Early Thursday morning, Trócaire’s director Mr Justice Kilcullen who had given one of the Lenten Talks at Millstreet Community School in March, spoke on RTE 1 Radio (the Living Word slot on the Risin’ Time programme), about the work done in Millstreet Community School to support Trocaire’s work in 2012, and in previous years. It was too early for most to hear, but you can listen to the on the RTE Radio Player if you click here (from 1hr 10mins 33 secs to 1hr 12mins 45secs), or just listen to it here by clicking on the player:
“Last month, the people of Cork’s Millstreet awoke to the sounds of snoring, giggling, and chatting across the town. Tucked up in in multi-coloured sleeping bags, forty five students and teachers of Millstreet Community School had slept out overnight to raise awareness of poverty in Uganda.
It’s a long way from Millstreet to Uganda (8000 miles), so it’s remarkable that teenagers from a town in North Cork felt strongly enough about the lives of ordinary Ugandans, to make this daring statement of solidarity.
I first met the students and teachers of Millstreet Community School five years ago when our Lenten campaign highlighted the plight of child labourers in Nicaragua. The school embraced this issue whole-heartedly. I was impressed by their passion for justice, for the children they had learned about. Thanks to the work of school Chaplin John Magee, who had worked within Uganda’s refugee camps in 1999, the teachers and staff at Millstreet Community School have continued to equip their students with a strong sense of human rights throughout their education. Millstreet is one of the schools that moved Trócaire to establish their own programme for Secondary Schools.
Every year I continue to be inspired by the schools across Ireland who are encouraging their students to learn about justice, equality and the developing world.
Trócaire’s Development Education programme for young people is a fundamental pillar for our work. It’s not about getting children to think about what we think, it’s about getting them to think. As trocaire comes to it’s 40th year, almost two generations have grown up with the Trócaire Box, and have come to know about our work. We too often hear bad press about young people, but the students i’ve met across Ireland over the years share a sense of equality and global justice, and the contributions we can all make to it.
Across the country, young people like the students of Millstreet challenge their families, communities and political representatives to do better on behalf of the worlds poor. Ordinary young people, setting an extraordinary for us all.”
Justive Kilcullen – on the Living Word (6:40am 19th April 2012)
Audio will be available for about four weeks at: http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A3261741%3A5776%3A19%2D04%2D2012%3A (from 1hr 10mins 33 secs to 1hr 12mins 45secs)
