Saturday, 25 November 2006

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Emma Thompson so proud of her Rwandan orphan

The actress talks about the wonderful boy who calls her Mum

Emma Thompson says she’s thrilled by the achievements of Tindyebwa Agaba, the ex-child solder she welcomed into her home four years ago.

She and husband Greg Wise, 40, are parents to daughter Gaia, seven, but also became unofficial mum and dad to the orphan from Rwanda when he was 16.

Tindy celebrates his 20th birthday next month and is now studying politics at Exeter University.

‘He’s just superb,’ says Emma, 47. ‘It’s incredible what he’s managed to do. He’d never taken an exam and did his GCSEs and then went off and bloody did A-levels.’

The teenager lost his parents and sisters in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and escaped to the UK with the aid of charity Care International.

David Banda, the 18-month-old little boy from Malawi who Madonna brought to London, has a parent alive but Emma does not disapprove of the adoption.

‘I understand the arguments about taking people away from their culture,’ Emma says, ‘but there is a culture of deprivation and poverty which is not fun to be part of.’