This article is from page 61 of the 2009-11-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 61 JPG
NEXT Thursday, students from the Ennistymon CBS will ‘Go hungry for Gloria’ as they take part in this year’s annual Concern Fast.
Two fifth years from the school, Daniel McInerney and David Car- roll, were chosen to visit Kenya last year in recognition of the schools long history of supporting Concern.
The students were joined by teacher Gerry Sexton on the trip, which took them to see the good work being done on the ground by Concern in aviulere
A host of students from the school will join more than 250,000 young
people from secondary schools all over Ireland on December 3.
Last year, the school raised more than €5,000 through their participa- tion in the fast.
Liam Slattery, Cathal McMahon and Thomas Nagle were the top col- lectors for last year’s fast.
This year’s trip to Kenya saw the students and teachers in Ennistymon join the Irish National Debate Cham- pions in their visit to Concern com- plexes in Kenya.
The trip allowed Concern the op- portunity to thank schools for their JON KG MAY LO)e QUE MBAUUNCCDU-HKSDOTcMmClUDUDO roam Nels ele
“Kenya spans an area about 50
times the size of Ireland and the pop- ulation has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million,” said Gerry Sexton.
“IT feel that Kenya is at a crossroads. Almost every sphere and sector of life is in crisis. Over 10 million peo- ple face hunger and starvation. That number is set to increase as the cur- rent crop season has failed.
“Urban life is facing imminent dan- ger. Water shortages have persisted. We saw hundreds of water tank- ers bringing water to every part of the city; to those who could pay of course,” he said.
“In the slums of Mukuru and Ko- rogocho, we saw long queues of poor
people waiting with large containers to get water. Even this water is often contaminated and water related dis- eases are areal problem.
‘Most poor people survive on less than a euro a day with the average wage being €7 or €8 a day for those fortunate enough to have a job. HIV and TB have become huge problems for the population.
“Commodity prices are at an all time high. Most basic goods, such as food are beyond the reach of many. Agriculture faces collapse. Tea farm- ers are uprooting their crop,” added Mr Sexton.
The Concern Fast takes place on Dien lelo wer