A PRIMARY school teacher will be fending off malaria-carrying mosquitoes this year.

Suzanne Roberts, from Saltburn, will spend her half-term holiday in October visiting schools in a remote region of Uganda, in Africa, which is plagued by the blood-sucking insects.

She said: "I am looking forward to it but do not know what life is going to be like, except there are a lot of mosquitoes there."

She is raising £5,000 in sponsorship for her trip to the Bugiri district of south-east Uganda.

Most of the money she raises will go to a school in the region.

She said: "In addition to meeting African teachers and sharing experiences, I hope to forge a link with one school and St Bede's primary, Marske, where I teach."

She is travelling to Uganda for a week with ten British teachers, through national charity Education Action International, which supports schools in poor areas of Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan.

The group will teach children, meet parents -only 50 per cent of adults can read and write -and African teachers.

She said: "It will be my first visit to Africa, but I have been interested in it through the charity, which I back."

Miss Roberts acts with Saltburn's 53 Drama Group and sings with the Middleton Festival Choir.

Sponsorship money should be sent to Education Action International, c/o St Bede's School, Redcar Road, Marske. TS11 6AE.