JANE Pelly got up in Sri Lanka at 3am British time, travelled home to Harnham, Salisbury, went out to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury speak in the cathedral and eventually went to bed around midnight.

Such energetic enthusiasm summarises a hectic life that has led Jane to spend two weeks on a fact-finding tour of Sri Lanka with Christian Aid, and will soon take her to Africa for several months.

Jane goes into primary and secondary schools throughout the year, on average once a week, drawing on her experiences of other cultures, to teach the world affairs part of the curriculum.

Sri Lanka, about the same size as Ireland, lies just south of India and has been contending with civil war for the past 20 years.

Jane and her half-dozen volunteer companions spent three days in the capital Colombo, several days in the tea-producing area around Kandy and another few days in Batticoloa.

They were accompanied by Ramani, a Sri Lankan Christian Aid worker based in London, and Daniel, who works for the youth and schools department and is in charge of producing materials and literature used during this Christian Aid Week.

The volunteers, all teachers or ex-teachers, use the fact-finding tour to facilitate teaching, preaching and campaigning for Christian Aid when home.

"We try not to look like tourists," Jane says.

"We choose two people to take photos, while the rest of us chat to the local people and find out how the charity helps them.

"Christian Aid supports the local people who are already doing the work that they see as being important.

"They may have been doing the work for 20 years before approaching Christian Aid for a grant.

"Sometimes they need funding to continue with what they are doing. My responsibility is to use the knowledge I've picked up."

Shanti, the Christian Aid representative in Sri Lanka, had chosen three charities for the group to visit.

In eastern Sri Lanka, where the Tamils have suffered greatly, they are working largely in empowering women.

In Kandy, the Institute for Social Development is encouraging trade unionism, looking for strong leaders and making sure that women are involved.

When the country became independent, the government introduced laws concerning housing conditions in the tea-producing areas. Plantation owners had to provide running water and a pit latrine as a minimum standard. Because the law wasn't implemented and inspections didn't happen, progress was minimal.

"If people themselves insist on improvements, they would also maintain the houses," Jane explains.

"If they own the water facilities they will make sure everything is looked after. Christian Aid supports the Institute for Social Development without imposing. Christian Aid seeks justice and not hand-outs!"

Jane also saw the work being done by the National Land and Agricultural Reform, which is particularly concerned with sustainable agriculture and organic farming, for example using cow dung for providing gas for houses.

Language causes division throughout the country. Tamil and Sinhala are widely spoken, with English the unifying language. The service Jane attended while in Sri Lanka used all three languages to unite worshippers.

Jane's roots are firmly fixed in Salisbury, despite a life of extensive travel which includes 20 years teaching in Nigeria.

Her grandfather was Bishop Wordsworth who started the school in Salisbury. She has three sisters, two of whom live in Salisbury, and two brothers, one a doctor in the Chalke Valley.

Jane's next trip overseas is at the end of the month, when she goes to Uganda for several months to teach English at a theological college. The college is part of the Diocese of Sudan, with which Salisbury Diocese has close links, but the college is just over the border in Uganda.