Six years ago Emma Thompson welcomed homeless Rwandan refugee Tindyebwa Agaba into her home. Now the former child soldier is studying politics at Cambridge University with a view to becoming a human rights lawyer - and the Oscar-winning actress whom he calls 'Mum' couldn't be more proud.
And there was no mistaking her maternal attitude when she posed with the 21-year-old at Nelson Mandela's fundraising dinner.
Emma, the star of films such as Sense And Sensibility and Love Actually, adopted Tindy unofficially after they met at a Refugee Council party in 2002. On learning he'd been sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square, the thesp invited him to the Hampstead house she shares with actor Greg Wise and their daughter Gaia.
"He's such a lovely, enchanting boy. So I said: 'Come and have Christmas with us'. And he came for half the day," recalled 48-year-old Emma. "Slowly, he became a sort of permanent fixture, came on holiday to Scotland with us, and became part of the family."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
