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Kate Harris lives and works in Peterborough for the aid and development agency Christian Aid. She is an advocate on global issues of injustice for students and youth.

The flights are booked, the insurance sorted out, the diarrhoea tablets are soon to be bought and I’m getting my last few injections against horrible-sounding diseases in a few days. Why? Because on 21st October I will be jetting out to Kenya to see what the charity I work for, Christian Aid, and its partner organisations are doing to help people there – and to share my experiences afterwards with the young people of Cambridgeshire!

You can listen to kate talking about her forthcoming trip with Andy Burrows on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire:

Kenya is a country burdened with many social and economic problems, not the least of them being the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Over two million of its citizens are HIV positive, and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses are shortening life expectancies (currently at 49 years), orphaning children and creating a big hole in Kenya’s working population, leaving an already poor country struggling to generate an income and support its people.

I hope to see the ways in which our partners are helping with this, so that children go to school and adults (often including those who are HIV positive) can work. I will also be looking at farming issues, and how, through education, people can change the way they farm so they can grow more crops and have plenty to eat.

When I get back from Kenya (I will only be there for two weeks), I will be going into schools, youth groups and churches around the Peterborough area to do talks, assemblies, workshops and sessions on my experiences, Kenya, and all sorts of development issues.

If there are any teachers or youth leaders currently rubbing their hands with glee, please contact me! After my gap year I am going to study Sociology and Politics at the University of Edinburgh with a view to working on development issues or in politics when I graduate.

Find out more about Christian Aid and gap year opportunities:

To book Kate, email: kharris@christian-aid.org