I guess I was maybe a bit of a nerdy kid, and I loved wordsearches,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42which was all fine, except when I was filling out the bit when it said
0:12:42 > 0:12:45your name and address, there was a little line saying,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49"You must be over 18 to enter this competition."
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I said to my granny, "Oh, I need you to fill something in for me,"
0:12:52 > 0:12:54so she filled it in, gave me a stamp,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and I remember going off and putting it in the postbox.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The determined young Gillian thought nothing more of the competition
0:13:01 > 0:13:05entry, until her mum took a phone call to the house one morning.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12She burst into my bedroom and she goes, "You'll never believe it, you've won, you've won!"
0:13:12 > 0:13:14And I said, "Won what?"
0:13:14 > 0:13:18And she goes, "You're going to Concorde, you've won the Belfast Telegraph competition!"
0:13:20 > 0:13:24The wordsearch competition wasn't the only way to secure one of the
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Concorde golden tickets.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30Newspaper boys with the highest sales that year were also in with a chance
0:13:30 > 0:13:32of a seat on the supersonic flight.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36In 1983 I was 14,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39I was a paperboy in round the Cavehill Road area.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41A young entrepreneur in the making,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Mark Magee threw himself at the challenge.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The more new customers you got who were taking the home delivery,
0:13:47 > 0:13:53the people who got the highest qualified for prizes within the competition.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58But the high-flying salesboy wasn't eyeing up the top prize.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02He had his sights on one of the more down-to-earth prices.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06I think at the time there was a Walkman or a TV or stereo as the second prize,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and I think that's what I was aiming to try and get.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13When I won the Concorde trip, I was a bit, it sounds daft, but I was a bit disappointed.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17I think I was more interested in a Walkman than I was, at the time, of going on Concorde.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23But in Carrickfergus, one of the other winners, newsagent Jim Simms,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26had no such disappointment at winning the top prize.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29- Hello!- Hello, you must be Jim?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32- I am indeed.- I'm Jo, lovely to meet you.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33- Come on in.- Oh, super.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35'My newsboy, Norman McKeown,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37'he came out tops.'
0:14:37 > 0:14:40What did he do? Was he bribing him?
0:14:40 > 0:14:41JIM LAUGHS
0:14:41 > 0:14:42Possibly, yes!
0:14:42 > 0:14:47So, as the newsagent, then, how did you come to benefit from his increase in sales?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- Because I employed him.- Right. HE LAUGHS
0:14:50 > 0:14:52And was it a big deal to go on Concorde, then?
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Oh, fantastic. It was the first time Concorde had ever been to Northern Ireland.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59And it was just massive.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It created a lot of fuss.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07- ARCHIVE:- Concorde's distinctive shape loomed out of the skies at around
0:15:07 > 0:15:09half past eight in the morning.
0:15:09 > 0:15:10And a perfect landing.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18There were people along the road in cars, and waving and who had banners
0:15:18 > 0:15:21and cameras and I remember tapping my granny going,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23"Who are all these people? What are they doing?"
0:15:23 > 0:15:26And she said, "They're all here to see Concorde."
0:15:26 > 0:15:31So, I started waving back. I just thought, "Wow, golly, it must be a really big deal."
0:15:31 > 0:15:35When I walked down the steps I felt like the Pope.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I wanted to kiss the ground.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38SHE LAUGHS
0:15:39 > 0:15:42I remember, outside the plane,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44everybody gathering and getting organised for group photographs.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48There just seemed to be endless amount of photographs on the day.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Champagne reception on the Concorde.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53More champagne.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Getting on to that plane, what was going through your mind?
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Just, my head was buzzing, as much as anything.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01HE LAUGHS
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It was just the excitement of the whole trip.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06# Don't stop me now
0:16:08 > 0:16:10# Don't stop me
0:16:10 > 0:16:14# Cos I'm having a good time, having a good time... #
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Then 72 of the luckiest people in Northern Ireland that day boarded
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Concorde's inaugural flight out of Belfast.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26That takeoff was just a jolt and a thrust.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30You just got fired back in your seat.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34I think I expected it to be really noisy, and what struck me was it was
0:16:34 > 0:16:36very, very quiet.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39We were really well looked after and the memorable thing was,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43obviously, you know, when you're in the cockpit, as a 14-year-old you see all the buttons and the lights.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44It was exciting at the time.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47There was a kind of dial, and it showed you when you are going at the
0:16:47 > 0:16:51speed of sound and I remember, you know, people going up and standing beside it and
0:16:51 > 0:16:53having their photograph taken.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55We went up to Iceland...
0:16:56 > 0:16:58..and we reached Mach Two.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04- ARCHIVE:- At a height of 55,000 feet, Mach Two, twice the speed of sound,
0:17:04 > 0:17:071,350mph.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11And then there was a big cheer whenever it hit Mach Two.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19At supersonic speed they'd reached Paris in time for lunch -
0:17:19 > 0:17:21all expenses paid, of course.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30Margaret Dolan was in her element among her own people,
0:17:30 > 0:17:31showing them her world.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36Cos these people were not "Concorde passengers."
0:17:36 > 0:17:40They were ordinary people. They could have been my next-door neighbour.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45I sat beside my granny and I remember there was a lovely air hostess called,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47I think, Margaret was her name.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Really beautiful lady whose hair was just,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I had never seen anybody whose hair was so fancy, it was lovely.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56And, she was the one person who,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00A, who I remember really vividly and who summed up the day for me in a way.
0:18:00 > 0:18:06She was just so beautifully presented and really made me feel special.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Um...
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Out of everybody she's the person that I'd remember most and, yeah, would love to meet again.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19And today she'll get the chance to do just that.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The Ulster Aviation Society's museum a perfect setting
0:18:22 > 0:18:25for this trip down memory lane.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31Some of the people that you looked after on that flight
0:18:31 > 0:18:36back in May 1983, so well I might say, are here.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- They're not here?- They're just over there.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I won't.. They'll be expecting me as I looked 33 years ago.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Oh, sure, you're gorgeous, don't be daft.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46MARGARET LAUGHS
0:18:46 > 0:18:48So, look, go over and have a quick word with him.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51And I'm sure they would all like to say a big thank you to you.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- So, I'll leave you...- Just over there at that table?- Just over there.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Good luck. JO LAUGHS
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Give us a hug, you'll be all right.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02MARGARET LAUGHS
0:19:02 > 0:19:03Thank you.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05Right.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Waiting to meet the former purser,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11those special passengers from more than three decades ago -
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Gillian, Mark and Jim.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I don't expect you to remember me after 33 years.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21I do, Margaret.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24- You do not. Do you?- I do, hello.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26It's Gillian, only I was a wee bit smaller then.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30- You weren't the one that was sitting in 11D with your granny? - GILLIAN LAUGHS
0:19:30 > 0:19:32I don't know if it was 11D, but it definitely was my granny.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34It was the first seat in the second cabin?
0:19:34 > 0:19:35- Yes, uh-huh.- 11D.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37There you go, you remembered.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39You haven't changed.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40I hope I've changed a wee bit, Margaret.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42You really haven't. I'm so delighted,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45I didn't think I would recognise anybody.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47That's amazing. Great memory.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Gosh, I do remember that day, it was one of the best days of my life.
0:19:51 > 0:19:52It really was, it was lovely.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54I do remember you, and I remember your granny.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Ach, that's lovely.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- Cos I remember... Do you remember what she said to me?- No.
0:19:58 > 0:20:04She said to me, "This is the first time I've ever been in an aeroplane."
0:20:04 > 0:20:06And for it to be Concorde...
0:20:06 > 0:20:10- And I said, "Well, there's nothing like starting at the top." - THEY LAUGH
0:20:10 > 0:20:13- Is that right?- Did you always work on Concorde?
0:20:13 > 0:20:15No, no, no. Oh, no.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18I worked on Concorde for nine years.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20I flew on other aeroplanes.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22For goodness' sake, I'm so old,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25when I started flying they were nearly flapping their wings.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27LAUGHTER
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- I was only a child at the time, I was only 14 at the time.- 14?- Yeah.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Are you here?
0:20:32 > 0:20:34- That's me here.- That's you? Crikey!
0:20:34 > 0:20:37- Some difference.- That's you, is it? - That's Mark.- And that's me.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41- Oh, for goodness' sake.- I loved everything about Concorde,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42but that day,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47the thing that sticks in my memory was walking up and down the aeroplane
0:20:47 > 0:20:49and hearing all the Northern Ireland voices.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50LAUGHTER
0:20:50 > 0:20:52It was fabulous.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Isn't it lovely to have been a part of it?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Yes.- Absolutely, to have had that privilege.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Really, it was really terrific.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Happy memories of a really happy trip,
0:21:02 > 0:21:08when just for one day, Belfast played host to that great icon of the skies.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13Concorde stopped flying back in 2003, but for Jim, Mark, Gillian and, of course,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18Margaret, memories of flying supersonic style will never be grounded.
0:21:31 > 0:21:37In 2000 the BBC broadcast a documentary about an orphanage in Moldova.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41The harrowing reality of life for the children the cameras filmed
0:21:41 > 0:21:46would have a wide reaching impact on many of those who'd watched it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50And for those involved, like charity worker Colin Kenny,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and the film-maker Jeremy Higham,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57their experiences at the Hincesti home would change their lives forever.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00You've seen what life was like on the other side of the world where people
0:22:00 > 0:22:03were struggling to make ends meet.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06And I found it very difficult to settle back into normal life again.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Colin and some of the other members of the Belfast charity would spend
0:22:11 > 0:22:15the next year working at the home trying to make life better for the girls.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19But that meant leaving his own family behind.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23It really did take its toll,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26I kind of went down the road of drink for a while.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Alcohol just compounds the problem.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And we ended up getting divorced and everyone went their own way.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Once you hit rock bottom you have to decide on your own,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38"It's time to stop here and start again."
0:22:38 > 0:22:41- So, everything's back on track again. - HE LAUGHS
0:22:44 > 0:22:47That whole year was a massive life change for me.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53When I began this journey I was a very atheistic
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Channel 4 director on the rise.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01By the time I'd finished I was an utterly sold-out, born-again Christian.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05And I think there was something about the experience of the orphanage that unlocked that.
0:23:05 > 0:23:0916 years on, they return to the place of their nightmares.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13This... This is beyond my wildest dreams, it truly is.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16- This... - HE SOBS
0:23:16 > 0:23:17Sorry...
0:23:19 > 0:23:21HE CRIES
0:23:32 > 0:23:34This is...
0:23:34 > 0:23:36This is glorious!
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Super, fantastic.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43THEY LAUGH
0:23:43 > 0:23:46I want to feel every raw emotion that I can.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Yeah.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- Chalk, cheese!- It's like a reward for all the hard work - raw emotion.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57The only thing I can say is I don't know how I feel.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I've blocked that out at the moment.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02- Here we go.- Here we go.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03Come on in.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08After all these years, they've no idea what to expect.
0:24:08 > 0:24:09Noroc.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Noroc, Elizabeth.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Worker back then, but now the director in charge,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Elizabeth Yakob is waiting to greet them.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23THEY TALK IN ROMANIAN
0:24:23 > 0:24:24OK, OK.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Even from the outside it's clear things have really changed here.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33- Do you mind if we just walk...? - Yes, no problem.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41You can tell it's not being put on. It's real.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45The other thing I feel, so it's a feeling that it's been refreshed that
0:24:45 > 0:24:48immediate, but also it's a spirit of playfulness here.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Yes. The spirit's completely changed.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54There was no sense of playfulness at all in this place.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56There was a sense of survival.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00It feels like the windows have been opened at last and there's some oxygen in this place.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07It's like a holiday villa now.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11You'd be proud to go to this in Spain and stay for your two weeks' holiday.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21There is no words that can explain what has been done here.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24It's just beyond, it's beyond miraculous.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27This room is absolutely glowing with life.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29It is absolutely amazing.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34It's got plants, it's got colour, individuality, it's fresh, it's just...
0:25:34 > 0:25:36It's joyful, being in here.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37All day the emotions keep rising,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41and then you see something new and incredible, and there's, like,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43a new surprise round every door.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44PIG SNORTS
0:25:44 > 0:25:46This is incredible.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49A self-sufficient food farm.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53It smells like a hotel in here.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57This food is truly amazing.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08To see this place now, in the hands of somebody who looks like
0:26:08 > 0:26:13they can naturally care for children and run a team, is very reassuring.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14HE LAUGHS
0:26:18 > 0:26:22What had begun as a convoy of aid from the people of Northern Ireland led
0:26:22 > 0:26:26to an expose that would spur others into helping in ways they could have
0:26:26 > 0:26:28only have dreamed of.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31A Dublin charity, Outreach Moldova,
0:26:31 > 0:26:36was established and to this day it continues to work alongside the Moldovan Government,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40bringing volunteers and staff to the orphanage.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Their aim - to take proper care of these girls.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53In my heart, now, I feel I have a phrase from the Bible for you guys.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56"Well done, good and faithful servants."
0:27:00 > 0:27:04"Well done, good and faithful servants."
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Never stop doing good things.
0:27:14 > 0:27:15Yeah.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20And there's one more good thing in store for the pair -
0:27:20 > 0:27:23still at the home, some of those girls, now young adults,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26that they remember from their time here.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Does she remember me?
0:27:29 > 0:27:30- Yes.- I remember you.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36I just keep looking at faces and thinking, "hang on, hang on a minute,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38"hang on, yes!"
0:27:38 > 0:27:44And these are girls that appear in the shots of this just tragic film that we'd made.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47THEY SHOUT WITH JOY
0:27:50 > 0:27:51JEREMY LAUGHS
0:27:51 > 0:27:54And suddenly here we are, standing in the sunshine,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56and they've made it through the other side, you know,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59and in some way we found our way back here, and...
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Just...
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Quite an amazing experience.
0:28:05 > 0:28:06LAUGHTER
0:28:06 > 0:28:10These are my girls! Look how old they are!
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Just, it's just...
0:28:12 > 0:28:15It's night and day, black and white, evil and good -
0:28:15 > 0:28:17whatever way you want to put it, whatever knowledge you want to use.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20It's the complete opposite of when we left.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22And that's good.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- The song the guys sang when we were here, do you remember?- Yeah!
0:28:28 > 0:28:29COLIN LAUGHS