SPENDING Christmas in the heart of the Dales could not be further from the usual surroundings of one Craven woman.

For 28-year-old Louise Ambler, of Thorlby, has just returned home from Afghanistan for a Christmas break with her family.

Louise went out to work as an overseas development officer for Children in Crisis in Kabul in July and will go back for another six months in the New Year.

Despite a history of working overseas for various charities, Louise told the Herald this had been her most challenging role.

Her main aim is to help rebuild Afghan society by setting up educational and health initiatives.

These include helping to run a school for 500 children in one of the poorest parts of Kabul, supporting a teacher-training programme and promoting home-based schools in rural parts of the country. The charity also runs a school for 120 street children.

She told the Herald that the country was still recovering from the aftermath of war. "The countryside is littered with tanks, there are overturned cars in the streets and there's still a big problem with landmines,"

However, she added: "Life in Afghanistan has improved dramatically since the collapse of the Taliban regime and there continue to be dramatic changes."

Her work includes encouraging the teaching of women and children, who under the Taliban, were denied access to education.

Louise said: "Under the Taliban women could not teach and girls were not allowed to be educated. Now they are 50 per cent of the school's population."

Louise, who manages a staff of 45 Afghans, said she now found herself in the position of being a positive role model for female Afghan women, who still had to live in a male-dominated society.