by Colette O’Loughlin and Leone McCoole

Two Irish girls, Colette O’Loughlin and Leone McCoole, will head off for Kenya in January 2008 to work with the Daughters of Charity. Both of them work in Daughters of Charity services in Ireland, and this has prepared them well for the kind of work they will do in Kenya. In brief essays below, they introduce themselves and describe their hopes and expectations.

Colette O’Loughlin

Hello, my name is Colette O'Loughlin and I currently work in Tofa, a section of the TEES (Training, Enterprise and Employment Services) of the Daughters of Charity. My work in Tofa involves teaching different forms of art and crafts to a small selection of service users who are known collectively as Tangible Textiles. I have recently completed a years' post-graduate study in Community Arts Education from the National College of Art and Design.

This year I decided to take on a new challenge and have volunteered to work in Thigio in Kenya with the Daughters of Charity. Although nervous about such an undertaking, I am now really looking forward to being able to share my skills and improve my understanding of other cultures. I will be travelling with a fellow colleague and friend, Leone McCoole who works in Weavers. We intend to spend approximately five months in Thigio, a small town situated approximately 30 kilometres from Nairobi. We also hope to spend a few weeks in Chepnyal, a small rural village in a more mountainous region of Kenya and a little time in Nairobi itself.

Using our experience working in TEES, we hope to set up arts based projects in the local schools and general community. We are currently in the process of organising fund-raising activities that will enable us to purchase and ship art materials ahead of our departure date. Presently we are spending time, designing and preparing projects and workshops that will involve different groups in the community. Having spent time working voluntarily in disadvantaged areas in Dublin as part of my college placement, I have seen how the arts can have the capacity to bring about positive change in the form of improvements in self-esteem and confidence. We hope that we can make some difference to the lives of those we work with.

Right now our focus is on booking flights and organising the more practical side of our trip. Things such as insurance and vaccinations have become high on our priority lists! We have also enrolled on a six-month preparatory course with Viatores Christi, which we hope will help us to prepare for our upcoming adventure. The months are ticking by and our days are becoming busy with planning and organizing. We are really looking forward to our volunteering experience.

Leone McCoole

My name is Leone Mc Coole. I work in Weavers ( Training and Employment Services) with the Daughters of Charity.

I have had an interest in doing voluntary work overseas from an early age. So last January when I was browsing through the Daughters of Charity website and came across the great work Sr. Catherine and the other sisters do in Thigio and Chepnyal in Kenya, I was interested and decided to find out more.

I got in touch with Sr. Goretti and offered my services as a volunteer. My friend Colette also volunteered her services. Sr. Goretti put us in touch with Sr. Catherine and we are now making preparations for our trip to Kenya in January 2008.

We will be based primarily in Thigio which is 30km from Nairobi. We will also spend some time in Chepnyal (West Pokot).

Whilst in Kenya we will be working in pre-schools and primary schools doing art workshops with the children. Collette and I will also be working in the women’s development project and working with children who have an intellectual disability and those who are HIV positive.

With only four months left to go until our trip, we have lots to organise. We are in the process of organising some fund raising events to gather money for art materials etc. We also need to organise our vaccinations, our medical and travel insurance, flights, visas and we also have to attend preparatory courses in advance of our departure from Ireland.

It is a busy time but also an exciting time. I am really looking forward to going to Kenya in January 2008. I believe it will be a fascinating and insightful experience, meeting people from a different culture, sharing skills and experiences and finding out more about them and their way of life.