PUPILS from Greendown School who took part in an exchange trip to South Africa shared their experiences over a cup of fairtrade coffee.

Nine pupils from the West Swindon secondary school travelled to Clarens, in the Free State province of South Africa, in October.

They attended lessons, visited their partners' homes and shared aspects of their respective cultures.

And on Thursday the group displayed an exhibition of photographs, letters and a specially-made film.

Cristina Bennett, the school's global partnership co-ordinator, opened the evening by saying that the aim of the trip had been had to break down stereotypes.

"We see all the negative aspects in the media," she said.

"But we wanted to see for ourselves if that is all there is.

"And, of course, there's so much more."

Three students performed a short play on this theme, which they had presented to Archbishop Desmond Tutu in June.

This was followed by a recital of a traditional song of South Africa, led by Sian Gannon.

Sian, 15, from Taw Hill, was taught the song by her exchange partner, Beatrix.

"We did an exercise where we had to come up with a performance so we decided to do a song," Sian said.

"We practised quite a few and some of them were really difficult, but this one was quite easy to sing."

Laura Dunham, 15, said that the rich culture of Clarens had a profound effect on her.

She said: "It was quite embarrassing really because one night, when we were all sitting around a bonfire, they sang lots of traditional songs, did dances and showed us costumes.

"Then when it came to our turn we didn't know what to do.

"We thought about doing Morris dancing, but none of us knew how, so we ended up doing the Macarena, which is not even English.

"I had a great experience there, and I think it's changed how I look at life.

"A lot of young people worry a lot about clothes and how they look, whereas over there they're just happy with what they've got."

Denielle Govender, 15, is originally from South Africa, but even for her the trip was an eye-opener.

She said: "I'm from Durban but my life there was very similar to here in Swindon and nothing like in Clarens. I think it was a really unique experience and everyone got something different from it."

Matt Hill, 16, from Freshbrook, did not go on the trip but has been heavily involved in the partnership project. He said: "Working on the project has taught me how important togetherness is."