Former Pussycat Doll, Celebrity MasterChef winner and Got To Dance talent show judge Kimberly Wyatt recently visited Ghana with Comic Relief. She told us about the work which is being done to improve education across Africa, using the money raised by UK schools and the public this Red Nose Day and matched by the UK Government.
When I travelled to Ghana I did what every mother would do and took photographs of my 10-month-old daughter Willow with me.
The images were of course a real comfort to me as I missed my little girl, but they also did something I hadn't expected, they helped establish an immediate bond, a shared link, with other mothers and teachers alike.
Visiting kindergarten classes in the village of Kwaprow, I witnessed children having their first two years of compulsory schooling starting from the age of four. Thanks to money raised by UK schools and the public this Red Nose Day and matched by the UK Government, teachers have been given vital training by The Sabre Trust and now use play and engaging activities to give kids a quality education and the best possible start in life.
One of the people I met was Rosemond, 31, who used to teach six-year-old kids in their first year after kindergarten. But the pupils who came to her could not yet recognise the letters of the alphabet or count to ten.
It's not an uncommon problem in Ghana, where only three-quarters of four and five-year-olds are in school and of those only half are taught by formally trained teachers, so many kids struggle to learn.
Rosemond decided to move classes and teach kindergarten herself to understand the problem. She found restless children who sat in rows in plain classrooms and were falling asleep in lessons.
Thankfully Rosemond and her colleagues have been trained by Sabre and now the children learn in colourful classrooms using activities and resources created by the teachers and are encouraged explore the space around them.
Instead of snoozing at their desks the children want to continue to learn and play through naptime. Rosemond even uses Sabre's methods at home with her own son John who is three.
Rosemond's colleague Ayishatu told me she is proud of the difference they are making after going through this shift change and I get how they feel.
These children know just how vital education is and I remember knowing as a kid that my love of dance could take me to a better life if I put the work in - but only because I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to learn.
And that's what the great British public and the UK Government is helping to do through astonishing projects like this.
When I handed Rosemond, Ayishatu and the other inspirational people I met a picture of me and Willow, the many differences between our ways of life seemed to disappear and we connected as women, as mothers and those with a responsibility to teach the skills our children need.
I've given them my photographs and I've taken away a revitalising dose of their strength, hope, resilience and spirit to believe we can all make a difference and give children the chance of a brighter future they deserve no matter where they happen to be born.
Tagged in Comic Relief Kimberly Wyatt