Ambika to meet Icelandic sponsor after decades-long search
Sunday 6th September 2026 on 12:15 in
Iceland
Ambika, who grew up in an SOS children’s village in India, will finally meet her Icelandic sponsor after finding her through a social media appeal, mbl.is reports. The meeting is scheduled for October 5, more than three decades after Guðrún Hafdís Karlsdóttir became her sponsor.
Hafdís supported Ambika from 1993 to 2012. During that time, Ambika received letters from the children’s village and occasional postcards from Hafdís showing Icelandic scenery, including the Northern Lights.
Years later, while Ambika and her husband were sorting through their belongings before moving, they found the old postcards. As they discussed where to go on holiday, her husband suggested Iceland. Ambika then decided to try to find Hafdís.
Ambika initially searched for her online without success. She contacted SOS Children’s Villages in Iceland, but the organisation no longer had access to the former sponsor and child records because of data protection rules. It eventually posted an appeal on Facebook, and Hafdís was found the following day.
The couple had planned to visit Iceland last summer, but they did not receive their Schengen visas in time. They have remained in contact since then, exchanging letters. Ambika has sent Hafdís a drawing, while Hafdís has kept the letters and photographs she received from the children’s village.
Hans Steinar Bjarnason, marketing and communications director at SOS Children’s Villages in Iceland, said the couple now had their visas and that the trip had been confirmed.
This will be the couple’s first trip abroad. They are expected to arrive in Iceland towards the end of September and will travel around the country for about two weeks with a group of Indian tourists. They are interested in outdoor activities and plan to explore the country on foot.
After the trip, Ambika and Hafdís will meet in person at the SOS Children’s Villages office on October 5. It will be Ambika’s first time seeing the country she first encountered through postcards.