A YOUNG Huddersfield woman went out to help African children and has returned determined to make their lives safer.

Emily Bamford, 23, of Dalton, has spent the last three months working as a teacher in Tanzania.

She worked in the suburb of a poor town called Arusha near Mount Kilimanjaro and was shocked to see the children crammed on a small bus for the daily trip to school.

"It was so unsafe and uncomfortable," she said. "The bus is clapped out, keeps breaking down and up to 80 children end up crammed on board, yet they rarely complain.

"They're little angels.

"They have such a hard life, yet they just deal with it."

Now Emily is trying to raise £5,000 to buy a good quality secondhand school bus.

She will travel back to Tanzania to make sure any money raised is spent wisely. Any extra cash will be used to enhance the quality of the children's lives at the school.

The pupils are aged between four and eight and many are orphans having lost their parents to HIV and AIDS.

Emily doubled as a social worker - many children have HIV and need someone to take them to hospital appointments.

The school is run by a Tanzanian organisation dedicated to female empowerment called Women In Action that provides care and food for poverty- stricken families and those living with HIV/AIDS. It also helps women earn money making and selling beads.

Emily spent a long time saving the money for the trip and also got some sponsorship from Galpharm Healthcare Ltd, King James's School Foundation and The Verve bar on Byram Street in Huddersfield town centre.

She said: "I'd always wanted to go to Africa and do a volunteer work placement and going to Tanzania was the best thing I've ever done.

"The kids were a real pleasure to teach."

Anyone who can help should email Emily at ebamford@aol.com or 07921 192028.

* In 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar united to become the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which was then renamed the United Republic of Tanzania.

* In 1979 Tanzania invaded neighbouring Uganda, putting an end to the reign of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

* In 1994 refugees fleeing Rwanda sought safety in Tanzania.

* Health problems in Tanzania include malaria, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and HIV and Aids.

* The highest point in Tanzania - and Africa - is Mount Kilimanjaro (right), a volcano which reaches 5,895 metres (19,340ft).

* Tanzania shares Lake Victoria with Kenya and Uganda. The lake is one of the world's largest.