Antonia Lewis-Iley, her husband, and their two daughters find great fulfillment in sponsoring a girl from Cambodia.
Sponsoring children through the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) has become a source of enjoyment for the entire Lewis-Iley family.
Richard and Antonia’s two teenage daughters are just as engaged in the relationship with their current sponsored child, Khemra, and look forward to regular updates about her life in Cambodia.
They first started sponsoring in 2014 and have been sponsoring Khemra, aged 13, since February 2021.
CCF’s transparency and proven model with a personalised Sponsorship Program were factors in their decision to choose CCF as their charity of choice.
In their own words, Antonia and Richard share their sponsor journey.
We are a dual-nationality Australian-British family: mum, dad, and two teenage daughters, aged 15 and 17.
We moved to London two years ago, along with our Hong Kong rescue dog, Zumba. Prior to moving to the UK, we lived in Australia (five years), Hong Kong (nine years), and the USA (four years). Richard is an economist, and Antonia is an occupational psychologist.
We saw an article in the South China Morning Post newspaper about CCF. As Scott is from Adelaide (where Antonia also grew up) it immediately sparked an interest. We were keen to sponsor a child (we had done so with different charities in the past) and were immediately drawn to the personalised ‘family’ approach of CCF.
We then found out that our girls’ Mandarin tutor was actively involved in the charity, so we were able to ask lots of questions of her and find out more about CCF's mission, values, and work.
It feels like one big family rather than a big corporate machine
CCF stood out as a charity for us because it’s incredibly well-run and has a transparent operating model.
CFF is really thoughtful about how it uses its resources - you know that the contributions you make go directly to helping those who really need it.
Secondly, CCF’s commitment to building local skills, employing local staff, and providing local support really assists sustainable change for the future, in addition to addressing immediate issues facing the community today.
Thirdly, the deep connection you are able to develop with your sponsor child, their family, and the staff who support them. It feels like one big family rather than a big corporate machine.
We were keen to sponsor a child, and the way CCF manages its Sponsorship Programme resonated with us as a family. We were excited to forge a genuine relationship with our sponsor child and to support her on an ongoing, long-term basis.
It has been really meaningful for us. In some ways, it has provided an anchor for us during all of our moves and provided stability in our lives when we were moving around so much.
Our girls have really connected with our sponsor child. One of our daughters organised a bake sale at her school to raise money for CCF, and another talked about her sponsored child so much to her friend that her friend’s family became sponsors too.
We look forward to our regular communications and photos from our sponsor child, and we have also ‘met’ her extended family on video.
It is incredibly rewarding to see the difference you can make in a child’s life
The key for us is education and enabling a child to receive an education who may not otherwise have that opportunity. In addition, being able to contribute, even in a minor way, to improving the comfort and safety of her family. We also value the broader difference we are making to the community through the wider outreach work that CCF engages in.
It is incredibly rewarding to see the difference you can make in a child’s life. From simple pleasures such as a photo of her receiving birthday cake and presents to hearing her pride when she shares her school examination and test results.
We see our relationship as that of extended family, who are there to support, help and encourage. Hopefully, we provide her stability and comfort that she knows she has someone to help support her in achieving her potential.
We were hoping to visit CCF before we left Asia and moved to the UK, but Covid put a stop to that. We would love to make a family trip there once our two girls have finished school.
Sponsoring has been a rewarding experience for our family. We feel a connection to the two children we have sponsored. We really look forward to our current sponsor child Khemra’s updates and the photos she sends. It is heartening to know that we are making a tangible difference to a young person’s life and to her family.
