Teenager Amber Ghanouni has been on an expedition of a lifetime following in the footsteps of her remarkable mother. Kate Thompson finds out more...

IT TOOK several days of delayed flights and arduous train journeys to reach their destination but intrepid mother and daughter Jill and Amber Ghanouni were undaunted.

Twenty years after Jill first travelled to the remote villages she was coming back with her 15-year-old daughter Amber to show her the work of the New Hope Rural Community Trust.

In the intervening years, Jill has raised thousands of pounds for projects to help the victims of leprosy and handicapped children who find themselves ostracised by Indian society.

Mum-of-two Jill, from Nicholstown, was prepared for the searing heat, hours of travel and heartbreaking reality of poverty and ill health.

But it was the first time Amber, a pupil at Cantell Maths and Computing College, would be facing such challenges.

Undaunted by the experience, Amber said she is keen to return to the country she now calls her second home.

"It was amazing - I loved it so much. I loved the colours, smells and the people were so friendly.

"Since I've been home I've really missed it and I definitely want to go back," she said.

Amber and Jill visited an Aids project in Kothavalasa and the reality of the decisions project workers face daily was brought home to them.

Jill explained: "It was a typical day. An emaciated dad with months to live turned up at the hospice with three skinny children.

"There were two daughters and a son - and the father wanted to leave them somewhere safe before he died.

"Due to the number of HIV patients coming to the hospice they have had to reduce the number of people they take and now they will only accept women and girls.

"They know that a neighbour will take in the little boy when his father dies and raise him but the girls will be shunned.

"It's such a harsh world - if they break the rules for one they will have to do it for everyone.

"We watched as the little boy and his father left together - leaving the little girls at the hospice.

"But we realised even though it was a difficult decision it was the best one for the family. The little boy will be cared for - and within a couple of hours the little girls were happily playing at the hospice."

Mother and daughter also visited a project for the children who live on railway stations and then went right off the beaten track to see the help being offered to tribal families.

"We walked for five hours to meet the tribal people and it was amazing to see the work that is being done to help them. It was great to see how the money that is raised in this country is being spent and to see just how far £1,000 will go," said Jill.

The trip lasted for a fortnight and now Amber has her sights set on returning to India in the future.

"I didn't know whether Amber would enjoy the experience or not but she loved it," said Jill.

And Amber added: "I didn't know how I would get on but I enjoyed it so much - I am planning to return."