Sr Angela returns from Kenya

Seventy students from St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla and a number of teachers from the school completed a climb of Croke Patrick on Monday in aid of a Kenyan project that they have a very special connection with.

Sr Angela Hartigan, a former principal of the Tulla secondary school left to pursue missionary work in Kenya in 1989. However, having been moved and become involved in educational work in the country, she decided to continue her stay and was supported by the staff and students in St Joseph’s.
Many years later after founding her own secondary school in 2007, the students were once again behind her in that project. In fact the students and community of Tulla helped Sr Angela to facilitate the provision of the school.
Sr Angela returned to Tulla where she was principal from 1985 to 1989 on a visit earlier this week and met with the students and teachers.
Speaking to The Clare Champion she recalls the time she left for Kenya.
“When I went there I went for one year and I forgot to come back. I got involved in education and I became the principal of Nuu Co-Educational Boarding Secondary School. During that time, the school was in shambles. The Tulla secondary school supported me all the way. We built the infrastructure over the six years I was there and built up academic performance so that when I left in 1995 we had a great system.
“I kept moving around after that taking on the Justice Ministry with the Sisters of Mercy and I travelled to Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa. I worked with women’s groups and did an Aids programme for youth leaders and teachers.
“At the end of 2007 I had finished my term on the justice work, I went to live in the Mukuru slum. I went on to open a secondary school there. The students were all from the slum. There were three large primary schools in the area with 5,000 students, but only a few could have access to second level education,” Sr Angela explained.
“We salvaged the most bright and promising students and opened the secondary school in 2008. There were 200 applications but only 45 places and we took in 45. I have 43 still in third year this year. We took in the same number the following year in 2009 and 2010.
“We have four classrooms and three classes. The fourth classroom is used as a general-purpose area and it will have to be converted back to a classroom as we are planning to take in another 45 this coming year. Our year runs from January to December and it is a second level four-year programme.
“That school has been supporting this all the way, they have bought the desks, chairs, food, text books, staff you name it. It would not have been possible without them”.
Geography and PE teacher in St Joseph’s, Ms Donna Fitzgerald is to join Sr Angela in Kenya next month as part of a new summer placement initiative.
Ms Fitzgerald has never been to Kenya or been involved in any such project previously but said she is looking forward to the new experience and to see what her school has helped to support in Mukuru.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience, I always wanted to do something like this and because it’s linked with the school here, I felt it was a worthwhile cause.
“I’m going over with a friend from Ennis, Deirder O’Doherty, at the end of June and we’ll basically be working in the secondary school with the school kids. We have been fundraising for this for the last year,” she said.
This placement is a new development. Two retired teachers went over to Sr Angela previously and stayed for two weeks to link up with the school and arising from the success of this Ms Fitzgerald decided to help out.
“Traditionally every Christmas the students and teachers do a 24-hour fundraising fast, where they’d sleep in the school and all the money would go to Sr Angela. It started 29 years ago and this Christmas coming is the 30th year of it,” Ms Fitzgerald added.
Sr Angela explained what hopes she has for Ms Fitzgerald when she gets over. “I’ll give Donna a bucket of paint, a paint-brush and wheelbarrow and we’ll start from here. She’ll be involved in giving training in computers also.
“We received a donation of 15 CPUs and Tulla money then provided the rest of the things such as the monitors. So we have 15 units but I have no teacher and so Donna will fill in that gap. It’s the first time someone has come and I’m hoping that students or teachers will come next year. I would hope that it will continue”.