A young woman from Ballineen is getting ready for a six-month trip to the city of Cape Coast in the West African country of Ghana this June.
BY PETER ALLEN
A YOUNG woman from Ballineen is getting ready for a six-month trip to the city of Cape Coast in the West African country of Ghana this June.
Claire McCarthy is volunteering to care for the marginalised, disabled and disadvantaged children of the Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre, commonly known as ‘Ahotokurom’ which means ‘place of serenity’.
Claire studies music and dance at UL and is a former pupil of Ahiohill NS. She played camogie with Ballinascarthy, holds numerous All-Ireland rowing titles with Galley Flash club and also took place in Ballinascarthy Macra na Feirme talent shows.
The Rehabilitation Centre was set up 1983 near Cape Coast in Ghana to provide practical support to leprosy sufferers and their families, with rehabilitation as the primary focus. The centre is run primarily by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph order.
Claire will be running classes for children and adults in subjects like health education, ICT skills, sports and entertainment, entrepreneurship, integration of leprosy sufferers, and literacy. She will help to develop the villages of Enyindakurom and Abbe as ‘eco-villages’. As part of her fundraising efforts, she will carry a flag from West Cork with the names of her supporters.
