This article is from page 17 of the 2011-03-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THE efforts of hundreds of Clare people who have given their time and energy over the last two decades to charity work in central and Eastern Europe is to be recognised in a new book die to be published this week. Going Forward Looking Back was officially launched by MEP Mairead McGuinness last week and features a number of photographs taken of volunteers at work with the Burren Chernobyl Project in Belarus.
Indeed, a photograph taken by award winning photographer and Burren Chernobyl Project volunteer Maurice Gunning was chosen for the cover of the book.
The picture features Lahinch woman Tessa O’Connor in conversation with a residents in Rudyna – a residential home for older people in Belarus.
A second photo taken by Maurice is also featured in the publication. This photo features an unidentified Burren Chernobyl Project volunteer singing to Nikita – a child from the Cherven Orphanage for children with disabilities in Belarus.
Maurice travelled to Belarus for three months in 2010 and full exhibition of his photographs in planned for Glór in Ennis this April. Going Forward Looking Back tells the extraordinary story of the Irish relief efforts in central and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s.
The publication is based on interviews with 31 different Irish charity workers and volunteers who have dedicated themselves to helping the most vulnerable citizens in this region over the past twenty years.
There are more than 100 Irish voluntary groups still operating in the region today. The interviews highlight different approaches to aid and development work over the years – the highs and lows, the success stories and the lessons learned.
The publication was developed by the Eastern Europe Aid and Development Network, which was set up in 2009 to increase co-operation between Irish charities working in Eastern Europe.
The exhibition of Maurice Gunning’s photographs with the Burren Chernobyl Project in Belarus will take place on April 14 for two week. John Spillane and Juliet Turner will play a charity concert afterward with all proceed going to the Burren Chernobyl Project.