A group of Bradford youngsters plan to raise funds to help some of Bolivia's most deprived children.

The seven youngsters aged 18 to 21 have just returned from a three week trip to the South American country.

They spent a week working with orphans and street children in the capital, La Paz, before completing a two week trek.

They visited remote villages and taught people basic first aid and personal hygiene skills.

And the team was so shocked by the depravity faced by the children it is planning to raise funds to improve their life.

Team member Shana Begum, 22, said they were especially touched by the plight of the shoeshine boys, who make a meagre living cleaning shoes.

"If there's one improvement we made it was on the shoeshine boys," she said.

"They are seen as the lowest caste. They have their faces masked so you can't recognise them. We had a dinner party for them to show we didn't think any less of them.

"They really appreciated that, to know we didn't see them as the lowest caste. We've got lots of ideas to help them and the group is meeting up soon to talk them through."

As well as continuing to help the children in Bolivia, Miss Begum said they will be giving talks to groups of young people in Bradford about their trip.

"We want to make people in Bradford aware of the situation in Bolivia and empower them to go on trips like this themselves," she said.

"Coming back to Bradford from the trip and hearing about social problems in the city, it seems so petty. If people could open their eyes, especially the young people, they could see they have so much more potential than going round stealing cars."

The trip was organised by Bradford Youth Services. Anwar Qadir, senior youth worker, accompanied the children on the trip. He said the community will benefit from the lessons learnt.

"I hope it will bring out the character in the youngsters that went on the trip, and hopefully they will become community leaders in their own right and try and support the community wherever they live," he said.

"They will be able to help the community through difficult periods, and pass on the message that while we are all different, we are all still equal."