Five teenagers who went to South Africa expecting to find animals running wild and "half-clothed" tribal people, instead stumbled upon a new outlook on life.

Akeem Trott, LaShanda Seaman, Deken Saunders, Chakeya Ottley and Cornell Bailey set out to Cape Town as young missionaries for their church, the Richard Allen AME in St. George's.

When they arrived in South Africa on June 20 they saw a city lined with shacks and poverty, but far different from what they first perceived.

Sixteen-year-old Akeem Trott said: "I thought it was a lot worse than what it was. I was thinking it was people half-clothed or they were in a different state of mind than they were.

"I thought it was going to be more tribal, but they knew about different things, they were educated."

The teenagers stayed on a farm known as Elands Kloof with 29 South African youth — those who were under-privileged and had little formal education or those who had come from off the street or were abandoned by their parents.

The teenagers planned to teach English, discuss the word-of-God and give these young people a sense of hope, which is what LaShanda Seaman, 13, admitted was the best part of the trip.

"My favourite part was just being able to minister to the people that were there and to bond with the children on the farm.

"The day before we left Cape Town, at Sir Lowrys Pass Village, seven people gave their hearts to their Lord."

She continued: "For them, where they are living there's a lot of temptation for them, a lot of drugs and alcohol, so it's easier to know that they have God there to help them with their lives instead of following the crowd".

Miss Seaman admitted that religion has always been a big part of her life and said: "It's part of who I am, I was brought up in the church. That's why I think its important to tell other people because some people don't have the backbone, they come from different backgrounds and homes."

Though the teenagers taught the children about Bermuda's culture, language and religion, they also learned a lot about South African culture.

Mr. Trott said: "I felt that I was getting taught more than I was teaching — they taught me a lot. To me, they take Christianity more serious than Bermudians — when God is all you have it means more to you.

"Instead of people how they cherish their house or their cars— to them that's what God is."

Mr. Trott said he made strong friendships with a the children at the Elands Kloof farm and considers them to be 'loving' and 'caring' people. There were, however, times when they shocked him.

He was "blown away" when the local girls were having a conversation about rape and said "they were almost planning what they would do if they got raped. At first it started off as a joke, but then it got serious. It just blew me away. (In Bermuda) girls do get raped, but there it's like an everyday thing."

While the teens did engage in serious conversations, they also enjoyed themselves by playing with the youth at the farm.

Deken Saunders, 13, remembers the students there were friendly and easy to get along with and said: "They were so kind and they were never really negative, they were always positive."

Mr. Saunders recalled playing football with the other boys.

"They played rough," he said with a laugh. "Sometimes I just don't think they were going for the ball, they were going for my ankles."

At the farm, nothing went to waste and extra food was turned into stew for the next day, food scraps went outside to the dogs and compost went to the garden.

Mr. Saunders was surprised by some of the food choices, such as chicken neck, but explained they mostly ate sausages and bread.

During their trip, the teens visited an AIDS orphanage — a place where children go when they have lost one or both of their parents to the disease. The orphanage was a small nursery filled with 40 children, from three months old up to four years old, and while the teens were there they helped furnish the building and gave away toys and blankets. It was an experience Mr. Trott called a "big eye-opener".

"To see the size of the building and the way the children were living," he said, "it made me feel good to give what I had. Even for them to give back, the little they had they were giving to you." One young boy reached into his pocket and gave Mr. Trott a crayon after he presented the boy with a toy truck.

The teens returned to Bermuda on July 5 changed — they had learned new lessons, made new friends and had a renewed sense of faith.

"Seeing the way they live, even though their houses aren't as (nice) on the outside and inside, they take pride in what they have," he said. "Before I went I was thinking what I had wasn't enough but now I take what I have and use it to better myself."

"They taught me a saying — 'make your vices become virtues' — (meaning) if your short become a jockey," he added.

Several group members plan to return to Africa in the future, but Mr. Trott expects to return as soon as January, so he can spend a year learning the languages of the region.