The organisers behind the recent St Mary’s CBS Zambia trip recently got to unwind and say thanks to those who supported and helped the trip.
After 15 months planning and organising, the campaign was brought to a fitting end for all involved with a presentation for family and friends and then a social night for the leaders, organisers and supporters.
The group of 16 students from St Mary’s CBS in Portlaoise have recently returned from a trip to Zambia where they have been working as volunteers.
Every two years, the school brings a group of boys to Livingstone to experience what it is like to teach and volunteer, as part of the Zambia Immersion Project, run by the Christian Brothers.
As well as giving up their time, the pupils also brought with them donations of school and medical supplies from Portlaoise businesses, sports kits from Laois GAA, and uniforms from Portlaoise primary schools.
The 16 students – Neil Keane, Oisin Scarry, Shea Keogh, Cian Crossan, Gareth O’Brien, Seán Sheridan, Shane Dalton, Bill O’Brien, Matthew Cotter, Seán Finlay, Rian O’Connell, PJ Daly, Andrew Swayne, Conor Donohue, Jim Tyrell and Eoin Carey – produced a video on their return.
And the work didn’t end there. They also gave a presentation on the trip and their experiences in front of their families and sponsors, which was attended by around 130 people.
A separate night was also held in Eamon A Chnoic’s in Raheen, who fundraised on behalf of one of the leaders.
Speaking about the presentation by the pupils teacher Deirdre Carroll said: “It was great that the parents could hear all the other stories. You got a great sense of the comraderie that had developed and you could really tell how much they enjoyed it”.
She said one student said afterwards that he had made friends for life through the experience.
While the event involved the local boys volunteering, Ms Carroll said the benefits worked both ways.
Life-changing
“The whole point of this is that the boys see how the other half lives… It really was life-changing for them,” she said.
She added that it is an experience that the young Portlaoise students will always look back on.
She said the focus for the local organisers was very much what the Portlaoise boys got out of the experience.
However, the boys certainly made an impression and the Irish Embassy in Lusaka tweeted its congratulations on their Zambia video.
Ms Carroll said the video produced by them sums up the experience perfectly.
SEE ALSO – WATCH: Portlaoise CBS students release EPIC Zambia trip video
