MOST teenagers want to spend summer with their mates in a sunshine resort – but not 17-year-old Adam Hussain.

The A-level law student from Horton Bank Top has just returned from three weeks in South Africa, 6,000 miles away, where he volunteered with an international project helping some of Cape Town’s most vulnerable people, campaigning for human rights.

Adam, who will return to college in September to finish his A-levels, said the experience was nerve-racking but his parents, who helped fund the trip, were more scared than he was.

“It was nerve-racking but it was something I really wanted to do. My parents were more scared of sending me over there than I was. Learning about law and human rights in a comfy classroom wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to experience it first-hand,” he said.

“I knew Cape Town was a dangerous city known for high levels of crime but I wanted to try and make a difference there.”

Adam volunteered alongside two others from America and one from Sweden, visiting prisons, shelters and care centres passing on information about rights to people who needed it and giving them support.

Some of the homeless people he met did not have food or water, and his group had each raised money to take with them and set up a soup kitchen.

“Myself, I managed to raise £500 by the generosity of my friends and family. This went along with the money the other volunteers had raised to buy large amounts of tinned food, rice and vegetables.

“I also met with young offenders, teaching them how to have a healthy diet, clear their criminal record, and how to get back into school. Alongside this, I met with women who have been victims of abuse for many years and taught them their rights which are not enforced in South Africa.”

The teenager listened to lots of people’s stories and helped them make banners calling for more rights to help them get a voice and to be heard.

“It was quite an experience for a 17-year-old,” said Adam, who hopes to go on to study a law degree in Dubai on an exchange programme with Middlesex University after his A-levels.

Out of all his experiences, the most touching was working with the street children.

“You could give them a bit of sand and they’d play with it happily, back home they want an iPad. The difference of fortune is huge.

“There are so many people who need help. I didn’t really have any bad experiences all of the time I was out there, it was only positive.”

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