WILTSHIRE teacher Jeanne Bergin is to fly out to the Dominican Republic next month to volunteer her skills for two years to a small, poverty-stricken community.

Mrs Bergin, 51, will take up the post of advisory teacher for children, some with special needs, at La Hoya and Bombita in the south of the Caribbean island.

It is in aid of national charity Community Partners Association founded by Wiltshire pensioners Sebert and Doreen Lane.

Through a successful child-sponsorship scheme, COPA has paid for the building of two schools and two medical centres in the Dominican Republic and funded the education of more than 800 children each year for the past ten years.

Mrs Bergin joined the voluntary committee of COPA after hearing a talk by Mr Lane at the Methodist church in Seend, near Devizes.

Two years ago she went out to the Dominican Republic to see the work of COPA for herself.

But after the breakdown of her marriage last year she decided to convert her good intentions into actions and use her many years' experience as a teacher to help the community out there.

Mrs Bergin, who formerly lived in Seend but now lives in Melksham and is teacher at Staverton Primary School, near Trowbridge, said: "I began sponsoring a child nine years ago and I have worked on the COPA committee for two years since going out to the Dominican Republic on a working visit.

"I was deeply moved by the experience and knew I would return."

"When it was decided that we would build another two classrooms for special needs children I decided I would like to go out there to help.

"There are a lot of children out there who basically need some tender, loving care. My experience as a teacher of children often with special needs will certainly be invaluable but I am going to find the needs of those children very different to those of my children in Wiltshire. I will have to learn about a whole new culture and how it impacts on their lives."

However, now that she has made the decision she admits she has become extremely emotional.

She said: "I shall miss my familyand my church. There are just six of us who attend Seend Methodist Church where I first learned about COPA and the church means a lot to me.

Mrs Bergin feels that her decision to go to the Dominican Republic marks a new chapter in her life. She said: "I am 51 now but my grandmother lived until she was 100 and my mum is a fit 80-year-old. If I still have half my life left then I thought I had better do something worthwhile with it. My sons are proud of what I am doing and say, 'go for it mum.'"