A woman from Croydon is climbing one of the world’s tallest mountains to raise money for African schools.

Since she was a child, Naomi Lines says she has been taught about the importance of serving others and realising how lucky she is to live in the UK.

Naomi has decided to put these values into action, so between June 23 and July 23, she is due to fly out to Arusha in Tanzania to volunteer in a charity project for the Dream Alive For Children Foundation.

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For the first two weeks, Naomi will be helping the foundation with various projects.

The 19-year-old said: “The new project is the construction of new classrooms for a new school they are doing.

“And we will be fundraising for the project in the local community.

“We will also be going directly into the school, and we’re going to be enhancing education for children aged three to 17.”

According to Naomi, teenage pregnancy is a big issue in Arusha, and so she will be providing health and sexual education for young children and teenagers.

Naomi added: “The overall project sort of looks at providing education to children and youth facing adversity, and living in very vulnerable conditions, especially around that area.”

There is very little access to education, and Naomi hopes that projects like this can help children “realise there is a future that can raise them out of poverty, and they can do something with the skills that they learn in the school.”

After that, Naomi will be heading to Moshi, where she’ll be doing a seven-day hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, and the highest single free-standing (not attached to other mountains) mountain in the world.

Naomi explained: “This is for a charity called International Needs.

“It’s a Christian organisation that goes into a variety of African countries, and they look at helping to raise children and families out of poverty.

“The charity looks into the very deprived area, and they’re trying to provide education, healthcare, and malaria.

“It means a lot to me to raise all this money for them so that they’re able to go and use that for the good of helping others.”

Naomi recounted the story of the time she went to Bosnia and how the people who were in deep poverty gave her money to pay her bus fare and gave her directions when she was lost in the middle of the mountains.

Naomi now wants to give back for their generosity.

She chose International Needs, describing it as “one that has been very close to me”, after realising how those who live in the UK are very privileged.

She chose the Dream Alive For Children Foundation because she is " passionate about providing accessible education to all.”

To climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Naomi has been doing a lot of training every day while also studying Education at Cambridge.

She said: “I train around three to four hours a day.

“I go on an hour run in the morning, I do a lot of walking around where I am, and I have to go to the gym for two hours.

“The physical part is only half of it, as it is mentally demanding too because you’ve got to have a lot of perseverance.

“And that altitude is something that is also quite concerning as well.”

Naomi hopes to achieve equity in her journey and wants to give these children a chance to live the life they want to lead.

She aims to raise £2,000 and make education accessible for children who have grown up in difficult circumstances.