Ennis woman named in world’s top ten

A young Ennis woman was recently named one of the top 10 ‘Outstanding Young Persons of the World’.

Junior Chamber International, a worldwide membership-based non-profit organisation, selected Melanie Hennessy from Cloughleigh as one of their 2010 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (JCI TOYP).
“It is really amazing. It seems a bit ridiculous because it is only me. When you tell people Outstanding Young Person of the World it sounds unbelievable so I don’t tell people because it is too crazy,” the medical student said.
Melanie is receiving the award for her “extraordinary work in raising humanitarian aid and awareness”.
JCI honours 10 outstanding people under the age of 40 each year.
“These individuals exemplify the spirit of the JCI mission and provide extraordinary service to their communities. Whether through service, innovation, determination or revolutionary thinking, these young active citizens create positive impacts in their communities,” a spokesperson for JCI said.
“Melanie’s efforts to create a global partnership of service between her community and youth in need in Nepal exemplify the unity selflessness brings to our world,” the JCI spokesperson added.
Melanie and the other nine people will be recognised at the 2010 JCI TOYP ceremony and reception in November at the JCI World Congress in Osaka, Japan.
Her award is in the category of humanitarian and/or voluntary leadership and, given her achievements to date, it is easy see why she has been selected for this honour.
After completing her Leaving Certificate in the Coláiste Muire in Ennis, Melanie embarked on a solo trip to Nepal that changed her life.
“I was fed up studying for the Leaving Cert and I wanted to do something worthwhile so I ended up in Nepal. It was really random because I had never heard much about it except that there was a civil war there and it was really poor. So I said no one seems to go there, so I think I will. My mam was a bit worried in the beginning but afterwards she was very supportive. I think in the beginning she thought I was just joking but then, when she realised I was serious, she was very supportive and when I was there, I think she was nervous because she called me every day,” Melanie recalled.
What the then 18-year-old experienced in Nepal spurred her onto set up two charities and take over the care of 10 orphans. 
“It all started when I saw how poor the people there were compared to us. Anyone would do what I am doing if they saw it,” Melanie told The Clare Champion.
Through an Irish organisation Melanie was put in contact with a charity in Nepal that placed her with an orphanage there.
“When I arrived at the orphanage there was no roof on the building and it used to rain on the kids. The charity offered to move me elsewhere but I wanted to help so I stayed. When I was there, I found the people who were running the orphanage were very corrupt and everything in the area just seemed to be corrupt. The orphanage had nothing to do with the organisations that placed me there. I thought about trying to raise money to help it but things just weren’t working so I decided to build an orphanage myself. I came home and started raising money straight away,” the 21-year-old recalled.
When Melanie came home she did pre-med in NUIG. While there, she set up a charity in Ireland and one in Nepal, Draiocht based in Galway and TEAM Nepal run by a friend she met on her first trip to the South Asian country.
Since then she has returned and built an orphanage and this year took 17 volunteers, including fellow students Cormac O’Briain from Drumcliffe Road in Ennis and Dympna O’Dwyer from Mullagh in West Clare, to Nepal where they created something she calls a walking hospital.
“It was going to cost so much money to build a health centre and because of the mountainous terrain only about 100 or 200 people would be able to reach it. Instead, with Nepali doctors, we walked to different villages and we did medical checks, including eye exams, on people and brought dentists to take care of people’s teeth.
“One particular area was a four-hour walk and the people there had never seen white people before. This was very successful in that we were able to access a lot of people. We are hoping to do this twice a year and go to all the villages in the area and check the people all out. It is still really new, nothing has been set yet,” she explained.
The volunteers also spoke with hundreds and hundreds of children and their teachers about issues such as basic dental hygiene and nutrition. They explained the benefits of a balanced diet and provided vitamin and iron supplements to children who appeared especially malnourished. The group also took the names of the children with poor eyesight and Draiocht hopes to sponsor the children with the worst eyesight to get glasses.
Over the last three years, Melanie has organised fundraisers including cake sales, charity CDs and a water relay race to raise money for the people of Nepal. The latter was a sponsored event from Ennis to Galway where participants carried between five and 20 litres of water to highlight the challenges of people throughout the world in accessing clean drinking water.
After her initial nomination by NUIG for the prestigious award, Melanie went on to be named as one of Ireland’s outstanding young people of the year, before achieving the honour of being selected as a 2010 JCI Outstanding Young Person of the World.