What are your plans for 2017? Will you volunteer overseas?
If you need some inspiration, take a look at what some VC volunteers are doing…
Eoin Hickey – Swaziland
Eoin Hickey, pictured below, from Co. Carlow went on assignment to Swaziland in early February 2016 as a Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Specialist to the Salesians Bosco Youth Agricultural Training Centre (BYAT). Eoin hopes to extend his time at BYAC until summer 2017 in order to complete the work. So far Eoin has designed the curriculum at the the agricultural training centre and classes are on going – over 90 youths have so far been trained and over 50 students have been reintegrated into farms and many of these are due to harvest some of their crops. Mentoring of local staff is ongoing and recruitment of the next group of students is under way and meetings have been held with the heads of the chiefdoms regarding getting land for those students.
Tracy Keogh – Haiti
Tracy, from Co. Kildare is on assignment as a Special Needs Programme Support Co-ordinator at NPH (Our Little Brothers & Sisters), working alongside Gena Heraty in Haiti since late September 2016 where she supervises the projects within the programme that are funded by specific donors, provides reports, statistics and pictures to donors as well as maintaining the programme’s website and social media pages. In the short time that Tracy (pictured below right) has been in Haiti so far, she has encountered a lot – not related to her assignment tasks – including Hurricane Matthew on day 4 and long awaited elections which caused unrest in the streets of Port Au Prince. She is also taking Creole lessons and spending some weekends at the NPH residential home at Kenscoff to learn about life there. Tracy also writes a personal blog at www.believeinthelightblog.com which she hopes will help to create awareness about issues affecting Haiti and to make them more real for people at home.
Carmel Bradwell – South Africa
Carmel (pictured in photo on left) a former school principal from Co. Meath went to Pretoria in South Africa in February 2016 to work with Xaveri youth project in Pretoria South Africa on the roll out and implementation of their 5-year strategic plan:
“The VC project here in Xaveri is moving along nicely. The Strategic Plan, which was the major part of this project, is now complete. This was a long and difficult process with many false starts and hurdles along the way. We are now working on the Social Media profile. The month of December is taken up with planning for the annual youth camp. This year we are going to a parish in Pretoria North East for 4 nights and plan to paint their local hall as a thank you. 40 young people with paint brushes should be worth a laugh or two. If anyone would like to donate the paint we are happy to accept!”
Gena Heraty – Haiti
Huge congratulations to Gena Heraty (pictured below) on receiving this year’s Leinster House Human Dignity Award Ceann Comhairle, Seán Fearghail TD, presented the award to Gena at a ceremony in Leinster House. Gena who has spent the last 23 years in Haiti with Our Little Brothers and Sisters (NPH) where she is the Director of the Special Needs Programme.
“I am convinced that there is no other place in the world I can do more to help those who are most in need of help right now,” she told an RTÉ documentary, “if I can improve the life of just one child each day I am here then my life will have been worthwhile.”
We are all very proud of Gena and her work (pictured below)
Want to learn more about how you could become a volunteer?
Come and meet us!
Saturday 14th January 2017 at 12.00 at VC HQ, 8 New Cabra Road, Phibsboro, Dublin 7
Call 01-8689986 or email us for further information if you want to be like one
