A GENEROUS Tadley couple, who have supported an African child for more than a decade finally came face-to-face with her after years of exchanging letters and donating money.

Brian and Valerie Goddard have been sponsoring Kenyan teenager Nyongesa Linet, who is now 16, since she was just four years old, but had never been able to meet or speak to her prior to their 10-day trip.

The couple, who make the donations through World Vision, were invited by the charity to make the special trip to Kisumu, Kenya, during which they met the teenager (right).

Mr Goddard, 59, said: “We met Linet and her mother and chatted for a couple of hours, learning about her life, her education, her family and her hopes for the future.

“Her father has drink problems and does not work, her mother and five older siblings have no jobs and without World Vision’s help, she would have dropped out of school years ago”.

Mrs Goddard said: “It’s not until you walk through the villages, visit the schools and clinics and meet real people living in dire poverty, that you appreciate the depth and scale of the problem. One school had 800 children – 400 were orphans, and 100 were HIV positive.”

Mr Goddard, a civil engineer who has worked in Kenya, and Mrs Goddard, 58, a teacher at The King’s School, Sarum Hill, both lived in Nigeria for several months in 1987.

The couple, who have two children of their own, are Ambassadors for World Vision, talking at meetings and working to raise awareness of the charity in and around Basingstoke.