This article is from page 28 of the 2010-02-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
Margaret thought she had seen the last of baking for the Building of Hope when she had a cake sale to raise money to come on the trip but for the penultimate week of the project her main station was the kitchen.
A personal tragedy moved Mar- garet to make the trip she had been contemplating for some time.
“My children think I’m a bit past my sell-by date for going on this
trip. But my son, Paul, was killed in a road accident last year. When that happened I thought, you only get one chance at life and you have to do something good with it,’ Margaret explained.
Margaret’s final decision to come was a late one but “people were very generous to us, they really support- ered us”.
Secondary school teacher, Joanne, was originally volunteered for the project by her mother.
“Olive Halpin asked my mother if she would come on the trip but she didn’t think she could at the time and said I would go instead. Then she decided to go as well and we’re both here,” said Joanne.
Joanne’s pupils have been follow- ing the Building of Hope website and she will be filling them in on everything that happeded on the trip when she goes back.
“T didn’t really know what to expect when I came out but the camraderie is fantatstic — it’s such a team effort and everyone is pulling together, with the locals. It’s just an amazing experience.’