Kirsty Dunleavy from Cornwall, Lauren O’ Sullivan from Bristol, Christopher Rees from Stafford and Marcus Strudwick from Bradford, who were selected from 100 youngsters taking part in The FA Young Leadership Camp, will head to the southern African country from 23 to 28 October.

The teenagers, accompanied by FA representatives, will deliver an FA Junior Football Organisers course to 19-21 year-old girls, mentor teachers and coaches, and will hold women's football development workshops for The Botswana FA.

They will also visit the SOS Children’s Village in the country’s capital city Gaborone to meet some of the orphaned and abandoned children cared for by The FA’s international charity partner.

Chris Rees, who was interviewed by Sir Trevor Brooking as part of the selection process to identify the four best young leaders from the camp, said he was looking forward to the trip.

“It will be an amazing experience for everyone involved and I was delighted to be selected,” he said.

“The furthest I have been in the past is Menorca so this is an unbelievable opportunity for me and it will be amazing to work with youngsters in a completely different environment.”

Chris and the three other young leaders will be involved in staging football festivals at two local schools near Gaborone.

Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi are The FA’s partners under the ‘UEFA-CAF Meridian Project’ which brings together European national football associations with their counterparts in Africa to assist the development of the game in the continent.

The Lesotho Football Association benefited from the ‘Changing Lives, Saving Lives’ project in October 2005 where participation levels in the game among the young and in particular girls have increased significantly.

“The FA is hoping to replicate the success of the project in Lesotho last year,” said Nada Grkinic, The FA’s International Development Manager.

“There was a welcome influx of coaches, both male and female, who were keen to develop football at a junior level and to get more girls playing the game.

“This in turn has had a positive impact, empowering girls to become more involved in football and in sport in general.

“We hope that the programme will be a positive experience for the Botswana FA, those taking part in the workshops and the young leaders flying out to Africa.”