Small purchases are going a long way on board Lady Douglas, the tourist attraction recently voted the best in the region.

Jenny Edmondson (pictured), who hails from Kenya and lived in the small village of Kilifi north of Mombassa, said the sale of Kenyan made products (and more recently Port Douglas Magazines) aboard Lady Douglas are helping to fund an education program for heavily disadvantaged Kenyan children.

"We keep going back there on holiday and you see there are still quite a lot of problems as people tend to have big families," Jenny said.

"There is no social security so they rely on their kids to keep them in their old age. (There are) families of thirteen kids, and only a couple of them will be able to go through school because they have to pay for their education.

"For two years we've sold sandals and wallets and dog collars that are handmade in Kenya that raise money for a program called Kesho," she said.

Kesho workers help provide educational sponsorships for children who would never have been able to pursue formal schooling.

"They go into the villages and see who has a need to do the programs, and this year they said there is about 270 kids they're putting through."

Purchases made by guests on board Lady Douglas have been the reason 30 of these children have been given the opportunity to attend school.

"The lady that makes the wallets and dog collars now employs about 90 people so not only are we sponsoring the kids but it gives people extra work," Jenny said.

To find out more about Kesho visit their website.

Home page image by Glenn Langtry.