KIND hearted members of Stourbridge Rotary Club have helped a deprived schoolgirl to continue her education.

During a recent trip to South Africa, the Rotarians and their wives visited Schiets Drift, a rural school in Kwazulunatal, where they met head girl Nolwazi Mazibuko.

They were told the 13-year-old orphan was the brightest pupil there and if given the chance, could eventually benefit from a university education.

Past President Cliff Gammon said: "The only way she could continue would be to attend Ladysmith High School which is a feepaying boarding school.

"The seven rotary wives who attended the school, were so moved by her story that they offered to pay her boarding fees for the four years that she would attend, providing she passed the entrance exams. It was an impulse decision."

The teenager passed the entrance exams and has now started at the school, boarding from Mondays to Fridays each week.

Rotarians also made a separate donation of £3,000 to her former school.