THE Cheshire Show and Goostrey Rose Festival had an international twist this year thanks to a group of children from South Africa.

Nine pupils and two teachers from Elizabethfontein Primary School travelled 14,500 miles for a two-week trip to Goostrey earlier this month.

Goostrey Primary School has been twinned with the Clanwilliam school for 10 years, and the trip afforded both sets of students the opportunity to learn more about each other’s culture, education and way of life.

The South African children taught the Goostrey pupils native dances, and other highlights of the trip include dancing on the bandstand at the Cheshire Show, performing for residents of Mount Pleasant Nursing Home and attending the village rose festival.

Head of Elizabethfontein Primary School Annatjie Dames said: “We learn that, even though we look different, speak other languages, live on a different continent, we are the same.

“We all want the same things – to be loved as we are, and what a better place to teach this as in a community like Goostrey.”

Before the group jetted back home, Goostrey Primary presented them with a lasting memento of their trip – a handmade patchwork wall hanging. The hanging includes maps of both countries and pictures such as the English Rose and the South African protea.

“The inscription says it all: ‘Every stitch binds Elizabethfontein and Goostrey together’,” added Annatjie.