Katie decided to become a dietician through a combination of an interest in biochemistry at school, a desire to work with people and a general interest in food. She considers it the perfect job for her.

At the Royal Marsden she has been working with cancer patients, particularly with the aim of helping them eat more food. "It is the complete opposite of healthy eating," explains Katie, saying that they encourage patients to eat foods such as puddings, cream, alcohol and crisps.

As well as encountering a different culture, her work in North Africa will certainly be very different from this.

Remarkably, at no time did Katie consider leaving her job until coming across a notice requiring a nutritionist to work in North Africa. "God works in strange ways," she says as she explained how her journey with God over the last few years has led her to this point.

Katie left her post at the beginning of February and is taking a break before starting training after Easter. It will not be until Autumn 2002, after 18 months of training, that she will take up her position, and at the moment Katie knows very little about what she will actually be doing.

Aspects of the training include learning French and Arabic and cultural awareness, and will take place in the UK, France and North Africa. Katie was not very successful with languages at school, preferring to concentrate on science, but working with an international team of people it is likely that she will need to communicate in foreign languages virtually all the time.

She simply says she will have to trust in God that she will be able to communicate effectively. "My main worry is arriving in different places and not knowing where I'm supposed to go," says Katie as she reflects on the challenge she is facing.

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