A TEACHER who was once stranded in the Congo after working as a missionary there has decided to return to the war-ravaged country.

Middlesbrough teacher Francis Hannaway is returning for another stint in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he worked as a lay missionary in the early 1990s.

Now Mr Hannaway, from Normanby, is to leave his home and family to join the work of Mill Hill Missionaries, Britain's Catholic Missionary Society, in the central African nation once more.

Mr Hannaway hit the news headlines in 1998, when war broke out while he was visiting the Diocese of Basankusu, deep in the equatorial rainforest.

“I was trapped there for eight weeks during what was supposed to have been a three-week visit," he said. "When I was finally allowed to fly back down to the capital city, I was shocked at seeing child soldiers and having to negotiate road-blocks manned by nervous looking military personnel.”

His work now will be to teach candidates who want to become priests as well as being involved in education and community projects.

He said: “I read that in one of the outlying villages, there were three children dying from malnutrition each day. I was amazed that such a situation could exist, and even more so when I was told that this was commonplace.

“Everyone’s lives have been touched by the war. Knowledge about weaning babies and feeding small children that would have been passed on in families has missed a generation."

Mr Hannaway will help educate about nutrition and planting the right crops and also restock villages with sheep and pigs after looting by retreating soldiers as well as supporting a school for orphans.

Anyone wanting to support Mr Hannaway's projects can contact francish7@yahoo.com or through finsec@millhillmissionaries.com.