A HIGH school pupil intends to swap the Scottish Borders for the heart of Africa next August.

Bridie Coutts, who is in her final year at Peebles High school, will work as a gap year medical assistant in Malawi after being accepted for a 10 month placement with Lattitude Global Volunteering.

To make her dream come true though Bridie, 17, has to raise £4,500 to cover the airfare and basic accommodation with a local family.

Bridie said: “St Andrew’s Leckie, the church I attend, has quite a few connections with Malawi but I don’t know anyone else who is going out in August so I’m a bit nervous about going by myself although I have Lattitude behind me.

“After school I want to do paediatric nursing so I hope this will be beneficial as well as allowing me to immerse myself in a different culture and make a positive contribution to the local community there.” As part of her fundraising Bridie has already run a stall at the Peebles Christmas fair selling cards and will shortly organise a coffee morning at St Andrew's Leckie Hall on March 7.

“My mum grew up in South Africa, dad worked in Nigeria and my sister Elspeth worked as a teacher in Uganda during her gap year so going to Africa is almost a family tradition,” added Bridie.

As well as raising a large sum of money, Bridie has to have a number of jags to protect herself against rabies and cholera, and take malaria tablets.

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa formerly called Nyasaland, and is bordered by Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. It prides itself on being the 'warm heart of Africa’ with English as one of the official languages and Chichewa as the second official language.

Bridie said: “Ebola is a bit of a worry at the moment but it has not reached Malawi and if it did Lattitude would find me a placement elsewhere.” Lattitude Global Volunteering was founded in 1972 and became a charity in 1976 and believes that working overseas in a volumtary capacity will build valuable life skills in young peole that will continue after they return home.

More than 40,000 volunteers have found placements through Lattitude.