The girl that hugged the queen

You may have read about the Ugandan war orphan who hugged the queen during the Jubilee celebrations. Well I had the privilege of meeting Lydia Amito face-to-face at the Cherish conference in Bradford this week (and getting some hugs of my own).

I first saw this little girl on the main stage during one of the conference’s celebration meetings. She walked on stage with the Watoto Children’s Choir and stepped forward, confidently introducing herself and explaining the difference the Watoto charity – and her newfound Christian faith – has made in her life.

But while seeing her beautiful smile and listening to the choir’s incredibly moving performance, I was still unprepared for her tragic story. It turns out that Lydia’s father and uncles were butchered Lord’s Resistance Army, who also slaughtered her mother in front of her older sister.

Lydia and her six siblings managed to escape and were rescued by the Watoto Church; a Pentecostal church that now cares for 2,500 children. The church places orphans like Lydia in families of eight, housing them in simple homes that are built around a communal garden. Each home is presided over by a ‘house mother’, usually a widow who has lost her husband and/or children to war, AIDS or malnutrition.

Sitting down with Lydia was a humbling experience. On one hand she was just a shy, giggly little girl, but on the other she had been through intense trauma, seen horrors I am unlikely to ever see, and managed to start a new life. She confides that when she grows up she wants to be a nurse. “I want to treat people so they can get better,” she says.

This little girl, who could have been sex-trafficked, abused and even killed, is now in a safe home with people who love her. When she’s not at school she loves practising for the choir and helping out her house mother, Mamma Santa, by cleaning the house and cooking. She has also formed close bonds with her brothers and sisters, as well as experiencing the love of Jesus Christ, which she prizes above all else.

Being away from home for five months of the year must be strange for the choir members, some of whom are as young as ten. But Lydia says she enjoys seeing new places and loves singing and dancing on stage.

She and two of the guys caring for her – Mark and Stephen – totally stole my heart as I sat listening to her story, and to the boys’ explanations of the Watoto Charity’s aims, which can be summed up by the following passage:

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:26-7).  

If you had asked Lydia a few years back what her future held, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have been too convinced she would even have a future. I want to see more children like Lydia with magical smiles and beautiful spirits who are capable of impacting our nation from the top down.

As well as breaking protocol by hugging Her Majesty, I’m pretty sure she broke the queen’s hearts for the orphans’ plight. I hope this precious little girl and the other children – all of whom have had similarly traumatic experiences – continue to touch the hearts of people around the world.

You can support the children of Watoto in lots of different ways. Visit to the Watoto website to find out more.

Read more from Joy in the next issue of Liberti magazine.