Fundraising American Tea Party this Friday night
My name is Ailbhe Madigan and I’m from Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. I am 19 years old and studying psychology in UCD. This summer, I have decided to something a little bit different…I am partaking in the SUAS 2019 Volunteering programme.
SUAS are an outstanding Irish charity who support access to quality education in Ireland, India, Kenya, and Zambia, providing support to over 10,000 children each year. I have been lucky enough to have been selected to volunteer on their behalf in Kolkata this summer. I will be working with a team of 11 volunteer teaching assistants in schools over there. My work in school will also include supporting curricular activities and providing one-on-one support for particular children, who haven’t been offered this before. We will also be organising extra-curricular activities like sports and summer camps. As well as sending us as volunteers, SUAS and a large part of the money the volunteers raise goes towards financial assistance and ongoing technical expertise to its partners.
Our team will be working along SUAS’s partner, ‘The Thoughtshop foundation’ in Kolkata. This is a non-profit, social communication organisation which works hard to educate and initiate change in the communities and slums around Kolkata. They tackle social issues such as gender inequality, child labour, trafficking, reproductive health and educational disadvantage (to name a few!).
Our placement will be both exciting and challenging, as it not just teaching English to children, but supporting children and adolescents alike with their English education, while also informing them on these issues in an informative and respectful way. It will be our mission to combine the aims of SUAS (literacy) and the Thoughtshop Foundation (education on global issues) to maximise their knowledge.
The placement will be mostly spent in the city of Kolkata, but it will also involve a brief stint in the Sandurbans, a very rural section of India. Our team will be spending a total of eight weeks there, from June to August.
The first challenge I am facing before I depart for the placement in June is to meet the fundraising fee. This is a sum total of €3,500.
In order to raise money towards this fee, I will be holding an American-style Tea Party in Tully’s Hotel, Castlerea, on Friday, 29th of March. Entertainment on the night will include music from the local talent of Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann and Tony D. Entry will cost €10, and a monster draw will be held on the night. For those who cannot attend, raffles have been placed in various shops and restaurants in Castlerea and I will link the online donation page below.
I would like to thank in advance all who leave a donation in any form, big or small.
www.idonate.ie/ailbhemadiganSUAS2019
