A LLANISHEN woman will travel to Cambodia next month to help its residents become self-sufficient.

By working hand in hand with charity VSO, Tegan Swanson will play her part in helping the billions of people around the world living in poverty.

The 22-year-old will be working in the Stung Treng province, located in the northeast of Cambodia. During her time in Stung Treng, Tegan will be setting up livelihood projects to boost self-sufficiency and employment among the Cambodian people.

To raise awareness of her trip and the plight faced in many poverty stricken countries throughout the world, this week Tegan will be taking part in the £5 food challenge.

The challenge will see Tegan surviving on £1 a day for five days. By doing this, Tegan hopes to raise awareness of the 1.2 billion people globally who live below the extreme poverty line.

Tegan said: “It’s going to be a tough challenge. I have friends who have taken part in it and they ate a lot of porridge so my diet will be mainly carbohydrate based.

“More than a third of Cambodians live under the poverty line so I want to spread awareness of that.

“The money raised will go straight to VSO as my trip to Cambodia is government funded. I’m hoping to raise £1,500 for the charity.

“In Cambodia I’ll be working with three different partner NGOs. I’ll be focussing on women’s employment opportunities and equality, the rights of indigenous people or nutrition and alternative farming techniques.

“I’m going to be placed at the heart of the community and will be working alongside local volunteers. This is important because I’ll enable them to carry on the work after I leave.

“I’m looking forward to experiencing the Cambodian culture. I’ve never been to south east Asia so it’s going to be a bit of a culture shock.

“After Cambodia I’ll be going to talk to youth groups after the experience.”

Louise Rafferty, fundraising support officer for VSO ICS, said: “On behalf of the ICS fundraising team, we’re very impressed by Tegan’s fundraising efforts so far.

“The £5 food challenge, where Tegan will live off of £1 a day for five days, is a great challenge that demonstrates Tegan’s commitment towards her ICS placement.

“All of the money raised through this challenge goes towards the continuation of VSO ICS programmes which enables us to send young people from the UK overseas to volunteers in communities in developing countries.

“We wish Tegan the best of luck with this challenge”.

To donate to Tegan’s £5 challenge, visit: www.justgiving.com/TR-SWANSON1/

The charity VSO works to improve the quality and availability of education, health care and employment.

Tegan will be leaving for Cambodia on Tuesday 23rd February and will stay until Tuesday 10th May.