A Gosport woman, set to fly to Mozambique to teach in a school, aims to do her part to help the southern African country.

Elizabeth Longley, 27, (pictured) grew up in Gosport and studied at St Vincent's College before heading off to Durham University.

Since then she has lived abroad, teaching English in Portugal for three years before deciding she wanted to play her part in development work and applying to Voluntary Service Overseas.

As a VSO teacher, she will work in an industrial and commercial school in Pemba, the provincial capital of the less developed north of Mozambique, teaching 15 to 28-year-olds. She said: "I wanted to help in some small way towards development because Mozambique is often referred to as one of Africa's success stories as, since the civil war ended, there has been quite a lot of development, despite the floods."

Elizabeth said she was looking forward to beginning her two-year placement after she flies out on February 12 but will miss some things about home.

"Communications are unreliable in Pemba and I will miss being able to frequently e-mail and phone friends, but I am definitely looking forward to the challenge."

Although her parents have now moved away from the area, Elizabeth returned to Gosport to see family and friends before setting off on the adventure of a lifetime.

VSO is an international development charity which works through volunteers, aged 21 to 68, to use their experience and skills to help tackle poverty.

For more information about VSO recruitment, phone 020 8780 7500 or e-mail: enquiry@vso.org.uk