People are more important than time

But for one family, who have chosen to make their home among some of the world's poorest peoples, they are the things they miss most when away from England for up to two-and-half-years at a time.

Missionaries Carol and Giles Knight and their three children are currently in Teesdale on home leave from the Niger republic in West Africa, where they are heavily involved in an urban youth centre project aimed at providing educational, recreational and spiritual activities for the community.

The couple met when Mrs Knight, not previously a regular churchgoer, began attending the Haven Green Baptist church in Ealing. A former pupil of Butterknowle and Teesdale schools, she attended Hatfield polytechnic before securing a job with the post office in London.

Mr Knight, a native of Ealing, was working for the Economist magazine when he took a month's leave to travel to Africa. He visited different areas, meeting a wide variety of Christian people and missionaries.

"I returned to England and work, but felt that God wanted me to go back," he said. "I was not sure what I wanted to do but felt committed that that was where He wanted me to be. It was very much a departure from the Economist, where I had been doing clerical work."

The meeting with his wife-to-be took place just after the trip, leaving him to face a major decision. But before their wedding she visited the country to see if she could handle living and working there.

"I decided that I could, having been struck by the same kind of calling," said Mrs Knight. "Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and I felt I could serve a purpose."

As a former French colony, Niger has French as its main language, which the couple quickly got to grips with, as well as attending Bible college. Following their wedding they went to another region of Niger, where Mr Knight was pastor of a church for a time. Ever since then, interspersed with home leave and spells of further training, their lives have revolved around their work.

The couple have three boys - Sam, aged 11, who was born at Bishop Auckland, James, nine and Ben, six, both born in Niger.

The family now lives in Zinder, the second largest city in the country, with a population of some 120,000. They work for the Evangelical Church of Niger, which owns the youth centre in which their house is located.

Although the couple are Christians, the centre, which lay in a state of disrepair until they set up their improvement project, is situated in a densely populated Muslim district and is open to the whole community.

Only about 25pc of the local children go to school, with not a single computer available in any educational establishment. The couple will run Bible classes in a newly constructed multi-functional classroom, where they also hope to run literacy, English and computing courses. The centre will also address sports, study and health care needs.

"The core of the centre is already in place," said Mr Knight. "Our work is to flesh out the bones really."

Mrs Knight teaches her sons at home, putting them into mainstream schools in England when on leave to make sure they are keeping up with their peers. While over here they indulge their passion for sausages, cricket and their love for their grandparents. But once back in Niger their lives are very different.

"We are extremely lucky in that they are not exposed to the pressures of advertising," said Mrs Knight. "They wear and eat what is available, which means whatever is in season at the daily market, and have no access to sweets.

"Although my boys might seem to be deprived in relation to English children, they have far more than their African friends. We are by no means the richest family in Zinder, but when the boys take out their football it is like a magnet for locals, which can soon lead to games of up to 25-a-side."

She teaches her boys in the morning, then it is siesta time as the temperature reaches up to 46 degrees in a country that is almost completely desert. She then deals with mothers and children who visit the centre on health issues. "I give out advice about hygiene and nutrition," said Mrs Knight. "Facilities are very poor and people don't have the money to go to a doctor."

Mr Knight is the regional president of the Evangelical Alliance. He meets regularly with other church leaders as well as overseeing the building work and activities at his end. The rest of his time is taken up with hospital and prison visiting, language learning and making daily forages to the market for supplies.

"The heat is very energy-sapping, and everyone has to pace themselves or face the consequences," he said. "We have no air conditioning, but are lucky to have fans and a fridge."

They have enjoyed their sojourn in Teesdale, where they have been visiting Mrs Knight's parents, Colin and Marjorie Bates, at Marwood, near Barnard Castle, but are already looking ahead to their return to Niger next month.

Mrs Knight tells of an ongoing famine that is threatening the food security of up to four million people. "We are going to have a lot of demands put on us to respond to that as well as putting into operation the project we are preparing," she said.

She talks of a close-knit community, with the emphasis on family life, describing Niger as almost like living on another planet, where people are more important than time. There were things about the culture she appreciated, with every neighbour calling a greeting, giving up their time to pay social calls and rallying round the sick. It was a place where everyone believed in God and atheism did not exist.

As she spoke she seemed almost yearning to get back to work, despite the lack of convenience foods, entertainment, takeaways, cinemas, sausages, cricket and grandparents.

l Young people at Barnard Castle Methodist church recently held a coffee morning and cake stall to raise cash for sports equipment for the Zinder project. Anyone else wishing to help can contact Mr and Mrs Knight on 01833 638654 before next month. Otherwise, offers of financial help can be addressed to SIM, Wetheringsett Manor, Wetheringsett, Stowmarket IP14 5QZ, quoting project 97722 Zinder Urban Youth Centre.