On the 20th of March myself, and ten of my fellow students from Ardscoil Rís Marino are travelling to Zambia as part of our schools Zambia Immersion Project.

Since 2003 Ardscoil Rís has brought a group of students to Mongu every two years. We will be immersed in the culture, the people and will experience firsthand the problems and challenges in developing countries.

We will be working with the Cheshire Home for disabled children run by Sister Cathy Crawford of the Presentation Sisters. We will be helping to educate the children whose ages range from 4 to 18 years of age. We will also be helping and assisting in physiotherapy with some of the children.

We will then travel to Limilunga where we will work with Sister Peggy O’Flaherty of the Holy Spirt Sisters. We will assist Peggy and her team by helping with basic education, painting classrooms and we will also be visiting children’s homes.

We will also be spending at least one day in a local Secondary School to experience a direct comparison of school life in Ireland and in Zambia.

During the last two days of the trip we will be engaging with a farm project set up with Irish Government aid and Ardscoil Rís support. We will be meeting with local farmers trained in animal husbandry and effective methods of cultivation. This has been done against the challenges of climate change and local water shortages.

I would really appreciate it if you could help me reach my fundraising goal to help me go on this once in a lifetime opportunity of a trip. I would be very grateful for any donations.