Swindon youngsters head off to Central America (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindon youngsters head off to Central America

9:28am Wednesday 15th November 2006 in

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YOUNG people from Swindon will join their counterparts from Saltzgitter in a dream trip to Central America.

Six visitors from Swindon's German twin town will stay at Lower Shaw Farm before they fly to the Nicaraguan twin town of Ocotal on November 25.

The youth exchange, boosted by a £14,000 grant from agency Youth Connect, has been organised by Swindon Ocotal Link (SOL) and will give many their first taste of Latin America.

The lucky participants are meeting for Spanish lessons before leaving, and Machaela Walker in particular cannot wait.

The 25-year-old lives at Swindon Foyer in Bath Road and was awarded a ticket for the volunteer work she has done.

She said: "I worked for Youth Information Swindon and when the Foyer said they would pay for someone to go to Ocotal they chose me.

"It's just amazing, I have only ever been to Greece before so this will be a real adventure.

"Meeting different people and travelling to the other side of the world is something I'm really excited about."

Paul Hopkins, 23, has taken part in several Duke of Edinburgh award expeditions and is looking forward to seeing another way of life.

Paul, from Old Town, said: "I have never travelled outside of Europe so it's my first taste of Latin America.

"We will be discussing issues such as racism and xenophobia from the British and German perspective, so it will be interesting to see if it differs."

Paul and Machaela will travel to Nicaragua with expedition leaders Hannah Mayell and Patrick Norris, and fellow young people Kit Hawes, Natalie Willetts, Robert Todd and Mark Fletcher.

They are all aged between 18 and 25 and will plant trees, teach English and do other community work.

The six Swindon representatives will meet six people from Saltzgitter, six from Ocotal, and six more from Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala.

Bruce Clarke, chairman of SOL, said the group were lucky to meet such varied groups.

He said: "I wrote the bid to attract funding for this trip on the basis that it is a life-changing experience.

"That is what someone said to me after our last trip there four years ago, and it should be even better with the participation of the four groups.

"They will be meeting people from completely different cultures and hearing views they would never normally encounter."

The Anglo-German party will return on December 10.

While there the young people will also participate in a Day of Peace to mark the anniversary of a massacre in Santiago Atitlan in the 1980s.