Unlike many siblings, Jonathan Bean and his brother are the best of friends.

But while Jonathan enjoys the luxuries of life in England, his Ghanaian 'brother' Wechiga is thousands of miles away farming in the sweltering heat for just £20 a month.

After 13 years of friendship and brotherhood, the pair share a special bond and are an integral part of each other's family.

And with their lifestyles at polar opposites, their story is one of incredible friendship despite the miles between them.

Jonathan has even built his own house in Wechiga's community for when he goes to visit.

He first visited Ghana on his motor bike in 1987 as part of a voyage of discovery.

When he got back home, he hosted a Ghanaian man for Christmas as part of a scheme advertised in the local paper.

That was Wechiga's older brother, Perry.

From that Christmas, Jonathan promised to visit Perry and stay with him in his Ghana home for the festive season.

Two years later, in 1989, Jonathan took to his motor bike again and went to Ghana to visit.

But as he passed one of the borders into the country, he phoned home to talk to his mum, who told him that she had heard Perry was in the UK.

It was true, but instead of making the long journey home straight away, Jonathan was taken in by Wechiga and the rest of the Adamba family in the small compound near Navronga, north Ghana.

Since then, Jonathan and Wechiga, whose name means God is the Truth, have become firm friends and refer to each other as brothers.

Now Wechiga has seized the chance to come to England to learn about the culture over here.

But the process was far from easy.

"I promised Wechiga that we would get him a visa and I raised enough money for the air fare," said Jonathan.

"I had to do that by giving a talk and asking friends if they would help out.

"Wechiga had to pay £60 for the application for his visa, which is three months' wages, but it was refused and we had to apply again.

"Each time he had to go for an interview, and it was a 500-mile round trip, it was unbelievable. We managed to get MP Harold Best on board to help us and the visa was granted this time."

Wechiga, 44, left behind his wife, Grace, and their three children to make his first ever journey out of Ghana.

Jonathan would have loved for the whole family to visit but with the difficulties that Wechiga had, they thought that it was unlikely that they would be granted visas.

So without knowing quite what to expect, Wechiga arrived in Askwith on July 3 and has had an action packed time already.

"The fact that I was accepted by his community is mainly thanks to him so I wanted to repay him," said Jonathan.

"We haven't stopped really since he got here, we have been all over the country.

"He went to talk to the children at Askwith School and another group of children in Newcastle and they were all fascinated. Some were asking about animals and others asked about the way of life.

"Quite a few of the children in Askwith are farming children so I think that they could relate to what Wechiga was saying.

"I think the thing that has impressed him most is that everything is so green. Where he lives it is dry season for seven months and then a very violent wet season.

"We went up to Scotland and he saw the sea, which was very new to him, and we have been on canal boats and Wechiga spent his first night on water.

"He even went back and stayed with my mum in Bedfordshire for a week and the neighbours had fond memories of his brother.

"His mother and father have now died and old age is very respected in Ghana so he really wanted to see my mum, and I think she enjoyed it too.

"He now calls my mother mum, which is really nice. I hope he will go back to Ghana and tell his family and the whole community about what he has learned.

"I think that over there they have this impression that money grows on trees and now he can put into perspective that we pay for that wealth and pay for it in social ways.

Wechiga is keeping track of what has been going on by writing a daily diary, so when he goes home on August 20 he can tell friends and family about his experiences.

"He got that from me," said Jonathan. "I have always kept a diary so that I don't forget a thing.

And rightly so, because Jonathan has worked hard. Over the years he has raised money which he takes with him to Ghana, and he has been part of a team which built a school, two primary health clinics and latrines.

The projects are relatively small but mean so much to the people out there, and that is what matters to Jonathan.

He even has his own home in the compound which he built for himself from scratch.

He said: "I designed a house which is made of modern materials but looks like the traditional houses there. Instead of earth and timber I built it from concrete but from the outside it looks traditional."

"Wechiga had it decorated for me with lines and shapes in black and white like the traditional houses."

As Jonathan's favourite place in the world, Ghana compares very differently to life in Wharfedale.

"Obviously there aren't a huge number of white people and most of the white men they have seen before are priests or aid workers so it is strange for them to have a white man practically living in the compound with them," said Jonathan.

"There are lots of changes in the area - the compound now has a solar panel so we have electricity in the house.

"Grace has to pail their water from a well 40ft deep but she considers herself to be very lucky because the well is close by.

"They are really like a family to me, it is a lovely relationship and when I visit they are very respectful. They love to see me and I love to go there for what it means to me.

"They are extremely generous. To us they would be seen as not giving much, but when someone who has nothing gives you a chicken because they respect their guests, it is a very humbling experience.

"It means a lot for me to go and it gives me a lot of focus in my life.

"At the same time it is such a valuable thing for Wechiga to come over here, it is all a great learning experience.

"What the Ghanaians think of us is basically what they see on the dreadful American shows that worship money.

"He has been shocked that in Ghana elderly people are very well respected but over here clearly some of the older people are not respected at all.

"Our desires and ambitions and fears are generally the same all over the world, it is just the economics that makes the difference."

"The world's economy is so that because he lives in a poor country he has to struggle for every penny he can get. He is a subsistence farmer and a carpenter who has just got his City and Guilds in carpentry, after one of my friends sent the books he needed out to him.

"He is a very intelligent man but he cannot fulfil his potential for economic reasons."

One thing is for certain, though, Jonathan and Wechiga show that no matter how many miles there are between them, true friends will always remain.