A FORMER teacher from Great Oakley is urging others to follow in her footsteps after four months volunteering in Zimbabwe.

Faith Allen, 25, of Farm Road spent time in the African country teaching youngsters entrepreneurial skills, gender equality and about sexual health.

“More than 80 per cent of people in Zimbabwe are unemployed so the only way for them to make money is to do it for themselves,” she said.

“Also one in four people have HIV so raising awareness about the disease is so important.”

Based in the rural village of Madlambudzi, Miss Allen had no access to electricity or running water and had to bring it back to the village by carrying it on her head.

“The living conditions were quite hard but you have to embrace it,” she said.

“Another thing I found was that people were much more relaxed about timing than at home.

“For example, one of the projects I was involved with was organising a football match with a neighbouring village and the teams turned up two hours late.

“The culture is completely different and because most people do not have formal jobs they do not understand having to rush to do anything.

“The whole experience has made me much more relaxed and appreciative of what I have.

“People often say money is tight but it is nothing compared to what they are suffering with in Zimbabwe.”

Anyone who would like to learn more about the programmes should visit volunteerics.org