Once again, this summer a team from LYIT with lecturers Florence Blake and Paul O'Sullivan spent 2 weeks in a remote part of Thailand working with The Garden of Eden community.  This community all suffer from HIV /Aids and the population includes women, men and children who not only have to cope with their illness but also being ostracised from their own communities.

This is the seventh year when volunteers from LYIT have travelled to Thailand to work on the ‘Garden of Eden’ project.  During that time, Florence and Paul have brought over 100 students who are working towards their Gaisce Gold award to Thailand.  The aim of Gaisce is to encourage young Irish people to challenge themselves through volunteering, teamwork and communicating.

This year’s project was to help re-build the projects destroyed by the flooding last September.  Fortunately none of the housing was damaged; however, the frog ponds and hen houses were swept away.  So LYIT Gaisce team set about rebuilding both alongside the community there.

Florence described the conditions and the outcome, “Everyone worked very hard in the blazing Thai sun at near enough the hottest time of year.  Amongst the team were 3 students who were so touched by the kindness and strength of the people here, decided to return again in 2012.  It was a very worthwhile trip.”

It was not all hard work; a good deal of fun was had as well.  The LYIT group enjoyed a lovely outdoor meal with entertainment from the children as a big thank you for their contributions.

Caitriona Kelly a student who travelled to Thailand said, "It was an amazing experience.  It was great to see the whole project to completion, from fundraising in Letterkenny to building the frog and fish farms in Thailand.  The work was tough but we had a lot of fun too as we worked well as a team.  The residents at the Garden of Eden were so grateful and that was really rewarding to see.  Overall I found it to be an eye-opening experience and hope to do it again.”

“The students raised the funds for materials and for travel costs in Donegal beforehand.  Whilst we can give our labour free this community cannot afford basic materials such as, wiring, paint, blocks, etc so it was essential that we had money for building supplies too,” explains Florence, one of the organisers of the trip.

“They were pleased we were there to help but more importantly they benefited from simple gestures of mutual respect, like sharing a bottle of water, talking to them and a hug.”

Photo caption:
LYIT Students Volunteers who travelled to Thailand to offer practical help with a community who all suffer from HIV/Aids.
Front left to right: Michelle Long, Riadh Egan, Jennifer King, Florence Blake, Katy Murphy.
Back left to right: Catriona Kelly, Paul O'Sullivan, Kevin Durran, Brian McElwaine, Aoife Mangan, Brid McElhinney, Anna O'Donnell, Conor Boyd, Kim Bradley and San.

USEFUL LINKS

 Camillian Centre in Thailand