A WATER worker from Chester-le-Street is determined to highlight a charity’s work to provide clean water supplies in Africa,

Northumbrian Water corporate affairs adviser Janine Scott, 27, had an eye-opening trip to to Uganda with the company’s adopted international charity, WaterAid.

In the villages of Ojolai and Bobol she saw how access to safe drinking water and sanitation affects the villagers.

She also visited three different schools, some with and some without, a water supply, and the flooded urban slums of Kampala.

She said: "In Ojolai village, I helped to collect the water from the ‘well’, which was basically a filthy pond, totally disease ridden, that even had turtles in it.

“The weight of the full jerry can also shocked me. It’s 20kg and I could barely even lift it, let alone carry it back half a mile on my head whilst also carrying a baby – something the mothers and children do up to six times a day in the searing heat.

"The most shocking thing for me was seeing life in the slums, where human and animal waste runs freely through village and even floods people’s homes.”

She added: "When we visited Bobol village, which had access to water, the difference in the people there and the atmosphere was amazing!

Ms Scott plans to raise awareness of the charity’s work and the plight of people with dirty water.