Teacher meets child she sponsors in Peru (From Gazette & Herald)

Teacher meets child she sponsors in Peru

8:11am Wednesday 19th September 2012 in News By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

A TEACHER from York had an emotional meeting with the nine-year-old boy in Peru whom she has been sponsoring for the past seven months.

Andrea Mark, 30, who teaches Spanish at Lady Lumley’s School in Pickering, recently returned from South America where she travelled to the village home of Richard Anthony, whom she sponsors through anti-poverty charity ActionAid.

She said: “When I visited him, I found out that he had been waiting to be sponsored for more than a year and in that time he had been writing letters just hoping someone would sponsor him and he would have someone to send them to.

“Richard greeted me with a big hug. He had been expecting me and was very excited. He showed me his animals, told me about his friends and I helped him with his homework. It was fantastic to be able to talk to him and get to know him and to spend time with him.”

As part of her three-week visit to Peru, Andrea, who lives in York, spent time at the house built out of mud-bricks that Richard shares with his family. Her money goes to help projects in the village where Richard lives.

She said: “There was no hot running water and no toilet, but what touched me most about the visit was how content they seemed with what they had.”

Andrea described her experience as “life-changing” and “eye opening”, and said those she met were grateful for the help.

She began sponsoring Richard Anthony in March this year after being told she could no longer give blood for health reasons, and so had wanted to find a different good deed to do.

To sponsor a child or to find out more about supporting ActionAid’s work, phone 01460 23 8000 or log onto actionaid.org.uk/help .