SALISBURY woman Becky Hannam, a former Burgate School pupil, visited the plains of Ethiopia last autumn to interview some of the people who feature in the current Christian Aid Week.

Becky (22), who grew up as a member of St Paul’s Church, Salisbury, saw for herself the impact of the work of Christian Aid partners as part of a year volunteering as an intern in the aid and development charity’s South West office.

Becky spent two weeks in rural South West Ethiopia looking at Christian Aid partner organisations’ work to support women and girls trapped in poverty.

One of the stories which moved and inspired her in equal measure was that of 13-year-old Bokiya Gooloo.

She explained: “Bokiya was almost forced to marry her late sister’s widower, a man old enough to be her grandfather. But thanks to community education workshops, brought about by Christian Aid partner HUNDEE, Bokiya knew she had rights and a voice to refuse.

“Too many girls are forced to drop out of school and have children before their bodies are ready, but thanks to donations from supporters across Wiltshire and the UK, Bokiya is in school today and dreams of becoming a doctor.

“Discrimination against women is one of the greatest injustices of our time. Almost as soon as girls are strong enough to walk many can spend hours fetching water and doing household chores.

“I met women who were trapped in poverty without a voice. But as well as coordinating community groups HUNDEE is giving livestock to the poorest women.

“This allows them to not only feed their families and sell the surplus milk and butter but also gives them a voice in the community and the right to speak out at meetings on issues which concern them such as forced marriage, domestic violence or female genital mutilation."

Around 1,000 volunteers from churches across Wiltshire have been taking part in the week of cake sales, coffee mornings and collections.