A woman who journeyed through the African jungle to help some of the world’s poorest communities has spoken of treating patients more used to witch doctors than GPs.

Harriet Cochrane, 30, who lives in Shipton-under-Wychwood, returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo after seven months working for international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

The aid worker was assigned to the north Kivu region of the country where she organised free medical care for people forced to flee fighting between the Congolese army and rebels.

Every day, she and a team of medical experts battled some of the country’s toughest terrain on motorbikes to reach remote communities.

Miss Cochrane, who has dedicated her 20s to helping people in some of the world’s poorest countries, including Sudan, Chad, and Pakistan, said she still came across situations which shocked her.

She said: “One little boy came in and the bone in his leg had grown out under his knee. You could touch it and he had an open wound.

“He said it had been like it for a few years and he couldn’t walk on it. He had to be carried on his mother’s back – he was 12. The family said they didn’t think doctors could do anything.

“They tried witch doctors and traditional medicine and when that didn’t work they didn’t think to go to the health centre as an option.”

Miss Cochrane said many people had never received western medical treatment before and many families suffered bereavement.

She said: “Many people had someone in their family who had died recently.

“It was about 50 per cent of people.

“They live incredibly tough lives and this is the life they have grown up with.

“I was the one getting more upset than they did, especially when you hear about a mother who has lost three children in five years.

“It’s very rare that someone starts crying when they tell you about it, they accept the fact they have seen horrific things and they’ve grown hardened to it.”

The mobile clinics treated thousands suffering diarrhoea, malaria, skin and respiratory infections, as well as checking rape victims for HIV and pregnancy.

She added: “These people are so used to the fighting in these areas that they don’t even wait for an attack on their village, they all start fleeing immediately they hear the rumours.

“Two or three communities were displaced for no good reason.”

The former Edinburgh University student, who is joining Oxfam, said that her job helped put her life in perspective.

She said: “I find when I come home again it’s very easy to be weighed down by little problems, but you go out to places like Congo where the problems people face are enormous and they still find a way to get through it and live a life.”