I Sponsored A Child Real life
These women both sponsored children from challenging backgrounds and it’s one of the best things they ever did!
Clare Holman is well known to a lot of people as Dr Laura Hobson in the popular crime drama series InspectorMorse and its spin-off, Lewis.
However, to twelve-yearold Sophea, the girl she sponsors in Cambodia, she is simply known as Clare. There was huge excitement when Clare went to visit her in Siem Reap in 2019.
“After 16 hours of travel, it was amazing to come face to face with Sophea. I first met her with her parents and little brother. brot Later, at lunch with he er family, her shyness had g one. I was made to feel ex xtremely welcome and the ch hildren were keen to in nteract with this stranger fr rom the UK!
“Plan International organised o a traditional rice cooking c activity for the whole w family, myself and some s of the children in their t community.
“Sophea was very excited, showing me how to make sweet, sticky rice pudding, cooking it over a fire and then pounding it. We all helped and an hour later we were sitting together eating and exchanging gifts.
“She was particularly taken with a toy blackbird from my granddaughter Iris, laughing and smiling when I showed her how to press the bird’s stomach to make it sing.”
Clare also visited Sophea’s school. “The girls wanted to know about my acting, writing, and ‘Girl Power’!
“This trip to meet Sophea was particularly important to me because four and a half years ago my husband, Howard Davies, died of cancer. Before Howard died he made me promise to use everything I had learnt in the time we had spent together and to never give up fulfilling my ambitions and passions.
“So when the three-year anniversary of his death had passed I gave myself a good talking to and decided to take the trip half way across the world – on my own, for the first time since Howard had died – to visit Cambodia and to meet Sophea.
“Supporting this intelligent little girl has been very healing for me.”
● For more information about child sponsorship visit: PLAN-UK.ORG
Sasha Corcashvili, from West London, started sponsoring Nicu from Romania in 2003 when he was five years old. Her daughters, Natasha and Sophia, were around the same age and soon came to regard Nicu as an additional member of their family. They’d recently returned from living in Russia where Sasha’s husband worked as a journalist and Sasha worked in a toy library for children with special needs – an experience which upset her greatly.
“I was shocked to see how little support these children received. Russian orphanages were dire and there was very little support for children who needed fostering or adopting.”
On their return to the UK, news hit about the dreadful Romanian orphanages. “It all sounded so similar to what I had seen in Russia so I didn’t hesitate when I learnt it was possible to sponsor a child in Romania through the charity FARA. They matched us with Nicu and I can honestly say he was the perfect choice. Having two girls it was lovely to forge a relationship with a little boy.”
“It showed me that good people exist who don’t expect anything in return”
The letters, cards and little drawings that Nicu sent Sasha over the years are clearly very special to her – all are safely stored in a special folder and Sasha still takes great pleasure in re-reading them.
“We only exchanged letters and cards on his birthday and at Christmas and I always loved receiving them. I’d send him chocolate, colouring books and pencils. Toys at Christmas and on birthdays.”
Not speaking English, he had help writing his letters but as the relationship developed, Sasha decided to visit him a few years later when he was eight.
“Nicu and I first met at OAT, the FARA organic farm, near Suceava. We were staying there and his foster mother brought him to see us. I was very nervous about meeting him as I was so fond of him and wanted us to get on, but worried that without language it would be difficult. I had bought him a chocolate bar and as soon as we met I handed to him. He had a huge, lovely warm smile, broke off half and handed it to me. The ice was broken!”
They met again the next day at his foster mother’s flat in Suceava. “She was very friendly and Nicu was thrilled to welcome us. He took us round Suceava and we went to the Natural History Museum there. A very memorable day!
“Twenty or so years on from our meeting, Nicu is a talented artist and I follow him on Instagram. He has studied in Poland and I am immensely proud of him. I hope he will visit me in London one day. It would be great to visit an art gallery together.”
Nicu says he was really excited to meet Sasha. He remembers the translator telling him what Sasha said but one word in English he knew was, “Look”.
“It was funny because every time I showed her something I said, ‘look’.”
He adds that his correspondence with Sasha encouraged him to learn English. “It also showed me that good people exist and they don’t expect something in return when giving gifts or helping others. I was always very excited to receive Sasha’s letters and would love to visit art galleries in London with her one day.”
● For more information on Fara’s current projects: WWW.FARACHARITY.ORG/WHO-WEHELP/ Other ways to help, donate to fara WWW.FARACHARITY.ORG/ DONATE/