Esther Martin from Chapel Hill in Soulbury found just that when she had the experience of a lifetime thanks to Voluntary Service Overseas.

For 50 years, people from the UK have been helping poor communities overseas through this international development charity.

VSO works through skilled professional volunteers in 34 countries mostly in Africa and Asia.

It was 2002 when Esther decided that she wanted to make a difference by using her skills to help fight poverty in Cambodia, in southeast Asia.

As a community midwife working for Milton Keynes' Hospital, Esther was passionate about raising sexual health awareness in the third world country by training hospital and health care workers about issues such as contraception.

Like 31 per cent of VSO volunteers who are over 50, Esther was 54 when she travelled to Cambodia.

She left her husband and two sons at home in order to spend over a year in areas where help is so desperatley needed.

After overcoming the initial culture shock, she was soon engrossed in the new way of life with different customs and a different language to learn.

Thanks to the friendly Cambodians making her feel so welcome, as well as the organisation and support she recieved from VSO, Esther had an enjoyable and rewarding experience that she'll never forget.

In its 50th anniversary year, VSO is challenging more people to volunteer and discover what they could do to help tackle global poverty.

More than 32,000 people from all over the world have been VSO volunteers since 1958, working in countries from Bangladesh to Zambia.

Judith Brodie, Director of VSO UK says: "VSO believes that people can make a real difference to other people and so we focus on linking people together to share skills and experience to learn from each other.

"There is so much to gain from volunteering with VSO; not only the experience of living in a different country, but also an insight into how the world operates."

VSO also run campaigns and exciting events and fundraising activities, that all contribute to VSO's goal to fight poverty in developing countries.

In March, VSO will be celebrating its anniversary with three events in Edinburgh, Bristol and London.

For more details and to book tickets visit www.vso.org.uk/50th or call 020 8780 7500.