Devenney’s desire to do good reaps rewards in Africa
For anyone seeking to make a charitable gesture this Christmas, former Donegal footballer and pundit Brendan Devenney has come up with an innovation that he is rolling out with Plan International that can improve your own health, as well as the fortunes of young girls in Africa.
The Letterkenny man was seeking to sponsor a child but like many others, finding the spare cash at the end of the month was proving difficult, even for the €22 per month.
“I am always looking into my health,” he explains. “And I started to do a bit of fasting, because it is good for the body. I started to do six hours, eight hours and then I realised I could do a day. Then I put the two together. If I didn’t eat for a day, I would be saving myself €22 from not eating. And I thought ‘what a great way to manage this?’.”
Therefore, the strands all come together. When he feels hungry, then he turns his thoughts towards Akouvi, the girl he sponsors in a small west African village. He put together the scheme with the charity and are urging people to visit the website Plan.ie.
Devenney explains: “The charity focuses more on wee girls. Because they are obviously more at danger in the world, normal dangers and of course forced marriages and less likely to get an education. You can sponsor a wee boy or a wee girl but they do centre more on girls. The €22 a month helps with her food and education and clothing.
They also go into the villages that the girls are from and try to promote themselves in the villages and schools. So say if there is a restriction for somebody who has a disability, they will work with the school and agencies or councils to try to promote the child and the whole area.
Off the back of it, Devenney has established a regular correspondence with Akouvi with his own son Matthew sending her his own letters.
“But it’s a two-way thing. That wee person gets a gift from you in such a poor place, which means so much to them. But they also have another thing, knowing that there is someone out there who is looking out for them,” he says.
“If you imagine you were somewhere that was under-privileged, and had someone on the other side of the world who was going to look after you, it’s such a massive mood lifter. It’s such a big thing.”
For want of a better expression, the scheme is ‘cost-neutral’ if you consider the price of food consumed over a monthly fast day.
“I don’t like asking people for money. Everybody has their own stuff going on,” says Devenney.
“But this is not a pressure. This pays for itself and the health benefits are huge. When you fast, your whole immune system reboots. Your actual appreciation for food and the things around you goes through the roof. There are so many facets about it.”
In his playing career, Devenney was renowned for the physical condition he kept himself in. In retirement, a troublesome ongoing hip issue restricts his training, and so he has become extensively self-educated in matters of diet.
“I was reading about the white fat that gathers around you and is nearly impossible to shift. The brown fat (which burns calories) is what you call ‘puppy fat’, it is good fat,” he explains.
“There are only three ways to bring out this brown fat; one is to take cold baths because the shock of it brings out the browns to heat you. When the browns are out, they start to eat the whites to create energy. I have been doing these cold baths and I have got used to it really quick.
“It gives you an energy lift as well. For the first time since I was playing sport at a high level, I have had a challenge. I think it is good for this. Because I am sitting in and thinking I have to get through this. Normally my life is too soft, I think. So I am thinking to myself it is a good thing.”
If that all sounds hardcore, then just remember that the cold baths are purely his own choice. If fasting sounds too difficult, then he offers some guidance too.
“Practise fasting,” he suggests. “I notice I could skip breakfast in the morning and be OK. Then a few days I would get to about one o’clock and eat. Then it was one day I was wild busy at work and I went to about half four, and felt I could even go on.
When your stomach empties, it automatically shouts out ‘feed me’, but that doesn’t mean you are going to die. It’s supposed to do that. But your body has tonnes of energy reserves sitting in there. If you keep topping up, you never get the clear-out.
“And the appreciation of food is unreal. Your taste buds go through the roof.
“I train harder on the days I fast than any other day, because I am burning fats. The body reaches for the energy source. Those that say the body is weak because you fast — it’s completely in your head. You can go 20 days-plus without food.”
Devenney picks a Friday in the month. He will eat his dinner at 7pm the day before, and if you want to make it really simple, he just misses a breakfast and lunch and can enjoy his Friday night meal at 7pm. That’s a 24-hour fast..
“But, let’s be honest, as long as you sign up for the kid. If you miss a month, who cares? They need your help more than anything else.”
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