A WOMAN has turned her four-bedroom house into a mass dormitory for 20 children and teenagers from Africa.

Kath Brotton, from Howard Drive, Marske, has squeezed the 15 boys and five girls, from the slums of Kampala, into her modest-sized home, to support her son's work in Uganda.

Neighbours and friends have all helped in the massive undertaking to house the youngsters, who are either orphans found on the streets or whose mainly single parents are too poor to send them to school.

Mrs Brotton first got involved with the Ugandan youngsters after her son Chris, 29, moved to Africa in 2002 to join his fiance Sarah Burnett, 27, a missionary who was living in Uganda with her six-year-old daughter, Abigail.

Sarah had decided to devote her life to helping youngsters from the slums after a visit to Uganda to meet a child she had sponsored.

Just months later she had helped to set up the Scottish-registered New Beginnings charity, which makes it possible for 54 children to get an education at a city boarding school and ensure they have all the books, clothing and medication they need, right through until they finish a university education.

Mrs Brotton, a hairdresser in Redcar, went out to Kampala in April with her husband, Geoff, to visit her son.

"These children just took over our hearts," she said.

"The poverty over there just stuns you. They come from exceptionally poor backgrounds and they've all got sad stories to tell."

The children, whose headteacher and music teacher are staying with Mrs Brotton's neighbour, have performed song, dance and drama shows about their former lives in Uganda at a number of schools throughout East Cleveland and Teesside.

Mrs Brotton, who has given a free hair cut to all the children, who are staying with her for a total of ten days, said: "It's been chaos, but people have been really kind.

"It's been hard work, cooking 100 sausages at a time with rice or pasta all at once.

"But considering we have 20 here, they're very well behaved."

A coach company from Portsmouth has provided the youngsters, who arrived in Scotland in the middle of June, with a coach and a driver for the duration of their nine-week stay. They will also be staying in Portsmouth.

Anyone wanting to sponsor a child through their education, which costs £30 a month, should call Mrs Brotton on (01642) 484967 for an information pack.

The charity welcomes any amount of sponsorship. The children hope to find sponsors for their brothers and sisters and other family members.