A WOMAN is giving up her home to work with Guatemalan street children.

Sandra Duckworth, 35, is starting training to be able to give voluntary assistance to the charity Toybox's work in Central American.

Her home on Haslingden Road, Blackburn should be sold within two weeks, and Sandra will use this money to live in Guatemala.

Her job at Lloyds TSB will go too - she has been there for 18 years, and is currently a business planning officer at the Manchester.

Although she is not married and has doesn't have any children she will leave behind family and close friends.

However, Sandra is undaunted and as a committed Christian feels it is her calling in life.

She has always been a regular at Hawthorne Methodist Church, Blackburn, although it was two years ago that she became a committed Christian.

"I went to a conference called Easter 1999," said Sandra. "There were talks with 10,000 other people. After this I accepted Jesus into my life. The conference inspired me."

The Easter 2000 conference had even more of an impact as it spoke about the work of Toybox. She heard how there were 1,500 children living rough in Guatemala because of civil war.

For nine years the charity has helped 250 each week by providing friendship, first aid love and care. They make friends with street children and invite them to spend six weeks in their daycare centre before offering them a place at their hostel - once they have been there for three months they can live in a Toybox home. Hearing about their plight convinced Sandra to help.

She said: "I came away feeling that God was calling me to go and help the children.

"It is scary when you think about giving up everything and leaving my family and close friends but I will still come home from time to time.

"All that will go by the wayside but those children need me and I'm prepared to give it up for them."

"I don't get paid so whatever money I manage to save myself I will live on. It's a difficult country to go to, there's a lot of corruption. It will also be very hot."

Sandra will undertake a theology course for a year to gain skills to help her with the children. She will then travel to Guatemala and spend six months learning Spanish.

For this she will stay with a Guatemalan family, working towards passing a Spanish exam.

Once this is completed, she will be able to link up with Toybox helping with in a hostel and being a friend to the children.