A CHARITY worker will be swapping the dry heat of Africa for a visit to northern Europe’s largest man-made lake at the weekend.

Oswin Mahundi will join Team Coco to tackle the Kielder 10k on Saturday (October 4) during this year’s Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon weekend.

Mr Mahundi is one of more than 100 runners who will raise money for Newcastle-based Comrades of Children Overseas (Coco), which is the event’s official charity partner.

Coco was co-founded by world champion athlete and BBC commentator Steve Cram and former British Army Major Jim Panton in 2000.

The charity works with communities in remote regions of the developing world to alleviate the poverty that prevents children’s education.

Since its foundation, the charity has raised over £3 million and is currently working with project partners in Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana.

In 2008, Coco set up Hoja Secondary School in Tanzania, which has gone on to achieve great success, including attaining the best exam results out of 173 schools in the region.

Using the experience gained from this pilot project, Coco is now planning to roll out a wider sustainable education programme in other remote and impoverished areas under the Schools for Life banner.

Mr Mahundi is Coco’s Tanzanian project co-ordinator and has flown into the UK for a three- week visit.

He said: “I have always dreamed of running in a race in the UK. In Tanzania, there are not many of these runs, and I really want to be a part of the experience and join so many other people in raising money for good causes.

“Coco is very close to my heart, as I have seen what a difference the charity makes to people. I co-founded The Hoja Project which Coco supports and we helped over 7,000 vulnerable people last year alone.

“The money I raise through running at Kielder will help us to support even more people in Tanzania.”