AN INTREPID charity worker has shared her story after spending months living in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Tara Hall, of Blaenau Ffestiniog, left Wales earlier this year to travel to Nepal and try and help the country improve its future prospects.

Leading teams of volunteers with Restless Development, a charity dedicated to helping young people across the world, Tara has experienced a lot in the last few months, including exotic cuisine and natural disasters.

“My alarm clock is no longer ‘chime’ ringtone. I have swapped it for the moo of a buffalo and the generally off-key call of a rooster,” she told the Cambrian News.

“I have been living in rural Nepal, in the Sindhuli district for over three months now.

“Our goal, is to develop leadership within the youth and teach them skills that will help them gain livelihoods, in a country where 46 per cent of the population are unemployed.

“I have been welcomed into the home of the Debkota family, a roof that shelters three generations.

“We drink sweet Chia with the sunrise every morning, celebrate the colourful Hindu festivals together, I have learnt how to cook traditional foods - most of which are very spicy - and we try our best to understand one another.

“Living in this community is humbling.

“They are always willing to lend a hand, always open to conversation and generous, even though they have little.

“They call my name wherever I go - ‘Tara’ is a Nepali name meaning star, and it is always followed by a ‘namaste’.”

Read the full story in this week’s County Echo, on sale now