'I hope I inspire my daughter'

 

Angela Robson is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and

film-maker – and also a mum! But just how does she juggle her amazing career and trips abroad, seeing some truly devastating sights, with being a parent? I decided to find out…

 

‘I always wanted to be a journalist,’ Angela tells me. ‘I started out working for 

Amnesty International as an Urgent Action Coordinator – it was an editorial role, and I also launched and edited their international campaigns magazine.

I was there for seven years. But my other passion is Africa, and I made the time to travel there.’

   But then something happened that could have put an abrupt stop to Angela’s flourishing career. ‘I fell pregnant,’ she says. ‘Yet surprisingly, it seemed to spur me on to make huge changes in my life. When I was six months pregnant, I got my first job working with the BBC in their wonderful Nations and Regions programme at Broadcasting House. Journalism is great for diversity – you can move in so many different directions. When my daughter Isobel was three, I started working as a freelance radio producer and reporter for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. 

   ‘Since then, I’ve loved being a freelancer. Yes, a freelancer’s life is never that 

certain - you can’t predict what job you’ll be doing next and how much money 

you’ll make. But it forces you to reinvent yourself and pushes you to do different things. And that’s the beauty of it. You have freedom. That’s why I’m able to attend the Media Hub in Cookham by presenting there, and hopefully support and learn from other journalists and people working in the media.’

   Angela is now a freelance documentary and film-maker for The BBC and

The Guardian, and a producer and reporter for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. She also writes for The Guardian, Marie Claire and Le Monde diplomatique. Her awards and nominations include the European Commission's Natali Lorenzo Prize for Journalism, the Guardian International Development Journalism Prize and the British Media and Environment Prize. She has reported from more than 40 countries.

   ‘My work takes me all over the place, covering a vast range of international 

stories, from Tuva in Siberia to East Timor,’ she says.

   That’s impressive. So how does she do it, as well as raising a 13-year-old?

‘It isn’t always easy,’ she laughs. ‘It can be challenging juggling being a mother 

with any job, especially one which requires travel. I go away on average six to 

eight times a year, for seven to 10 days at a time. While I’m away, my daughter stays with her grandparents. She loves being with them and they’re just down the road. She knows it is part of who I am and just accepts it. And I know the 

work I do is interesting for her as she gets involved with a lot of the projects

I do and sometimes does voice-overs for my films. For example, I’ve just been to India where I made a shot film about children affected by leprosy. She got really involved with the edit and suggested I should make another version, with a child narrating, which would appeal more to young people. She once came to the BBC to meet Helen Skelton from Blue Peter as I was making a documentary with her. Helen gave her an exclusive tour of the new BBC children’s studios in Salford. Isobel was so overwhelmed to meet one of

her real-life heroines that she went mute from excitement (totally out of character),' Angela laughs. 

   There are other perks, including press trips Angela has been able to take Isobel on, for example they’ve been to Sardinia and Romania together. ‘And in 2009, I went to Uganda with David Tennant for Comic Relief – he Skyped Isobel while we were there! She loved it,' Angela says.

   Angela has just returned from the Peruvian Amazon where she was making 

a series of films about threats to the forest and to the way of life of Ashaninka Indians. She says: ‘Ten days of living with Ashaninka communities in the heart of the jungle was far from glamorous. It was hot and hard terrain. But we got some incredibly powerful material.

   ‘I also went on a trip to the Congo Basin to make a film on elephant ivory 

poaching for the World Wildlife Fund. I found the whole experience deeply 

upsetting. But then another visit to Lebanon was uplifting, as I was working 

with the artists who have fled the Syrian conflict. Despite all that they had gone through, including losing their families and friends, these artists are flourishing outside of the crisis and that was inspiring to witness.’

   It must be hard to readjust to life back at home after seeing all the things 

she does, though. ‘I’m sometimes shattered when I come home from a trip – 

emotionally drained and physically tired,’ Angela says. 'It can be hard to make 

sense of the world here and there.‘

   Angela went to Ethiopia with charity Partners for Change Ethiopia earlier this year – it’s been 30 years since the famine there. The charity has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of orphans and vulnerable children. 

‘I’ve met and worked with some great charities but this is one of the most 

impressive I’ve come across, which is why I am now a trustee,’ Angela says.

‘The charity does such life-transforming work for women and I always come 

across something quite extraordinary to film – and this time my focus was on 

street children and how Partners for Change Ethiopia are working with them.

   ‘One evening, I was chatting to some women who the charity were working with. The light was just fading when a young girl came in. She was nine. The women told me a 70-year-old man had asked her to come to his home to help him and he raped her. The women had discovered the girl wandering around the village in a distressed state. They went and found the man and dragged him to the local police station and insisted he be charged and face trial. In a male-dominated society, this is a very brave thing for women to do. Later,

he was found guilty by the court and sentenced to life imprisonment. The women looked after the young girl and made sure she was safe. In a country where rape is frequently not reported, this is quite something. The piece appeared in The Times newspaper. These are the stories I like to share and why I love my job. And why I hope I inspire my daughter.’

   I have no doubt she does. She inspires me!

 

For more information on Angela, visit 

 

For more information on Partners for Change Ehiopia,

visit 

 

Pete Jones, Director of Partners for Change Ethiopia, says: ’Angela Robson has visited Partners for Change Ethiopia's work on several occasions and was so impressed she joined us as a trustee. She has an incredible ability to find powerful stories that illustrate the challenges the poorest people face and how they find solutions through working together. Angela has uncovered many stories, the latest of which she will be showing in a short film at the Cookham Media Hub on Thursday 19th June.’