Tears, laughter and gratitude as Aussie star pledges to support vulnerable girls around the world

Aussie TV presenter Erin Holland has had the rare privilege of meeting her sponsor child in Sri Lanka. Here is why.

There was tears, laughter, joy and gratitude on both sides as Erin Holland met her sponsor child for the first time.

In Sri Lanka hosting the Lanka Premier League cricket season, the Australian television presenter was given the rare opportunity to spend two days with Nadu and her family in the Neluwa farming community about three hours drive from Colombo.

“It is not something that everyone gets the privilege to do,” Holland said of meeting Nadu.

“It was a great honour given we’ve written correspondence for years but only now come face-to-face. It was incredibly emotional, one of those moments that truly has been transformative.

“Even though there was a language barrier, so much was said through body language and I will never forget that time we spent together.”

Erin Holland was incredibly excited for an afternoon with her sponsored child, 11-year-old Nadu in Sri Lanka.

Holland has supported 11-year-old Nadu for more than five years, signing up to sponsorship after attending the inaugural World Vision Vogue Australia event in 2019.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Holland is now a Goodwill Ambassador for World Vision and is supporting its annual 1000 Girls campaign that urges Australians to “change her story” by sponsoring 1000 girls by October 11.

In Australia this year alone, 55 women and 10 children have been killed due to domestic violence. Globally, almost one in three women and girls experience violence in their lives and every three seconds a child is forced into marriage.

Erin meets with a female-fuelled Savings for Transformation Group in Sri Lanka.

“I travel a lot for my job to third world countries that aren’t as lucky as we are in Australia,” said Holland, who is married to cricketer Ben Cutting.

“I was born into a country where I do have access to fresh water, food and shelter and so many other children don’t have that, purely by virtue of where or how they were born. Child sponsorship is an easy and simple way to make a tangible and incredible difference in a world where we can often feel so helpless. They say that for each child that is sponsored, it helps four, so the figure is more like 4000.”

Erin visits Nadu at her school in Sri Lanka.

Holland, meanwhile, has been open about her fertility struggles and has gone through five rounds of IVF.

She hopes to one day become a mother herself, which made the experience all the more emotional.

“It made the experience all the more overwhelming,” Holland said. “I will cherish and remember this time with Nadu and her family for the rest of my life.”

Erin practices tea planting/plucking with a local family.