“I SPENT 23 years of my life in Hong Kong. While I was there I did a Sesame Street diploma in puppeteering and ventriloquism.

My first puppets were Mae Ling and Russell.

I was the first European allowed in hospitals to perform for the children with the puppets.

I remember going to The Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital in Sandy Bay in Hong Kong where the nurses asked me to show Mae Ling to a Chinese girl who didn’t speak.

She smiled at Mae Ling and then she started talking to the puppet.

It was the first time she spoke.

Puppets can help with trauma – I’ve been to many different hospitals in Hong Kong, Australia and in the UK including Great Ormond Street in London.

It’s about educating and helping people with special needs and those who have gone through trauma.

They might not be able to say how they’re feeling and help move forward with their education.

When my sister Penny was born she was severely disabled due to lack of oxygen at birth.

My mum found it very hard as people in those days would say ‘why don’t you have her put in a home or something’.

My mum refused, she said ‘no, my daughter will be fine’. The good news out of this story is because of the way we’ve developed, my sister can now hear, she can speak and walk most of the time.

It goes to show no matter what difficulties you might have, with support of other people you can keep on trying and you can achieve the goal – she’s married with two beautiful children.

Ventriloquism is like learning another language – it took about a year. I was 25-years-old at the time.

There are certain words you avoid if you can such as P’s – anything which is going to make you move your mouth.

Each show I do in each country is different – you have to think about the culture.

I’m hoping to start doing it in hospitals in Wales.

At the moment I’m doing it in schools and Gestalt centre in Chepstow.

My brother Hugh, who is eight years younger than me, decided to do it as a result of the puppetry – he is a very good artist and has his own variety show in Australia.

I am the eldest of five; I have two brothers and two sisters.

There is Hugh, Sue, Penny and Andy.

I was born on April 4, 1956, in Cammeray, Sydney, in Australia.

It’s the same day my twins were born – we always have a big celebration.

My father was Frank Munro – he was a doctor, a general practitioner, who worked for the Australian Embassy.

My mother was Margaret McRae; both of my parents were of Scottish ancestry.

My father’s father was a doctor in Gloucestershire in Australia.

My mother’s parents came over from Scotland to Mosman, in New South Wales.

My mum and dad met in Mosman, New South Wales, where he was finishing his medical training.

The first six years of my life were spent in Australia, then we had three of four years in Europe.

We lived all over; we lived in Germany for many years as well as Holland and Cairo in Egypt.

We came back and forth to Australia and then I went to the international School in Holland in Year 7 and 8.

I did my O-levels in Australia and while we were in Cairo I completed my Australian high school diploma.

We went to an American international school so I had to learn everything about American history.

I was 15-years-old when I went to Cairo – we were there for nearly three years.

The Arab-Israeli war of 1973 was on at the time.

You could look out and see all the fighting and the guns.

There were a lot of things that happened which is why I can relate very well to kids who have had trauma from other countries because I had my own.

When you’re in a war zone it’s quite different to normal day life.

The gunfire was daily – you heard it all the time in that period and also the time going up to that was really quite bad.

We were in the embassy in Zamalek.

You couldn’t get food in Cairo – the Australians and British could only get a certain amount of food but the Americans could get everything.

We couldn’t get chocolate or Coca-Cola.

There were a lot of American kids at school.

I remember one day being invited to a boy’s house and his family offered me a Coca-Cola and a chocolate bar.

It was a Mars Bar – something which I hadn’t seen for two years.

I remember thinking ‘I can’t eat this now’, so I took it home where we cut it in five pieces and shared it with my siblings.

I will never forget the day; it’s a funny story but it was the joy of having something we hadn’t had.

I met my former husband in Cairo, he was visiting his parents who were in the British consulate.

He was from the UK. We stayed here for a year and then went to Hong Kong.

I got married at 18-years-old. He was in the Hong Kong Police.

The Chinese people are very kind and hardworking. I enjoyed my time there.

I was based in Hong Kong for 23 years.

That’s where my three children grew up. We lived in Kowloon.

I taught English subjects in a Chinese primary school.

I changed my name to Leesa from Lee as Lee was a common surname in Hong Kong.

I can get by in Cantonese but Hong Kong is mostly Mandarin now.

I am a qualified Drama and English teacher in Australia and the United Kingdom.

I do casual teaching at the moment and go into school to do puppet shows.

I have been in Chepstow for three years now.

I love Wales – my first grandchild is going to be Welsh – the baby is due in September.

Now most of the songs and lullabies that I sing are in Welsh.”

l You can find more information about Leesa and her work on her website here: lullabyleesa.com