BRAZIL may be famous for its samba and fine football but a Malvern student is about to experience a very different side of life when he visits the South American country later this month.

James Hern, 20, of Wilton Road, will see at first hand how street children live during a month-long stay in Sao Paulo as part of a Baptist Missionary Society team.

The former Chase pupil, who has just completed the first year of his Civil Engineering studies in Manchester, has already attended a training weekend for the trip on July 25 as he prepares to spend a month with 19 others in small towns just outside the city.

They will spend their time in Brazil working in pre-schools, on education programmes and with a local church in the city's favelas.

"We will be working in slums although we're not entirely sure what we will be doing until we get out there and are told more," James explained.

"We will be working with pre-school children though and just meeting people and saying hello."

The missionary trip is the second for James in a year following a similar experience in Jamaica this time last year.

He believes his forthcoming experience in the South Atlantic coastal city is going to be more challenging because of potential communication problems.

"I think the biggest challenge will probably be the language and relating to people," he said.

"But the conditions these people are living in is quite appalling and I am looking forward to just getting an idea of how they live."

He added that it was difficult to appreciate how people lived until it was seen at first hand.