A SCHOOL in Isleworth has launched an appeal to help educate youngsters in the most dangerous country in the world for children''.

Nearly 100 years ago, Isleworth Town School was set up by kindness and charitable donations. They are now trying to do the same for others, by raising money to build a school in the Colombian town of Villanueva.

Life in the shanty town, just up the coast from Cartagena, Northern Colombia, is tough. The streets are dirt tracks, the houses, at most, shacks with corrugated metal rooves.

Recent floods have further damaged the town, whose population is rapidly expanding as families arrive there, fleeing for their lives from the civil war.

Out of its 14,000 population, 5,000 are school-age children, though there are only four primary schools in the municipality.

Education is not easy to come by. Each pupil must pay up to $79 a month - more than a months' wages for many, and out of reach for nearly all.

For four years, Senora Jhanet Yanez Munoz, president of the Defensa Civil del Municipio has run a very small school in her back garden.

The walls are wooden, the roof leaks and the floor is mud. Everyday 100 children attend, clutching their chalk money' of 100 pesos a day - around a third of a penny. They are desperate to learn, but the school is past repair and falling down.

Designs are in place for a two-roomed school with separate toilets, kitchen and covered play area for the children.

The municipality has donated land and planning permission - the only resources they have and the British school in Cartagena have said they will train two teachers.

What is desperately needed is the finance to build the school - £20,000 will provide everything from bricks to pencils, and this is where Isleworth Town has stepped in.

Launching a campaign called Change for Change', over the last couple of weeks each class has been collecting small change. Already £227 has been raised - much of it in pennies.

Sarah Warshowski, whose children attend Isleworth Town, has been helping to co-ordinate the campaign, and has asked for the help of the Times to get other schools, whether secondary or primary, in the borough to join in.

It is not just about raising the money, it's also about broadening the children's horizons and learning opportunities.

From the nursery through to year six, the project is being used to help the children develop their numeracy skills. They will be counting the pennies and marking their progress charts.''

Secondary schools could take the opportunity to develop their Spanish language skills, with the possibility of forming long lasting bonds through pen pals on the other side of the world.

She continued: We are a caring borough. Our small change can make a very big change in those children's futures.''

It is estimated that from laying the foundations to the children starting classes will take approximately six to eight months. As the school year in Colombia starts in February, Sarah is hopeful the target can be reached by the end of the term when the weather will be best.

Having been out to the town in 1994, to make a film about the school, Sarah knows first hand how desperate the situation is:

The UN describes Colombia as the most dangerous country in the world for children'. It is a country bloodily scarred by years of civil war, breakdowns in the peace process; frequent assassinations and kidnappings, and the situation is worsening.

Add to that the naturally occurring disasters, earthquakes and floods and it is not surprising that many towns are finding themselves overwhelmed by their internal refugees. Street children are still seen as vermin to be exterminated.

These are the poor and they need help. The parents of these children are desperate for them to receive an education.

If we provide the materials, they can and will build a school to last for their children and their children's children. Without it, the children stand little chance of a future.''