AN EIGHTEEN-year-old from Horrabridge is about to embark on a life-changing trip to one of the poorest countries in the world as a volunteer to help with the Aids crisis. Jo Greig will spend four months in Lesotho, a small country in South Africa, as part of a gap year before she starts university. She will work in a team of seven young people teaching Aids prevention programmes to teenagers, running holiday clubs for children and leading Christian union groups in high schools. She said: ?My time in Lesotho will be spent trying to reduce the probIem through various ways. I shall be working alongside an established partner in the country, called Scripture Union. ?In response to the huge Aids crisis this organisation runs a life skills programme which involves going into the local primary and secondary schools to equip students with knowledge and information about Aids and how they can make personal choices in their lifestyles which will help to protect them from getting this illness.? Out of the 2.2 million inhabitants of Lesotho, 49% live below the official poverty line. Life expectancy is only 39 years for men and women with 16,000 adults and children dying each year from Aids. Some 35,000 children have been orphaned as a result of the illness and Jo hopes to visit orphanages and some of the remote villages in the mountains of Lesotho. For the past few months, she has been working in Crebers in Tavistock to earn money to fund her travels ?but still has more cash to raise to reach the £3,000 needed to make the March trip possible. To help Jo and contribute to humanitarian aid work in South Africa, donations can be sent to 47 Station Road, Horrabridge, Yelverton PL20 7ST. She is happy to send people news of her trip if you send your email address to jingerjo [email protected]">[email protected] RIGHT: Jo all set for her work in Lesotho. Picture by James Bird
