Avryl returns from herlatest Laos mission (From Evesham Journal)

Avryl returns from herlatest Laos mission (From Evesham Journal)

A BROADWAY woman has just returned from her latest trip to help improve the education of poverty-striken children in Asia.

Avryl Donovan, founder of the Laos Educational Trust, arrived back in England on March 1 after spending almost a month in the country visiting four schools which have been helped by the charity.

Last year, the trust paid for two toilets to be built at one of the schools after Mrs Donovan raised £3,000 in donations from friends and the proceeds of a pig roast organised by St Michael’s and All Angels Church.

The money was also used to supply much-needed reading and exercise books, pencils, sports equipment and bicycles.

The trust is now sponsoring seven bright children to continue in higher education from the age of 13 to 16 at a cost of just £7 a month per child.

Mrs Donovan said many children had to leave school early because their parents could not afford the fees in a country where 75 per cent of the adult population live on less than $2 a day.

“It will give them a better life and their families a better life as well,” she said.

“They’re such lovely people.

You never see them grumbling, they’re extremely welcoming and they give you everything they have.

“It’s heartbreaking really, and to see these children and how much something like this means to them.”

Mrs Donovan, who has raised £7,000 towards the project over the last two years, said she also hoped to raise funds through the sale of her book – A Collection of Simple Recipes and Sayings from a Cotswold Country Cottage – to pay for a nurse, a doctor and a teacher to educate the children further.

read more Avryl returns from herlatest Laos mission (From Evesham Journal)