Humanitarianism and Child Refugee Sponsorship: The Spanish Civil War and the Global Campaign of Esme Odgers

Abstract

This article explores the humanitarian work of the Australian Communist Esme Odgers during the Spanish Civil War. Odgers's story highlights the child sponsorship program as a humanitarian technique, which has yet to be fully discussed within the history of Spanish humanitarian aid. Odgers's detailed letters written during the war offer unique insights into the material, social, and psychological conditions under which humanitarian workers labored, suggesting that such an activity was a multifaceted and unpredictable experience. An examination of this dimension allows for an exploration of emotions that are expected to be repressed by humanitarian workers, where the expression of individual emotions in the context of life and death is perceived as an indulgence. Further, a study of Odgers's humanitarian efforts during the civil war sheds light on the impact of these endeavors beyond Europe, extending our understanding of the global impact of the Spanish Civil War.Journal of Women's History 112 Spring roundings, educating them, giving them a chance to face life with courage and understanding . . . Apart from giving them food, a bed, and educating them, they need affection. How badly they need affection can be felt when their little arms twine round our necks to give us kisses. Even boys of 14 and 15 come up for their kiss. It is not a custom. It is a need they feel." 4 Odgers understood the emotional support she provided was central to her humanitarian task and to the aims of PLAN. This theme-the emotional impact of the war on children-became vital to the child sponsor program initiated by PLAN where it was hoped a close relationship would develop between the "foster parents" and the sponsored child they would support financially. This became a global program that attracted financial sponsors of Spanish refugee children from outside of Europe, including Odgers's birthplace, Australia. As in many Western nations, children were at the center of how the civil war was reported, discussed, and understood in Australia. In October 1938, the "Children's Appeal," launched by the Spanish Relief Committee (SRC), documented details of the distress and cruelty endured by families and children suffering under Franco's rule. 5 Odgers wrote in highly emotional language, directly appealing to the urgency of "saving" vulnerable children: "Many have seen their mothers, brothers, sisters, or fathers killed before their eyes. They have witnessed sights that would unnerve the average adult. There are thousands of little children whose parents cannot be traced; it is not known if they are alive or dead." 6 The child sponsorship and "foster parent" program that Odgers herself successfully promoted from Spain drew together supporters for Spanish children from across the political spectrum in Australia. Odgers's story as an active humanitarian is largely invisible beyond brief references in specialist histories of PLAN and child sponsorship programs. 7 This gap reflects a broader methodological issue, as her absence from historical acco...