A ROSSENDALE mum is jetting off to Uganda to teach the healing power of touch to help Aids victims.

Betsy Keating is leading a team of four complementary therapists to the African country this week on a visit that will last a month.

The group are members of Reflexology Outreach International, a charity that Betsy helped set up to teach reflexology to carers and medical personnel in HIV/Aids clinics.

They will be using their skills to help patients in a country where more traditional medicine is too costly.

Their work has been praised by Rossendale MP Janet Anderson for "empowering" people in Uganda -- where 56 per cent of those living in the country may never see a health care professional.

Betsy, who works as a complementary therapist at Pendleside Hospice, Reedley, had always dreamed of going to Africa and achieved her ambition in 1992 when she visited on holiday.

But having witnessed HIV and Aids ravaging the country, she wanted to do all she could to help and after completing a reflexology course in 1997 has visited seven times to pass on her skills.

She found the other members of her group after placing an advert in a reflexology magazine.

The mum-of-three said: "I could see the devastating effect HIV and Aids was having on all the people. I did not know what to do about it.After taking the reflexology course I introduced it to them and they were so keen I could not believe it. They dropped what they were doing and wanted to learn. They asked me to get more people to teach them."

She said reflexology was good for the immune system and can helped acute conditions, eased the symptoms of disease and helped people relax.

Betsy added: "It restores people's self-esteem and they feel valued.

"A lot of people with these awful diseases can feel totally rejected by the community they are in.

"It's currently one of the most popular therapies for people with cancer in England. People find it such a wonderful therapy.

"If you can teach someone something about health and the body and how to look after themselves you are giving a kind of healthcare. They are greatly enhanced and empowered by it."

As a result of previous visits, 600 people in Uganda have had reflexology training and around 40 more will be taught during the latest trip.

Mrs Anderson said: "Reflexology is empowering many people in Uganda. They now have a skill at their fingertips that can help soothe the terrible symptoms of disease.

"The power of touch can restore their loved ones' self respect and dignity. The Ugandans are keen to master this new type of healthcare that does not require any special equipment or expensive medicines."