A CHARITY which has helped provide education and food for impoverished schoolchildren in Tanzania is searching for kind-hearted sponsors to help them continue their mission.

Africa's Children in Education (ACE) was set up by Ron and Sue Hayes, from Windle, and they have dedicated themselves to creating a school for a poor community on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The new term has begun at 'Arise School' in January, which now has more than 100 pupils who are now able to have two meals a day thanks to the creation of a breakfast kitchen which was created last year after previously only receiving a mid-morning porridge.

Ron and Sue recently saw the creation of a fourth classroom just before Christmas, which can enable an extra 35 children to attend the school.

Roughly one-third of the children are only able to attend thanks to generous sponsorships, with several others currently on a waiting list hoping for their only chance of an education.

One recently sponsored child who has started the new term is four-year-old Hadijah, the youngest in a family of four children who live with their mother in extreme poverty. After their father left home, Hadijah's mother has struggled to feed and care for the family by working in the fields or by collecting and selling firewood.

None of her siblings had attended school before and it is hoped the education will give her and the family the chance of a better life.

"It's so hard to see the appalling conditions some of the children and their families live in," said Ron, 69, who joined Sue on their latest visit to the school last November.

"We take so much for granted here. For too many of the children Arise Community School is their only chance of an education and of ever being able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

"Sadly, there are still so many children who don't have the opportunity to go to school. We always have a waiting list of children needing sponsors and we also need people willing to make a regular donation towards resources for the school and running costs. We just welcome any support."

Sponsoring a child is £3 per week, including tuition costs, daily porridge and two school uniforms.

To find out more, email Sue and Ron at ACECharity@aol.com or visit acecharity.uk.