Care students from Ystrad Mynach College are going international this week with a trip to African country Lesotho.
The group of 11 learners and three lecturers will travel to the landlocked country, which borders South Africa, and spend two weeks in the country visiting primary schools, nurseries and running after school play activities for the children.
The group will observe Lesotho teachers and experience the cultural differences between the two countries and the challenges facing teachers. They will also spend time with the Ministry of Education visiting pre-school projects.
More than £2,000 has been raised by the students since September last year to help make and buy toys and games for the schools and children they will be visiting.
Staff, students and their families and the parish of All Saints, Penarth, have knitted over 100 teddy bears that will travel to Lesotho as gifts for the children.
Student Tasha Jones, 18, said: “We would never be able to experience something like this without this opportunity the college has given us. Not only will we be seeing what education is like on the other side of the world but also we’ll be going on safari.”
Fellow student Kate Morgan, 17, added: “It will be vastly different to what we are used to in Wales and already we can see the advantages that we, as future childcare staff, can benefit from. I hope that I will learn lots that I will be able to take with me into my future career.”