BBC's The Repair Shop brought brother and sister Zaff and Nasari to tears after its experts successfully restored a treasured projector that allowed them to watch family memories from the life they left behind in Uganda.
Projector restoration brings back childhood memories
The siblings arrived at the barn hoping electrical expert Mark Stuckey could repair their late father's vintage projector, which had remained untouched for almost 50 years. The family had brought the precious item with them when they were forced to flee Uganda in 1972 during Idi Amin's expulsion of Asians, eventually rebuilding their lives in Rochdale.
Explaining why the projector meant so much, Zaff recalled a happy childhood before everything changed. "It was very fun times but the trauma that came after with leaving Africa..." he told Mark. "Idi Amin announced that we had 90 days to leave the country and we weren't allowed to take anything with us."
Emotional viewing after decades
The pair, who were just seven and nine years old at the time, revealed the projector had eventually been returned to the family but was never used again. "It's been locked away for the past 40 or 50 years," Zaff explained. "We have tried numerous times to try and get it working but unfortunately we had no luck at all."
Nasari added that she hoped the reels would allow them to see their late parents once again. Their mother died in her 40s, while their father passed away aged 50.
After painstakingly restoring the machine, Mark was able to get the projector working again, allowing the siblings to watch the home movies for the first time in decades.
'Amazing' restoration leaves siblings speechless
The reunion made for emotional viewing as the pair were left almost speechless. Seeing the restored projector, Zaff exclaimed: "Oh my God, wow." His sister added: "It looks brand new."
The heartfelt moment continued as they watched never-before-seen footage of their childhood in Uganda. All the pair could say was "amazing, amazing".
Holding back tears, Nasari reflected on seeing her family again. "It brought me peace, seeing my mum and dad and how we were and my grandfather, how much time we spent together. Yeah, happy memories."
