CHARITY champion students in a Killarney secondary school have completed a Couch to 5K mini marathon to raise funds for an overseas charity set up by a former teacher at the school.
The energetic girls in St Brigid’s Presentation Secondary School hit the road and raised funds for Eddie Sheehy’s Kenya Education Project and, through their efforts, which saw many of them doing a 5K for the first time, they raised a cool €510.
Generous donations were received from fellow students, the school and the wider school community.
Former St Brigid’s teacher Eddie Sheehy founded the Kenya Education Project and he has been helping those most in need in a village close to Nairobi for the past 15 years. His schoolteacher daughter, Triona, has taken leave from her job in holy Cross Mercy National School in Killarney to help him to make a difference in Kenya.
Eddie, from Aghadoe, was a teacher and guidance counsellor in St Brigid’s and since he retired from that post, he has been able to donate more time to his project which is very close to his heart.
Founded in 2003, the Kenya Education Project is based in the slum village of Embulbul which is 25km south of Nairobi. There are many homes without running water or electricity and very poor sanitation.
With employment opportunities very scarce, many families struggle to obtain food on a daily basis and many children have been orphaned because of HIV infection and other life-threatening conditions.
There is, however, a new primary school in the village, built and managed by the Christian Brothers and although families struggle to meet the fees and to meet the cost of books, the Kenya Education Project helps in that regard.
As well as teaching the children, Eddie, Triona and the team also support a village feeding programme, provide training and education opportunities for students and run weekend sports events for young people with clubs in Killarney donating playing gear.
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