PC to help Rwandan children
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| PC Amber Thorne in her day job (EL506-8985) |
A POLICEWOMAN has vowed to help as many Rwandan street children as she can following a visit to the East African country.
PC Amber Thorne, 25, who works at Chingford police station, flew out in February and spent a month doing voluntary work for charity Streets Ahead Children’s Centre (SACCA).
During her visit she taught street children to play hopscotch, volleyball, and bat and ball games and gave motivational talks as well as doing administrative work at SACCA’s offices.
PC Thorne said: "Ultimately, I saw street children who had been abandoned, abused and neglected now happy, enthusiastic and appreciative children leading normal lives."
"Doing voluntary work for SACCA was a rewarding experience and having seen first hand the great efforts of this charity, I am dedicated to helping street children in Rwanda."
She added: "The country is very green and reminded me of Scotland. It was not what I expected. I thought it would be dusty and dry but there were lots of banana plantations and it was very rural.
"Living among the community was a unique experience and I got used to the stares and hearing muzoongu’ foreigner being called out at me. They were actually very friendly and were fascinated by my presence because you rarely saw a foreign person in the poorer villages."
During the weekend PC Thorne went to Akagera National Park, a safari park, the Artists Village and the Genocide Museum both in Kigali, and Jambo Beach, which has a lake.
She also enjoyed the food which was mainly vegetarian but beef, goat and fish dishes were available and ate some of the best Indian cuisine she had ever tasted.
After returning to Britain, PC Thorne decided to sponsor a child through SACCA.
She said: "I am selecting a child on the priority list who needs the most help.
"Just £13 per month will pay for school fees, uniforms and medication."
