Ronan O’ Gara Haiti bound for Haven

Former Irish rugby star Ronan O’ Gara will leave for Haiti on June 14 to visit areas which benefit from the Haven charity.

The Corkman will visit one of Haven’s Income Generation Programmes in Ile a Vache and Gonaive.

In Ile a Vache he’ll meet with the women taking part in sewing training and men involved in the boat building and maintenance classes.

The purpose of these programmes is to facilitate the training of local people and to provide them with the skills to gain employment and to create a sustainable income and futures for themselves and their families.

O’Gara will also will visit homes that have been upgraded as a result of the €500 from 500 campaign sponsored by Irish businesses which helped to upgrade homes in the area.

While in Gonaives, Ronan will meet a group women who have already completed the sewing programme established by Haven and who are now selling their goods on the local markets.

These women are the main bread winner in their families and were living on the equivalent of around €1.50 a day before they took part in the formal training with Haven.

They now earn up to €30 a day.

O’ Gara, the all-time top scorer in European club rugby competitions is delighted to be involved.

“I am honoured to have this opportunity to travel to Haiti with Haven and to meet with some of the people that Haven works with,” he said.

“The charity goes to incredible lengths to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor in Haiti and I am delighted to bring some light to the work that they are doing on the ground.”

The founder and chairman of Haven Leslie Buckley said: “Ronan has been supporting Haven since 2013, and we are privileged that he has taken the time out of his busy rugby schedule to travel to Haiti with Haven to visit our programmes on the ground.

"Ronan will be travelling to some of the most remote areas in Haiti to visit with the men and women whose lives have been positively impacted by Haven’s programmes.”

Ronan has been supporting Haven since July 2013 and has helped Haven to raise in excess of €80,000 for the charity in the last 2 years.  This will be Ronan’s first trip to Haiti, where over one third of the population live in extreme poverty.  

The Haven Partnership is an Irish Charity working solely in Haiti in partnership with local communities, providing shelter, water and sanitation as well income generation training and up skilling programmes.

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