SIXTH form students from Bolton are to experience the harsh realities of poverty in Africa at first hand.

A group of 10 A-level students from Thornleigh Salesian College are giving up their summer holiday to spend three weeks living and working with the children of Soweto, a poor district of Moshi in Tanzania.

They will teach at a high school and primary school as well as helping out in a clinic. Living accommodation will be basic.

Father Andrew Waller, head of sixth form, said: "This school organises a lot of school trips such as skiing, but we were looking at doing something different, and providing young people with a different experience.

"The trip ties in with the Make Poverty History campaign. Pupils here do a lot of fundraising and we wanted to give students a chance to see where their money was going and experience the reality of poverty for themselves, rather than watch it on television and read about in the newspapers."

Tanzania was chosen because the Salesian religious order have a mission there.

Twenty teenagers applied to go on the expedition, but only ten could be chosen.

They are, Jordanna Whittleston, aged 17, Helen Egan, 17, Sean Priestley, aged 18, Nick Webster, aged 17, Sean Walton, aged 17, James Broxton, aged 18, Megan Russell, aged 17, Ann-Marie Moran, aged 17, plus former students Laura McNulty, aged 18 and Diarmuid White, aged 18, who are now at university.

Father Andrew, who went over to the country in October, said: "We were looking for students who could work as a team and were committed to this project."

The students, who are now in the middle of raising £900 each to finance the expedition, say they are nervous, but also excited.

Jordanna said: "This really will be an experience of a lifetime. We are normally used to lying by the sea on holiday, and it is probably a place we would never have the chance to go to."

The only worries for the girls are the "creepy crawlies" and the boys said they would miss their food.

Sean said: "it will be a eye opening experience for us all. We have learnt so many shocking statistics already, such as only five per cent of children are in schools and many die of malaria, which is hard to believe in this day and age."

James said: "This trip will make us more aware of the rest of the world, and hopefully we can make little changes to our own lives."

Jordanna said: "In three weeks we will not be able to make a massive change, but if everyone made small changes then we could all make a huge difference. All pupils should be given an opportunity to go on trips like this."