Irene Gleeson AO (30 December 1944 – 21 July 2013) was a Christian missionary to the children of Kitgum District, northern Uganda, whose lives were disrupted first by war then by HIV/AIDS.
She parked her caravan in the Lord's Resistance Army territory close to the then-border of Sudan, and over the years built her orphan school around it.
Gleeson sat under a large mango tree as the locals sussed out the strange white lady.
The language barrier was a problem, but slowly she sang to the children who meekly sat beside her, eventually teaching them English by writing in the dirt and doing puppet shows.
[2] In 2007 Cinderella Children[3] a video documentary was produced by Grant Windle[4] about Gleeson's charity work in Uganda.