Three African orphans who were abandoned on the streets of Uganda have been brought to Carmarthen where they have learned to speak fluent Welsh.

Arwyn and Claire Sambrook saw their plight while working in East Africa and legally adopted the five-year-olds.

Now Gwenllian Namagembe, Ioseff Mugabi and Cerwyn Kasule are pupils at Ysgol y Dderwen in Carmarthen and take all their lessons in Welsh.

Gwenllian and Ioseff were abandoned at birth outside outside a children's home and Cerwyn was found alone at the side of a road aged just 18 months.

Their new headmaster Berwyn Jenkins said the youngsters had been warmly welcomed at Ysgol y Dderwen.

"They have settled in very well and have picked up Welsh very naturally," he said.

"The other children love them and they have quickly become a part and parcel of everyday school life."

The Sambrooks started the process of bringing the children to Wales from the poverty stricken country in 1997. Claire was working at the University of Makerereat at the time.

"We started to make lots of visits to the local orphanage and they agreed to give us two of the weakest children," she said. We then applied to take a third. We would have more if we could.

"You can't not help. Orphanages do not even have enough resources to be able to give a child one egg a week."

After two years dealing with the Ugandan authorities the couple then spent another 18 months in the hands of Carmarthenshire Social Services.

Arwyn said: "We are just so relieved that the process is finally completed.

"It does seem sometimes that professionals are more concerned with the competent filling in of forms rather than the plight of hundreds of children that fill orphanages throughout the world.

"Uganda is one of the ten poorest countries in the world, but I do think the British social services would have a lot to learn from them about how to deal with things more efficiently."

Used courtesy of the South Wales Evening Post