Affectionately called "Mama Dimanche" (Mother Sunday), Christine Ntahe feeds the street children in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, every Sunday - and has done so for the last 25 years.

“The work I do is vital and it is very important,” the retired children’s radio presenter told the BBC Great Lakes service.

“Most of the children I have helped have all grown up now and have their own families. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we never stepped in.”

When she started the charity kitchen in her back-yard, she cooked up meals for 15 children.

Now she accommodates hundreds of children – and she doesn’t just feed them a hot meal.

With the help of funds from donors, she also clothes them, finds them a place to sleep and sends them to school.

Asked about her proudest moment, she said: "It was the time a child I had taken off the street graduated from university.”

The 69-year-old former broadcaster has received many awards for her charity work, including one considered one of the highest accolades reserved for men.

The Bashingantahe Institution, a sort of committee of “wise men”, has admitted her – making her the only woman to ever been admitted in this exclusive group of traditional advisers.