A TEENAGE student has described the “emotional experience” of travelling to Rwanda to meet a young child she has been sponsoring.

Natasha McClintick has just returned from the central African country, where she met Monique, who she has been sponsoring for more than two years, through child development charity Compassion UK.

Nineteen-year-old Natasha, who is studying primary school teaching at the University of Dundee, travelled to Rwanda with Dunbar Parish Church, who have a partnership with Living Church, based in Kibungo, in south-eastern Rwanda.

She said: “Meeting Monique was an emotional experience.

“It was so humbling to be welcomed into her home and share stories, gifts and food with her family.”

Twelve-year-old Monique lives on the plains of Gatare, one-kilometre to the north-east of Kibungo. Homes in her neighbourhood are typically constructed of dirt or cement floors; mud or brick walls; and tin roofs.

Most adults in Gatare work as day labourers, in domestic service, as subsistence farmers or market traders and earn the equivalent of £10 per month.

Natasha, of Dunbar, added: “I also got to visit a Compassion project and met the staff who work with Monique.

“I was so impressed by the difference they make to the children’s lives. Last year, Monique suffered from malaria and she was able to receive the essential medical treatment needed to make a full recovery.”

In Rwanda, nearly one in 10 children die before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes such as pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition.

Malaria remains a major killer in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in West and Central Africa, where it accounts for 13 per cent of under-five deaths; in Eastern and Southern Africa, malaria accounts for five per cent of under-five deaths.

Natasha’s sponsorship of £25 a month enables Monique to be part of her local Compassion project where she receives nutritious meals, emotional support, medical attention, health screenings and the chance to get a good-quality education.

The former Dunbar Grammar School and Dunbar Primary School pupil added: “I would really recommend child sponsorship; the experience will not only change the life of the child and their family but your life too.”