A TEACHING assistant who ignored government advice and any threat to her own life to help slum children in Kenya is back home in Manchester.

Jean Walker, 53, from Northern Moor, flew out to the African country on a self-funded trip with the charity Vision Africa and helped re-house 78 families who were displaced during the bloody aftermath of the disputed election.

The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to the worst affected areas around Nairobi.

But grandma Jean, who has made three previous trips to Kenya with the charity, said: "This is the most worthwhile visit I have made.

"The people we helped were so grateful. We were giving families a chance to be established again."

Jean, who works at St Phillip's primary school in Hulme, stayed in a slum area near Nairobi.

Re-house

She helped re-house families by providing them with clothes and funds to pay their rent and to buy food.

She also visited schools the charity has built, and interviewed children for a new special needs school.

Jean also travelled to see a girl she sponsors called Irene, aged 15.

She said: "The people we have been supporting in Kenya really do need our help. They have had to literally run for their lives.

"I'd like people in Manchester to read about what's happening in Kenya and try to help in anyway they can."

The charity, Vision Africa - Give a Child a Future, was set up by John and Vera Packard, from Withington, in 2002.

They launched it after experiencing at first hand the devastating poverty facing millions of families.

Their aim is to provide food, clothing, shelter and education and a safe environment for thousands of destitute orphaned and Aids-infected children.

John, a retired minister, and Vera, a former nurse, both in their 70s, have been recently helping those affected by the violence that followed the election.