I have just returned from ten days in Africa, journeying around Zambia with the Alan Kerins Discovery Programme.
I met some really wonderful people living and working out there – Irish people who are making a big difference on the ground.
This morning I spoke to Pat Kenny about this life-changing journey:
These people have come through very difficult times to continue to support orphaned & disabled children in Zambia.
For example, Sister Molly runs an orphanage and talks about how she used to deliver babies in the local hospital, when there were no gloves in the hospital – so she used to use plastic bags, and even paper bags to try not to contract HIV. She's going on 75 now. A real African Mamma, from Tipperary.
Alan Kerins and Sister Molly
Then there’s Sister Cathy – she works with disabled children in Mongu. She tells some incredible stories of the children she’s helped there. Because of her kindness and diligence there are children walking now, who would have had no hope in their villages. There is something so humbling in seeing her work, these "little miracles every day", as she calls them.
The Discovery Programme takes a group of people from Ireland, from all different walks of life – learning from the Zambian people we met, and learning from the good work of sisters Cathy and Molly and of Alan Kerins.
We are a bit down on ourselves in Ireland, but actually what I learned from this is that there is amazing work being done by Irish people around the world, and this was a really raw, emotive experience for everyone involved.
Looking at the work of Sister Cathy and Sister Molly, and of all the missionaries out there, and now the work of the younger generation, of Alan Kerins and his volunteers… it really shows that Irish people step up to the plate in these situations.
I grew up in Zambia, but I’m Irish, and I have to say, on this trip, I was proud to be Zambian, and I was very proud to be Irish.
Alan Kerins went to Zambia to volunteer for 3 months in 2005, and he was so moved by the people he met there that he set up a charity.
He brings you to meet the children and all the other people in Zambia who so inspired him to take action.
So there we were, in the middle of Africa- a guard, an accountant, an actuary, a single mum, a boxer, a gaa star, a pilot, and a priest. All stripped to the core for ten days, testing our boundaries, and learning from the resilience and joy of the people we met in Zambia.
But it was the children who really moved us- children who had no hands clapped along to songs, and children with no legs danced to their own rhythm. There was a lot of laughter along the way, and a lot of hugs. People who would normally don business suits, played on all fours, singing childrens' songs.
The trip is about taking people out of their comfort zones – people from all walks of life, and bringing them on that journey to Zambia, and each person who traveled on the trip felt their life had been changed by the experience.
Performance coach Gerry Hussey flew straight to Zambia, from Kazakhstan where he had been training the Irish Olympic boxers to work with the Discovery Programme team. The positive energy he exudes brought us all on a journey- both physical and emotional, through the heart of Zambia.
For more information on the Alan Kerins Projects and the Discovery Programme is available here
