WE HAVE spent the trip so far meeting directors and chairmen, but today, we go into the field and meet the children.

The village of Kilangala is home to a Save The Children medical dispensary. The small building provides free healthcare to mothers and children, and is the only health centre for miles around.

As we pull up scores of children wave excitedly and chase our vehicle. They surround the jeep and start pointing and laughing. I feel as if we are aliens from another planet.

Health worker Fridoline Nerope tells us they have no electricity, and a lack of food in the village. The most common fatal diseases here are malaria, cholera, worms and diarrhoea.

As we are chatting, mother Aisha Seloemani rushes two-year-old daughter Eisha into the clinic. The mother was boiling some water when the little one knocked over the pan and scalded herself.  The health workers rally around and clear her wound with antiseptic before bandaging her up. It was shocking to see this unfolding
before us.

The children here are part of a Save The Children club who meet often to learn about safe hygiene.

I spoke to orphan Sada Likaka, 12, whose mother died at birth and father abandoned her. She lives with her grandmother and can only afford to eat one meal a day.

We meet a group of volunteers who have been teaching the locals how to make a cheap protein rich porridge. When I tell them I want to raise funds back in the UK to support them, they burst into applause.

In the village we meet some mothers who have been supported by the dispensary. Manaha Said, 30, suffered high blood pressure and anaemia during her pregnancy.

Save the Children paid 9,000 Tanzanian shillings to transport her to a hospital.

Somoe Mohammed, 24, is caring for her seven-month son Abdul, who has been struck with malaria. Save The Children gave him medication and he is making a good recovery.

Children follow us around the village, fascinated by my digital camera. They fall about laughing when I show them pictures I had taken of them.

Our trip has come to an end. We head back to the charity’s office in Lindi, and talk about what impressed us about the service and how it could be improved.

There is potential for so many more projects but a lack of funding is holding them back. I reassure them that I will go home and raise awareness of their plight.

I head back to the UK with my eyes opened, and admiration for these brave children, and an incredible respect for Save the Children.