NURSE Debra Coupe's thermometer will be reading pretty high for the next two years - as she works as a volunteer in baking-hot Tanzania.

Debra Coupe, aged 39, of Hough Lane, Bromley Cross, is joining a hospital in the north east of the country to train up local nurses as part of Voluntary Service Oversees (VSO).

The clinical nurse specialist set off this week for the poverty-stricken East African state to work as a clinical instructor teaching nursing students.

Speaking on her mobile phone on the way to Gatwick Airport, she said: "I decided to go because I had known other people who have actually done it who have found it a very rewarding experience.

Career

"They had learnt a lot and felt they had made a valuable contribution.

"I was at a stage in my career where I could go in one of several directions." Debra is fulfilling a long-term desire to go and work oversees after previously travelling in Austria, Nepal and Thailand.

She will live with local communities, passing on her knowledge so that when she leaves, her skills will remain behind.

But as the only VSO volunteer in the hospital, she will have to learn quickly to adapt to local customs and her new way of life to prevent loneliness.

Debra will be given accommodation and a local wage, with VSO paying for her flight, medical insurance and National Insurance Contributions.

And Debra was very excited about her trip, despite leaving her friends, family and her boyfriend for the next two years. She said: "I'm looking forward to it very much.

"I don't know what it's going to be like but I am sure I will enjoy it even though I know it's going to be hard work."

The former Turton High School pupil trained in nursing at the former Bolton General Hospital. She said she was going to keep in contact with her family thorough e-mails and faxes.

Debra added she might even be asking them to do some fund raising for her while she's out there to help pay for medical equipment at the hospital!

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