FOR many, two weeks away this summer is unlikely to involve travelling to one of the poorest places in the world to labour each day on a building site for no financial reward.

But Coppull man Steve Blundell, 52, a mechanical and electrical engineer from Hurst Brook, has chosen to do exactly that. He will help build homes for the poor in Kyrgyzstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union.

The father-of-three will be working as part of a team in a Global Village Programme run by an organisation called Habitat for Humanity International, which goes to developing nations to provide basic housing for poor people.

Steve, who is leaving on July 1 for the capital Bishkek, said: "It has a fairly unique way of working. It actually requests that local people purchase and put their efforts into building the property."