A former drug addict says the "trip of a lifetime" has inspired her to turn her life around.

Sharna Christie spent eight days living as a nomad with a Bedouin tribe in the Egyptian desert, experiencing their daily battle to survive in some of the harshest conditions on Earth.

The 19-year-old says the trip opened her eyes to the realities of life around the world and she vowed to pass on her new-found knowledge to others.

"The biggest thing for me was just how different it was to anything I'd seen before that," she said.

"It was a complete break from my normal life. It shows you how other people live and get on.

"It has made me realise how many options there are for children and I want to inspire them as this has inspired me.

"I want to do a lot of fundraising and help in any way I can."

Sharna's trip was the first of its kind organised by Cheltenham charity County Community Projects and the Makhad Trust – a national organisation that supports nomads around the world.

Sharna has lived in one of CCP's sheltered accommodation sites in the town since she was 16. She left home in Gloucester a year before and fell into drug and alcohol addiction.

She says her experiences with the charity have taught her to focus on herself and not be affected by other people's attitudes.

She said: "When the chance came along to go on this trip, I jumped at it. It really wasn't a holiday. We spent most of the time helping to build a school.

"We would get up at 6am, walk an hour to the school and then work until lunch. After eating, we'd work again until it was time to go home.

"It was so hot – about 35°C – and we had to cover ourselves in sunscreen.

"But the best bits were in the evening when we'd all eat around the campfire. I've never been used to all eating together like that before.

"We would all eat and have a dance together. It was amazing."

Sharna was accompanied on the trip by Ramona Ray, CCP's service development manager.

She said the experience had been so ground-breaking that the charity was already looking at ways to organise similar expeditions.

She said: "To live without luxuries like that just goes to show how materialistic our world can be.

"The trip helped to strip away the sort of things we expect to have in our lives and made us really realise how privileged we are.

"It really was a back-to-basics experience and it had such a big impact on us."