A TRAINEE priest is taking time out from his studies to work with street children in Ethiopia.

Mike Fitzsimons, who is training for the priesthood at Ushaw College, the seminary near Durham City, is spending two months in Mekele, in the Tigray region of the impoverished African country, teaching English to local children.

Mr Fitzsimons, who began studying at Ushaw five years ago and hopes to be ordained next year, is working with the Daughters of Charity, an organisation linked to Cafod, in a programme designed to help street children get back into school or find employment.

The children, aged ten to 19, have ended up on the streets through extreme poverty.