My deprived childhood inspired me to help street children in Vietnam and Mongolia

“No words can describe the happiness I feel that we’ve been able to give so many a better start in life. When you see children, who would have otherwise been living on the streets, graduating from university and able to build a life for themselves you can’t help but smile,” says Christina, 68.

It’s a staggering achievement considering her charity the Christina Noble Foundation began as a one-woman operation in Vietnam before expanding to Mongolia in 1997. Over two decades Christina has tirelessly raised funds to help orphans, children with special needs and their families, earning an OBE in 2003. Her west London office is decorated with drawings countless children have presented to the woman they affectionately call Mamma Tina.

Despite being from the opposite side of the world Christina has much in common with the street children she works with. Her own childhood in Dublin saw her subjected to abuse and mistreatment and she eventually ended up living on the streets. In fact her story is so filled with tragedy it’s being made into a film called Noble, starring Brendon Coyle, best known for his role as John Bates in Downton Abbey.

Born in Dublin on December 23, 1944, Christina had two older brothers Andy and Michael as well as younger siblings Johnny, Kathy and Philomena. The family lived in a working-class area known as the Liberties. Her mother Annie worked hard but her father Thomas Byrne, a boxer, was an alcoholic.

“The flat had a double bed and a mattress in the living area and a small pantry. We didn’t have a lot but on Fridays mum would always find enough money for fish and chips . Despite the poor conditions we had a sense of togetherness.”

HOWEVER Christina’s family was torn apart when Annie died in 1955.

“I’d been told mum had been born with rheumatic fever and all through my childhood she’d have periods when she found breathing difficult. I vividly remember the day she died. It was March and raining. Dad was drunk. I’d had to go fetch him out of the pub when mum was taken ill. After she died I just kept hoping she’d come back.”

She was left to care for Johnny, Philomena and Kathy. “Dad would pick up casual work but his drinking prevented him earning a wage that would keep four children. My brothers would help out but aged 11 I went out to sing in pubs for coal and food,” Christina recalls.

Eventually Christina’s father sent the four children away to live with relatives, where Christina was sexually abused. During this time the Byrne family came to the attention of the authorities and the children were taken into care .

“I was sent to a school in Clifden on the west coast of Ireland, hundreds of miles away from my home. It was a cruel place and there was mental abuse. The nuns would say my mother was a prostitute and that I was a “thick Dublin tramp” and we were beaten. I was also told my brothers and sisters were all dead and I believed that,” Christina says.

Aged 16 Christina returned to Dublin. With nowhere to go and her father living in a hostel she was homeless, taking shelter in a coal shed. One evening she was raped by a group of men and gave birth to son Thomas, who was put up for adoption by a home for unmarried mothers.

“After this I felt I couldn’t remain in Ireland. I’d heard that my younger siblings were alive and in care but my elder brother was living in Birmingham so I got a ferry over to England." Here she met her first husband.

The couple had three children and Christina worked in a fish and chip shop. “He had many affairs and I realised my life in Birmingham was not much different from my life in Dublin. The man in my life had an addictive personality but rather than alcohol like my father he was addicted to women.”

It was during this unhappy time in 1971 that Christina had a vivid dream about Vietnam. It was so powerful that eventually it compelled her to visit the country.

“I dreamed Vietnamese children were running down the road and reaching out to me. Although Vietnam had been in the news I didn’t watch much television so I don’t know what prompted such a vivid dream.

“The pain I felt was so real it became a part of me. I didn’t fully understand it but I knew that I had to go. It was a compulsion,” explains Christina.

However it took until 1989 for that prophetic vision to be realised.

By then Christina was living in Surrey having married a college lecturer called Simon Noble.

Christina suffered from bouts of depression and the couple separated. With her three children grown-up she took the decision to fly to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, taking just her suitcase and a few hundred pounds.

“I started by visiting some street children near the hotel I was staying at before working with an orphanage in the city. I persuaded a company called Enterprise Oil to donate the funds to build a new social centre.

“I had no money and was sometimes going hungry myself but because of my own childhood I knew what it was like to be a victim and living on the streets.”

NOW Christina divides her time travelling between Asia, London and the US and the charity has the support of a number of sponsors including Banham Security and television presenter Lisa Butcher.

The charity aims to protect children who are at risk and provides emergency and long-term medical care, help with literacy and education and support for local communities. At an age when many others would be retiring Christina says she is determined to remain the force behind the charity’s fundraising efforts.

“I’ve had breast cancer and a heart bypass but these are all just things that happen on the journey. I’m not wealthy in terms of money but my life is rich.

“Every day I feel like I’ve won the lottery but you can’t spend or squander the joy you get from helping so many.”

For more information about the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation visit cncf.org

To order a copy of Bridge Across My Sorrow by Christina Noble (£9.99, John Murray) with free UK delivery please send a cheque or PO payable to Express Bookshop to Noble Offer, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ. Order online via expressbookshop.co.uk or call 01872 562 310

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