By Claire Corrigan
A young Mullingar teacher is set to travel to Africa this Summer as part of a team of 30 other people who will be helping to teach communities in Tanzania.
Caoimhe Kennedy will fly to Kilimanjaro this month as part of an eight-month programme that aims to teach people about issues such as climate change, poverty or any of the other topics that affect them and other people.
Well known hurling referee Barry Kelly, who now teaches English and history at the school, was on hand last week to present Caoimhe with a cheque that the staff and students had secretly raised, unbeknownst to the Irish teacher.
“I was away from the school at a camogie match and I didn’t know anything about the fundraising that was taking place,” enthused Caoimhe. They raised over €900. The aim is to raise as much as you can. You have to raise €1000 minimum so this is going to obviously help greatly.”
Caoimhe, who has been teaching at the school since September, decided to sign up after her housemate Ruth took part in the programme last year and said it changed her life. “We’re heading out on the 23 July and coming back on 24 August. There’s 30 of us going from Ireland and we’ll be meeting up with the Tanzanian group over there, so we’re be based in Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro for the four weeks.”
Caoimhe spoke about what she hopes to gain from undertaking the programme in a part of the world which is very different to Ireland.
“It’s all about you learning about the developing world as opposed to just going over and building houses or something like that. We’re going over to a completely different side of the world so you have to make sure to educate yourself on the culture. We’ll be staying in the local community centres and sleeping on a flat sheet. It’ll be complete luxury coming back to a bed!”
Talking about some of the work the group will be doing in the area, Caoimhe said that the trip is as much about educating those on the programme as the people of the communities they will visit. “We’ll be teaching the community a bit of English as well and getting to know how they work but we’ll also be learning.”
Caoimhe said the group will be moving around over the course of the four weeks and staying with different communities. “We’ll be going into hospitals and working in schools too. It’s not about going in and changing something and leaving again. It’s more about teaching them why they need to change and for us to develop our attitudes as well.”
For ‘phase three’ of the programme, some of the Tanzanians are due to travel to Ireland later this year.
Caoimhe said that while she is a little apprehensive about the trip, she is also looking forward to how it will impact on her outlook. “I always wanted to do it. I played camogie for years but I was injured and broke my two wrists and my shoulder between August and October. That ruled me out for this year so I said while I have an opportunity I would make use of it. I also wanted to do it to make me appreciate what I have in my life too. I’m looking forward to taking time out to reflect on how lucky we are over here and hopefully bring some of my experiences back to the classroom and my everyday life.”
