IT may sit next to the £440m Westgate shopping centre but two life-size huts from Sierra Leone are providing a stark reminder of people less fortunate than ourselves.

The huts, which will remain in Bonn Square until the end of the month, show what living conditions are like for many families and children in some of the world’s poorest areas.

The display recreates the former family home of Sierra Leonean mother Miatta and her eight-year-old daughter Ayie.

But it also shows the work done by charities such as World Vision over the past 15 years to tackle poverty, with the second hut depicting how the family lives now.

The project’s manager Bill Atkinson said: “It can be an incredibly moving experience, as visitors try to lift the heavy can of dirty water children like little Ayie have to carry every day, and see the dangerous open fire - the only place the family have to cook.

“But it’s also a chance to see the difference World Vision’s work makes to some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children, and how we can all be part of the story of changing lives for the better.”

The Christian humanitarian organisation conducts relief and development activities in almost 100 countries around the world to fight poverty and injustice.

Assistant fundraising manager Jasmine Arnold said it had been well received so far in the city.

She said: “We have had a few tourist groups and also local people and children stopping by.

“It does depend on people’s backgrounds and whether they have travelled to these places before but most people seem to be very moved by what they’ve seen.

“It has always been popular in Oxford when we have been here in recent years and it’s really important to raise awareness of the poverty experienced in some places in the world – it’s very different from seeing it on an advert on TV.”

Schoolchildren will also have the chance to explore the huts – as well as African drumming workshops – with the installation being in place over the summer holidays.

The interactive experience will also how the charity supported Miatta to set up her own business.