A YORK woman has described her visit to a Tanzania primary school as the experience of a lifetime.

Monica Garrity, of Dringthorpe Road, York, sold her residential lettings business last year after 15 years and decided to volunteer with the Village-To-Village charity, supporting sustainable livelihoods and promoting HIV and AIDS awareness in East Africa.

The charity also has partner schemes in Uganda and Tanzania, which is where Monica volunteered for three months, working as a teacher.

She said: “It was such a thrill, a completely different world. There were six of us working as teaching assistants in the poor rural village of Uchira in Northern Tanzania, quite close to Kilimanjaro.

“We taught English and HIV and AIDS awareness to classes of around 60 children aged between five and 11.

“It’s so important because it affects ten per cent of the people out there.

“While we were there, a 50-year-old man from the village died of AIDS and we attended the funeral.”

The volunteers also helped villagers plant maize crops, working in 30C heat after a four-mile trek to the fields. Now back in the UK, Monica hopes to spread the word about the good work of Village-To-Village, and is planning to speak at local schools and organise fundraising events to help raise money for the charity.

“I’m going to a meeting at a school in Escrick next week to arrange a talk, and hoping to speak at one of York Women In Business’ quarterly meetings later this year,” she said.

“There were times in Tanzania when I just stopped for a moment and watched how marvellous and appreciative the children were, and I thought it was the experience of a lifetime. Hopefully I can inspire people to volunteer themselves, or at least donate something to the charity.”