Alan Kerins Project joined by Steven McDonnell
Our fearless contracts manager Steven McDonnell boards a plane on 29 May 2014 bound for Zambia as part of The Alan Kerins Project. Steven will be part of the The Alan Kerins Project Discovery Programme until June 8th. The programme raises awareness of issues facing poor communities in developing countries and creates opportunities for knowledge sharing and solution-based approaches to development.
- ★ Funds raised through the programme will be used to support sustainable community enterprises
- ★ Community benefit from workshops and volunteering sessions through interactive exchange of ideas
- ★ The programme supports local employment in production and services sector
As part of The Alan Kerins Project and the GAAs Social Responsibility Commitment for 2014 Steven has already taken part in Sam to the Summit. An event which has inspired him to continue his commitment to The Alan Kerins Project. To read more about Sam to the Summit please visit http://alankerinsprojects.org/blog/2281/latest-news/sam-to-the-summit/
It’s a fantastic honour for me to be the GPA ambassador for the Alan Kerin’s Discovery programme to Zambia. This is an opportunity for me to see life from a different angle and to work with fascinating people from a poverty stricken country. I know I will learn so much from this journey and it will be a unique experience for all involved and one I am certainly looking forward too.
To make a donation to support The Alan Kerins Project please visit:
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/steven_mcdonnells_event
From all the staff in Servisource Recruitment, Servisource Healthcare, Servisource Training and myhomecare.ie we would like to wish Steven the very best of luck on his journey.
About the Alan Kerins Project
In January 2005, physiotherapist and sportsman Alan Kerins travelled to the town of Mongu in western Zambia as a voluntary physiotherapist in a local centre for physically disabled children. What he saw triggered an initiative that has since helped change lives and futures forever.
Alan travelled out to spend three months as a physiotherapist at the Cheshire Home for Physically Disabled Children run by the Presentation Sisters. Having seen the depth of poverty and deprivation that engulfed the entire region, he felt compelled to help in more sustainable way. The rains in winter 2004 had been the poorest Zambia had experienced in 77 years. Sitting at the centre of Western Province, an area about three times the size of Ireland perched out on the tip of the Kalahari Desert, drought threatened to ravage the area around Mongu. Water was scarce, food was even harder to find. When Alan was leaving, he asked Sr. Cathy what he could do to help in a small way when he went home. Her reply was simple – the biggest immediate problem was access to clean water – people in the local community were walking up to 10 km to find water in the drought conditions. €5,000 would build a community borehole in Mongu for clean drinking water and crop irrigation.
When Kerins came home with his story, he found an audience willing to listen, and help. Images from photographer Damien Eagers helped the Irish understand the scale of the problem that was taking place thousands of miles away. The response from the public was overwhelming. Within 6 months, over €50,000 was raised and invested in a food programme, borehole for clean water, block-making project and housing for the vulnerable, all under the auspices of Sr Cathy in Mongu.
Such was the huge response that Alan Kerins African Projects was established a registered charity in 2006. Although the organisation has supported projects in other countries such Ethiopia, Uganda, and Haiti, the focus of the organisation remains in Western Province in Zambia. In 2010, the name of the organisation was changed to Alan Kerins Projects. Source:(http://www.alankerinsprojects.org/about/our-story/)