Helping to nurture children in classroom
Breda Herlihy reading to pupils in the Nansana Centre Primary School, during her time as a Nurture Africa volunteer.
You could be forgiven for thinking people would have neither the time nor the energy to assist others, in this time of extreme economic challenge.
But it has to be one of the best things about humankind, that adversity in our own lives often makes us more responsive to the suffering of others.
The briefest Google search on volunteering will provide a wealth of options — everything from conservation projects, helping at inner city schools and playgrounds, working with St Vincent de Paul to help the most vulnerable, or six months in a remote part of the developing world with one of the many Irish based aid agencies, working with those for whom existence is a daily challenge.
Why do people give so much, often to people whose lives and realities are light years away from their own?
Any time I have spoken to volunteers, whether it was a friend who spent Christmas Day cooking and serving food at Cork’s Penny Dinners, or a nurse who worked in Haiti after the cholera outbreak, their responses have been similar. First and foremost, a sense of gratitude for what has often been a life-changing experience, and a better appreciation of the richness of their own lives.
I spent some time in Sri Lanka after the tsunami of 2004, working in a large convent on the coast which had been struggling to keep going before this disaster. It was one of the few centres dedicated to the education of girls. Nothing went to waste there, and after the tsunami, every slightly soggy vegetable or salvageable piece of flotsam was carefully salvaged. I left that place with a profound respect for the endless resourcefulness of the nuns, the cheery attitude of their students, and their determination to continue with their studies no matter what — and a renewed realisation that my own life contained untold riches.
Teacher Breda Herlihy is a volunteer for Nurture Africa. I spoke to her just before she left for Uganda, and she had promised to tell me about her experiences when she returned.
>>To be honest, it’s hard to put the whole experience into words, but I’ll try. It was all-consuming, inspirational, uplifting and eye-opening, and without a doubt, one of the most worthwhile things that I have ever done. I’m teaching in St Finbarr’s Boys National School in Bantry, and I have given all the classes a short presentation of slideshows of photos, songs, a display of local crafts and instruments, and a football made from banana fibre. The children love it, and it’s been great for me to be able to share the experience.
>>The contrast could not have been greater. St Finbarr’s is a school that is very much in the 21st century. It’s embraced the use of iPads, and it has every resource that one could wish for. But that first day in Uganda, it was a blackboard, a piece of chalk, and that was just about it. The children had paper and pencil — though not all of them — and we worked in pairs, which was great. There’s maybe as many as 80 children in a class, and the windows had no glass in them, so that you had to speak really loudly to be heard above the noise of passing traffic. But those children were fantastic. They were so keen to learn.
>>No. I taught at three different places. We went to them in groups of six, and throughout the day, we taught English, Maths, Science and PE with our teaching partners. I learned so much from mine, a wonderful trainee teacher called Róisín Kelly. Each Friday, we gave a workshop to the Ugandan teachers as part of a ‘Making Corporal Punishment History’ campaign. It was banned by government circular in 2006, but has not explicitly been made illegal in law. We had some lively debates and discussions during these workshops, and the Irish teachers demonstrated positive reinforcement strategies as alternatives to corporal punishment. We visited other schools too, doing library outreach, where we presented first aid and substance abuse workshops.
>>Yes, we were given the amazing opportunity to go on home visits with a Nurture Africa staff member, where we met families who are on the HIV Community Healthcare Project. It was a humbling, humanising experience to sit with these families and listen to their stories. I’ll never forget them, and I’m going to continue my connection by partaking in the Nurture Africa sponsorship programme.
>>We got to relax during the weekends and explore some of the stunning Ugandan countryside. We went white-water rafting on the Nile, visited a rhino sanctuary and went on safari. I was overwhelmed by how lush and beautiful the countryside is. In August, all the volunteers met up again in Dublin for a debriefing, which was fantastic. I think the fact that the whole thing was so well organised, both before and afterwards, is why Nurture Africa works so well. Now I’m determined to pass on all that I have learned from my time in Uganda. The children I work with ask me lots of questions like what kind of food do they eat, or about the games that they play.
www.nurtureafrica.ie
