Cyclist Annette Edmondson finally meets Brazilian sponsor child of 10 years
IT’S the first time Annette Edmondson was happy to let the tears flow - and it had nothing to do with competition as she finally met her Brazilian sponsor child of 10 years.
IT’S the first time Annette Edmondson was happy to let the tears flow - and it had nothing to do with her Rio competition.
The Australian cyclist fought back the emotions after missing a medal on the Olympic track this week but yesterday they flowed freely when she finally met her Brazilian sponsor child of 10 years.
“We couldn’t see Vanessa at first because she’s quite small and it was crazy there were so many kids chanting and singing,” Edmondson said.
“Then I saw her and it was nice to see how excited she was to see us, I was okay until I saw her mum and she was in tears and then I got emotional.
“There were lots of kids on bikes so we rode about a kilometre with them to the school and the kids were doing a big performance - lots of singing, music, poetry, dance, martial arts, it was really nice.”
For her 14th birthday, Edmondson asked that instead of a present her parents sponsor a child through World Vision and a random online choice paired them with Vanessa from Salvador in the north east part of the country.
When she was old enough, Annette became responsible for the monthly payments which go towards World Vision’s work in Vanessa’s community. They stayed in regular contact via letters and photos but finally got to meet face to face yesterday.
Edmondson made the two-hour flight from Rio on Friday with her brother Alex who took the silver medal he won in the men’s team pursuit a week earlier.
“They were really excited by it and had lots of photos with the family that was there,” Edmondson said.
The 24-year-old missed out on a medal in her Rio campaign after the women’s team pursuit finished fifth and she was eighth in the omnium. But she said meeting Vanessa and her family yesterday put everything into perspective.
“Obviously things didn’t go my way in the bike racing and I was a bit down that night, but when you get to do something like this and see what an impact you can have by doing something small on somebody else’s life, it’s enlightening,” Edmondson said.
“We didn’t have too much of a look at the housing but it’s pretty basic.
“At the school three years ago the kids would get electrocuted if they touched the wall when it was raining, but now it’s been done up and looks like a really nice location for the kids to hang out.
“Some of the money goes to Vanessa and her family and the majority goes to the community and the school which is a place to learn because it’s all about educating the future generations.
“And a lot of it goes into running social activities and bringing them together.”
Vanessa, who turns 18 on Monday, lives with her parents and two older brothers and works for a youth monitoring group which liaises with the government to improve their community.
“I was really excited to meet Annette,” Vanessa said yesterday.
“We have communicated for 10 years by writing each other letters and sending pictures but to see her face to face was completely different.
“I was really emotional, really happy, I will never forget this day, it is an unforgettable experience.”
