Just spotted this local news- Swindon Advertiser - great to see this kind of initiative bringing young people from the UK together with young people from Nicaragua and Guatemala. It's great to see the Swindon Ocotal Link got funding for this. I remember Bruce Clarke mentioning this youth exchange project when he wrote after his trip to Guatemala in the wake of hurricane Stan in October 2005.

"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 article continues:

"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."