Barbara Consadine, from Comfrey Close, travelled to the African country on behalf of Christian charity Smile International, which delivers aid to areas in need.

As well as monitoring school feeding programmes, she visited old people's homes and distributed goods, including clothes and stationary.

"I arrived at quite a difficult time, as it was just ten days before the elections in Zimbabwe and there was a lot of tension," she said.

"But the response from people was unbelievable.

"We didn't meet any resistance, everyone was just very grateful.

"I felt safe there. Our work is important. People have to stop and think: whether we like these British people or not, they are actually helping to relieve the suffering here."

Though Barbara tried to maintain her composure, she said that interviewing widows and orphans about their lives had made her emotional.

"I was supposed to be smiling, wearing my Smile badge, but I was often in tears," she said.

The recipients of Smile's aid showed their gratitude to Barbara by holding a formal ceremony in which they presented her with gifts, including a homemade tea-towel and personally harvested herbal tea.

Barbara's trip was sponsored by Life Destiny Church in Harrogate, allowing her to devote her savings for the trip to paying for HIV and AIDS treatment in Zimbabwe.

For more about the charity, visit www.smileinternational.org