DESPITE the gloomy weather, a group of children from a small southern African kingdom were happy to be in Darlington after their trip was almost cancelled at the 11th hour.
Ten pupils from Lesotho were stranded in Dubai for 24 hours when they were denied access to a connecting flight from South Africa.
After they were forced to return home, Emirates airline, which had denied the group travel on the advice of the British Consulate, decided to fly the group out free of charge.
They spent a day in Darlington, visiting pupils at the Education Village and Eastbourne Academy followed by a meal at St Andrew's church and a cultural exchange evening.
The group is visiting schools and churches throughout the Durham Diocese in a cultural exchange involving traditional singing and sharing the Christian faith.
The Kingdom of Lesotho is made up mostly of highlands where many of the villages can be reached only on horseback, by foot or light aircraft.
Much of the tiny country remains untouched by modern machines.
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