A special and very colourful celebration took place in Phibsboro on Sunday 16 October to mark the work of young volunteers overseas in many parts of the world. This global mission celebration was organized by the Irish Missionary Union. For the month of October there is an exhibition in Phibsboro church highlighting the many groups of volunteers from Ireland who work overseas.

This dynamic and joy-filled event honoured those who have given of their time and service for others. It was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Eibhlin Byrne, who addressed the congregation. The Eucharist was celebrated by Bishop Eamonn Walsh. Orla McAndrew from the Vincentian Lay Missionaries shared her experience of mission during this celebration, recounting her experience of working as a volunteer in Ethiopia with the Daughters of Charity. She extended a special welcome to Sr. Aster Zewdie, D.C., Provincial of the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia. The following is the text of Orla's talk.

Thanks, Bishop Eamonn, for your welcome. I would like to share with you all an entry in my diary last June in a place called Mekelle in Northern Ethiopia.

Dear Diary,

A few days into life in Ethiopia and I have echoes of my mother at the table back in Mayo when was I was about 7 years old, saying: “Eat up your dinner, there are starving children in Africa”.  I can’t wait to tell her: “Can you believe it, Mum, these good-hearted people brought me into their houses and fed me!!!” They have so little… but want to share everything they have.

Vincentian Lay Missionaries gave me the amazing opportunity to spend three months in three different townships in Ethiopia from June to September this year and I have dozens of stories in this diary of mine. To be honest, I found it difficult to decide on one that would sum up the wonderful time I had.

I have so many unforgettable memories from Mekelle in the north, Addis Ababa the capital and Bahir Dar in the west – the good deeds and indescribable generosity I witnessed on a daily basis.

It may surprise you that my predominant memories are not of poverty, although I witnessed a lot of that. Instead I remember the smiling children who always said hello to me in the streets and the jokes and laughter I shared with the wonderful sisters and Fathers I have the privilege to call my friends. Two of them are in the congregation today: Tenastellin, Dananachu Sister Aster and Fr Asfaw.

One month home and my senses are still full of the sights and sounds of Ethiopia. Just last week, I got an email from a good friend, Sr Abeba in Addis, who said that she was glad to hear I got home safely and that she was having a cup of Irish tea in my honour! Reading it brought me back to the evenings when we shared a cuppa, chatting, laughing and watching Oprah on TV with all the time in the world.

Mission month

Before I left I was doing a bag-packing fundraiser in Tesco with a band of “enthusiastic” volunteers. Between us we met hundreds of people, an overwhelming amount of whom said: “It’s great what you are doing. I’ve always wanted to do something like that, but - you know how it is - life got in the way”.

Does that sound like any of you or anyone you know? If it does, do you think perhaps you might not have the skills necessary to do something like this? Perhaps you haven’t thought about going with a missionary group because you might think: “I believe myself to be religious enough, but I don’t think I could go live in a house full of nuns. I’m not that holy!

Believe me, I asked myself all those questions and I was in exactly that position, so much so that some of my friends even began to call me Sr. Orla when I told them what I was doing!

The missions

Growing up in Mayo, I always remember hearing about the great work of missionaries, particularly as shocking news of the famine in Ethiopia hit our screens in the 80s. I saw so many heartbreaking pictures of starving children on the news. What they say is true: pictures do speak louder than words, but personal experience speaks volumes. I wanted to meet the Ethiopian people... talk to them…get to know them. What did I do?

What did I do? Well, first of all I was coming from a technical background working as a trainer in Ericsson and I wondered “What could I possibly do to help?”

After talking to Mary in VLM she suggested that I sit down and think about what skills I could bring to a voluntary placement in Africa.

Every one of us here has been given gifts and maybe we’ve just lost sight of their importance or relevance. In Ethiopia I taught English, proof-read project proposals, catalogued two school libraries and basically anything else I could do to help out along the way – everything from giving basic Excel tutorials to the sisters to decorating the school for a graduation celebration.

I also spent some time cajoling other “ferengis”, or foreigners, that I met to come to the community and help out too. One of my gifts – as you can probably guess by now – is the gift of the gab, for sure!

Return mission

But volunteering abroad isn’t for everyone. In Ethiopia they may have a famine of food, but is Ireland suffering a famine of love and compassion?

As the Celtic tiger is laid to rest these days and the recession deepens, hardship will hit some people a lot harder that others.

So whether you want to help out at home or abroad, there is something out there for you.

After Mass, take a minute to look around the church walls here today. There are many people involved in organizations who would love to talk to you and guide you in the right direction for the extent of what you want to contribute.

Need some inspiration?

In Bahir Dar I was helping Sr Terafatu prepare her answers for a journalist’s interview. One of the questions was “What prayer or parable inspires you most in your work?” She simply said: “Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”. Everyone here knows that one, I’m sure!

So that’s what drives her. Depending entirely on donations, she provides sewing machines to the poorest people and trains them so they can start their own businesses. She fixes mud huts that are in serious disrepair, and she runs a feeding program for malnourished children. And that’s only some of the work of one of the sisters I was so fortunate to meet and call my friend.

I suppose what I’m trying to say that from one little motto – to love one’s neighbour – she has the motivation to touch the lives of countless people in her community. The Ethiopian people fed me, not just with food, but with love and faith. One thing they have in abundance is time, something we are starved of here in Ireland. Can you donate a little of your time? I guarantee you, the rewards can be life-changing for those you help and for yourself. I will leave you with the VLM motto: ‘Do one thing – do something!’