The Gambia, a country in West Africa which is half the size of Wales, was a British Colony until 1965 and is now part of the Commonwealth.

The country relies on tourism and offers a climate of 90 degrees all the year round, with a rainy season in July and August resulting in green vegetation.

However, this is a developing country with poverty and sickness.

Babies and children are dying through a particularly malignant form of malaria and I was shown a man in intensive care who had suffered from cerebral malaria and psychosis.

Diabetes would account for the many people I saw begging with amputated limbs.

Since the Eighties, the Gambian government and individual families have been doing their best to shelter refugees from the war-torn countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal Cassamance and Guinea Bissau.

The Khadeeja Memorial Nursery School for Children aged two-six has absolutely nothing but a blackboard, as many as 50 children in one classroom and dedicated teachers.

The headmaster states: "Teach a child the right path and when he is older he will remain upon it. For it is easier to build children than to repair men."

Many of the children's parents cannot afford to pay the fees of £120 per annum which cover clothes, one square meal a day and tuition.

If you could sponsor a child or give a donation, please call me on 01273 625939. I can lend you a video of the children and school and give you a sponsorship form.

There are so many needy causes in the world that it is possible to have compassion fatigue.

But although it was a traumatic experience for me, the warmth and friendliness of the Gambian people with the sun shining in their eyes makes this country well worth a visit - and I even stroked a crocodile called Charlie.

-Carole Irvine, Brighton