Teaching students the joy of giving something back

HAULING sand and digging foundations under a blazing Indian sun may not be your ideal way to spend a college vacation — but for engineering student Gavin O’Brien, it was the experience of a lifetime.

The 20-year-old Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) student, spent a month in Pondicherry, India, as part of a volunteer programme organised and funded by the college.

Gavin, from Commons Road in Cork, was one of seven students from a variety of disciplines who received a full scholarship, worth up to €4,000, to volunteer in places such as India, Ghana, Cambodia and Mongolia.