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Ardnacrusha volunteer gives hope to Zambian children

THE plight of a young Zambian mother sitting on a pile of rubble in a schoolyard breaking stones with a hammer, watched by her three children, will remain in Mary Cunningham’s memory for a long time.Instead of being in school, the oldest boy, at eight years, is helping his mother. The Salesian Sisters give the woman a little money for her efforts and she is pleased with the dignity attached to having a job. This is not an unusual sight in Zambia. Most schoolchildren have unrealistic expectations for their future, hoping to be doctors or lawyers, even though they have no financial means or support.Mary decided to go to Zambia as a volunteer with an international charity run by the Salesian Sisters callled Vides after loosing her job at home. Having worked for most of her life, Mary found being at home and listening to all the doom and gloom in Ireland depressing. Married to Gerry in Lakyle Heights, Ardnacrusha, …

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Prisoner 1082 to launch his memoirs

OVER the past 50 years, author Donál Donnelly has gone from scaling the walls of Crumlin Road Gaol to becoming the president of the Irish Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management. This week, he launches his memoirs in Ballyvaughan.

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Facebook campaign angers Xposé star

Shannon woman and TV3 presenter, Aisling O’Loughlin, has spoken out about her anger at a Facebook page that ridicules her. This week, she tells The Clare Champion why she feels it is important to take a stand against internet harassment

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A change in outlook following Ecuadorian experience

FATHER Colm Hogan left Shannon for the extreme weather and severe poverty of Ecuador in 2007 and earlier this summer, he returned to Ireland, having learned a lot from his three years in South America.Speaking to The Clare Champion, he said that his time there had changed his outlook. “It was a life-changing experience in the sense that it puts everything into perspective about what people don’t have and how they can get on with so little. If something happens you after coming home, you’d look and say to yourself that the people you were with for the last three years had nothing and they were able to deal with it. They still had a smile on their face even if they didn’t know where their next dollar or their next meal was coming from.”Expectations and standards of living in Ecuador are very different to those in Ireland, with very basic diets and access to education is hugely restricted. “They …

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