A former Ysgol Penglais pupil is to spend 10 weeks in Africa as part of a charity programme to help improve rural secondary schools.

Jasmine Shao, who is from Bronant and now a second-year engineering student at Cambridge University, has been selected to take part in the Education Partnerships Africa scheme this summer, which will see her travel to either Kenya or Uganda to help in setting up new facilities for a school.

As part of the project Jasmine needs to raise £2,200 to help pay for costs and provide funding for the work that will be done at the school where she will work, with a fundraising bungee jump already planned for the end of February.

Jasmine said: “EPAfrica appeals to me because it focuses on providing sustainable solutions by providing the school with basic resources.

“Examples of projects carried out by project workers in schools include setting up a library, creation of a laboratory and installation of solar panels.

“Education is one, if not the best, way to help people in poverty to escape from it.

“This is what we aspire to achieve through this project by working alongside local schools and investing in sustainable solutions to their most pressing challenges.

“My co-workers and I will be working in direct partnership with the school management and students, who have a deep understanding of the local culture, to identify such problems and tackle them.

With Jasmine already planning fundraising events, she has also set up a fundraising page where anyone who would like to donate can do so at www.mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/­jasmineshaoepafrica.

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