A STUDENT is off to Africa to help in the fight against one of the world's most deadliest diseases.

Penny Beck, 19, is on her way to Malawi, a small country in southern Africa, to work with Tearfund - a Christian relief and development charity, combating the spread of Aids.

The organisation enables Christians to spend from two weeks to four months working with its partners around the world. The volunteers turn their hands to a wide range of work from building homes for widows, to working with orphans from Aids and genocides.

"I've always been shocked by the injustice of the huge gap between rich and poor countries. It's a passion of mine to show care for the people worse off than myself," she said.

"In Africa today, five people a minute die from Aids and orphanages are full of children who have lost relatives and have themselves little hope of survival. A large part of the problem is the lack of understanding of the disease."

As part of a team of eight, Miss Beck will be living at a house in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and teaching children in schools, colleges and churches about HIV and Aids.

Miss Beck left Ripley St Thomas School, Lancaster, last year and has been spending part of her gap year working as a home help nurse, saving up for her Africa trip. She plans to go to theological college in Manchester next year.

"I have always wanted to be a missionary and Tearfund seemed to be the right organisation to travel to Africa with," Miss Beck explained.

"The best I can do to help with the growing problem is to teach children the facts about the disease and how to prevent it. The future of the numbers killed by Aids might then start to decrease."

After an intense training period in London, Miss Beck is to travel to London where she will be taught everything from how to avoid disease to what to do with a mosquito net.

Her work in Malawi will involve organising holiday camps, helping out in local orphanages and joining a teaching project for Aids prevention among young people. The teenager is now busy making last-minute plans before she jets off in early April.

"I'm really excited about going, it will be a great experience to do something practical to help with the Third World crisis. I think it will be very humbling and I expect to come home with a changed attitude towards life," she said.