Rotary club in Tipperary is helping the poorest of the poor in Africa

Clonmel Rotary Club has donated €3,000 towards the education and health of young girls in one of the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped countries.

The money has gone to a Loreto Sisters project in the Rumbek region of South Sudan that provides education, healthcare and well-being for young girls of schoolgoing age.

The money was raised at a flag day collection in Clonmel in September, and Rotary president Fil Guida has paid tribute to the people of Clonmel for their generosity in supporting such a worthy cause.

Mr Guida presented the cheque to local Loreto Convent nuns, Sr Bridie and Sr Margaret, at a function in the club’s home at Cluain Restaurant.

Mr Guida described the Rumbek project as inspirational and said it was heart-warming to see the response of the public to their appeal. He paid tribute to Rotary member Tom Duggan and his team for running such a successful fundraiser.

Thanking the Rotary Club for its support, Sr Bridie said that the funds would be a huge boost to the South Sudan project.
She explained that in a country ravaged by conflict and poverty, young uneducated girls as young as 14 are regularly forced into arranged marriages by their families and miss out on vital education.

The project involved the establishment of a primary school, and later a secondary school, to ensure that girls were able to continue their education, eventually move on to university and then return to their communities, where they then play a vital role in the education of the next generation.

The project has been running since 2006 and Clonmel Rotary has already supported it in the past.

Thanking the club, and the people of Clonmel for supporting the appeal, Sr Bridie said the money would provide a huge boost to the project and would be very wisely spent.

She pointed out that in addition to providing education, the project also ensured that the girls were well fed and up to 1,200 girls are fed daily while attending class.

“I really want to thank the Rotary Club of Clonmel for this very generous contribution and I can assure you that it will be put to the best possible use at our Loreto-Rumbek mission,” Sr Bridie told the club members.