The Kiwi pouring pints in London to build a school in Ghana

Working in a London pub is a rite of passage for Kiwis on their big OE to the UK.

Normally it just helps pay the rent - but for one New Zealander, it's helping pay for a school she's rebuilding in Africa.

There are plenty of Kiwis pouring pints in London, but Jaimee Perrett is a lesson to us all. A bartender by night and a teacher by day, she's working two jobs to pay for an ambitious project.

"We're fundraising to build my school in Ghana," she told Newshub.

The school she wants to rebuild is in the village of Tetrum; it has dirt floors, improvised desks, no modern facilities, and it's falling apart.

"They send the children home when it's raining," Perrett said. "If it's too windy, they do the same thing because the roofing sheets are so old."

She taught at the school for four months in 2014 and fell in love with the place.

"They took such great care of me. When I went back in 2017, it truly felt like I was going home. And it's the hardest place to leave."

Her plan for a renovated school was designed by a local using Microsoft Paint, and will cost around $30,000. If she raises $50,000, she can replace their old school bus as well.

"People in the village are very hands-on; they would never have to pay somebody to do this work. We'll be having parents build the school and we will just be providing the materials."

Perrett's previous fundraising efforts raised the bar significantly.

"We were only supposed to get blackboards, but we raised so much money that we got whiteboards. [It's the] first school in the village with whiteboards."

She hopes to have the money raised by the end of May, with construction starting in December.

"Give what you can," is her message to potential donors. "We have no expectations. If you give a little, then we can definitely build the school."

Donations to the school can be made here.

Newshub.