This article is from page 23 of the 2011-06-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
THE first time Don Ryan, from Parteen, travelled to Africa with the Building of Hope project five years ago, it was a last-minute decision.
He had been asked if he would go because the team needed someone with his specialist training in putting down high-tech soft floor covering.
Don came on board just as the team prepared to fly out to South Africa on its first mission.
As it happened, when he got there, the concrete floors had been too recently poured (the entire building went up in less than eight weeks) and he couldn’t use the special flooring. But he was hooked.
Don has travelled with the final finishing team on the Building of Hope ever since and 2013 is no diferent.
And besides, as Don observes, “Olive Halpin (the project organiser) is a hard woman to say no to and every time she gets on to me to see am I coming back!”
On the last two trips, Don was tiling but this time he hopes to be putting down the soft flooring, the team having planned for it with the experience of the first trip behind them.
Don was one of the many volunteers who built a polytechnic in Kenya in Fr Martin Keane’s parish in 2010 and what he saw when he visited the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired would bring him back, even if Olive let him off the hook.
“Conditions were very bad there. I’m glad we’re doing this project for the kids,” he said.
To help raise the € 3,000 he needs to travel to Mombassa again, Don has organised a quiz night in Flashes, the Tailrace Bar in Parteen.
A great night of fun is promised and there will be finger food as well, making the outing great value for € 10 a head.
“We’ll have tables of four so it’s € 40 a table and I’ll have spot prizes on the night,” said Don.
The quiz night takes place on Saturday, July 2, starting at 8.30pm.
Anyone who would like to donate a spot prize should contact the Tailrace Bar after 4pm on 061 451527. Anyone who wants to go along and support Don can pay in on the night.