A LITTLE bit of Latino flair is helping a Gullane teenager get one step closer to the trip of a lifetime to South America.

Norome Campanile will be swapping the East Lothian village for an eight-month trip to Peru in the New Year.

Already, the teenager has held a ceilidh with traditional Scottish music to help boost her fundraising and, later this month, it will be dancing with a distinctly South American flavour.

She said: “My mum’s cousin is a salsa dance teacher and she is going to be doing a taster class.

“It is not all salsa but merengue and cha-cha-cha.

“It does not matter if you have never danced before, I’ve never done it in my life, but it will be a good laugh.”

Norome, who left North Berwick High School this summer, is taking the trip to South America through The Project Trust.

The 17-year-old will be working in an aldea, similar to an orphanage, for the eight months she is in the country.

The trip originated after a representative from the charity visited the secondary school earlier this year.

The teenager then visited the Isle of Coll, where the charity is based, as part of a selection process and will return to the Scottish island later this year to find out more about the trip.

Norome will be working as a tia, meaning auntie, who is the housemother at the aldea.

Not all of the children are orphans, with some of the children coming from large families, whose families cannot afford to look after them, while other youngsters are children who have run away from home.

To take the trip, she has been tasked with raising £5,500 – a figure she is well on track to reach.

She said: “It is going well.

“I’ve met my targets so far; I had raised £3,000 by the end of September, so I’m over that figure and I am on track.”

A sponsored walk, taking in Gullane and Aberlady, is also being lined up, as well as the Latino night, which takes place in Gullane Village Hall on October 29.

Additionally, Norome, of Gullane’s Hamilton Road, is working three jobs – at The Old Clubhouse, North Berwick’s Tesco store and as a babysitter – to boost her fundraising total.

Tickets for the fundraiser, which runs from 8pm to 11.30pm, are £10 and available from The Old Clubhouse.

Music, a raffle and food are also included, although the event is bring your own bottle.

To help Norome and support her trip, make a donation at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/norome-campanile