Ena stunned by Volunteer victory
But cast even a quick glance at the Grenagh woman’s long list of community involvement and you’d be surprised if Ena hadn’t been named Volunteer of the Year in Galway earlier this month. She has held several offices in Grenagh ICA Guild, she has been federation competitions secretary, information officer and new members’ liaison officer.
She also does loads beyond the ICA realm. On Saturdays, she’s in Cork Prison with St Nicholas Trust, a relatively new support group for families of prisoners. “We’re there for families who have to visit Cork Prison, which is a dull and daunting place. There’s a stigma attached to imprisonment. We give out teas, coffees, soft drinks and biscuits, as well as colouring books and pencils for the children while they’re waiting to visit.
“The children now look for the picture they didn’t get to finish the week before. These children have done nothing wrong. You hope you can break a cycle somewhere along the line,” says Ena, adding that the group — comprising about 15 members — hopes for extra volunteers so the service can be extended to six days a week.
Ena trained as a mentor with Mná Feasa six or seven years ago after she spotted a newspaper ad looking for mentors. “It involves older ladies befriending younger women who are parenting alone. I’ve mentored two women and I’m waiting to get another. I’m no expert on anything. Whatever advice I can give, I do. What I don’t know, I find out. You stay with the mothers as long as it’s working. They may just need that bit of encouragement to realise ‘I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m parenting alone and I’ve just hit a brick wall for the moment’.”
Ena’s willingness to embrace experiences beyond her comfort zone has led her down unexpectedly rewarding paths. “I remember being in An Grianán and they had laughing yoga on one of the nights. I was saying ‘have we all gone mad?’ I had no interest whatsoever. But everybody was going, so I felt I had to. I was really apprehensive and I ended up so taken with it — it’s laughing for no reason.”
Two weeks later, Ena was in Donegal doing a course on laughing yoga. “I learned little techniques around getting groups together and about the benefits of laughter and how to get people laughing for no reason. In a session, if you get people looking at one another and making eye contact, then looking away and back again, the giggling starts. Even the ones who say they won’t laugh — they do!” says Ena, who finds it difficult to hazard a guess at the number of ICA guilds she’s introduced to laughing yoga — possibly 14 or so, along with health groups and flower clubs.
A physical activity leader in the Go For Life campaign (“It’s great to get people up and moving and walking around the room”), Ena did her Leaving Cert in 1999, the same year her youngest child did it. “They were starting adult education in a local school and they were looking for numbers. That’s how I got back into education. I did two subjects a year. I got bitten by the bug and I’ve been doing courses since then.”
Most recently, Ena has completed a Community Education and Development degree and she has now begun a Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Probably one of the most difficult questions she was asked by judges in the Volunteer of the Year competition was: ‘What do you do to get new members into ICA?’ “My answer to that was our Monday nights in the pub,” says Ena, referring to the Knitwits, part of a group of Grenagh ICA Guild members who meet weekly in The Village Inn, Grenagh, for knitting, crochet and crafts. “We picked a pub because pubs are warm. The barman, Declan, has a fire lighting for us every week.”
Married to Andy Howell, Ena’s originally from Carrigtwohill and “blew into” Grenagh 33 years ago.
“A neighbour asked me to join ICA 29 years ago. Back then I didn’t know what ICA was. I’m so grateful to her. ICA is women supporting women.
“There are so many women parenting alone who feel they don’t fit in anywhere – we have an organisation that would suit them. We can’t fix anything but we can all support one another.”
