Ballintubber native and Newcastle/Gateshead Rose Laoise O’Shaughnessy will be part of the group which is due to travel to Belarus for four days on Valentine’s Day (February 14th) in order to visit Vesnova Orphanage with Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children’s International.
Laoise told Roscommon People she was looking forward to the trip.
“I’m really looking forward to the trip. I jumped at the chance when it came up. I’ve been very busy fundraising for Chernobyl Children’s International over the last few weeks. They do a lot of fantastic work such as pediatric and cardiac surgeries”.
Laoise praised the work of CCI and in particular Adi Roche.
“I believe she is a remarkable woman and she will be on the trip with us so I’m looking forward to meeting her.
“It’s also an opportunity to see some of the Roses who live further away and who I haven’t been on trips with before. It will be a lovely experience we can all enjoy together”.
As for her overall Rose adventure so far, Laoise said she was having one of the best years of her life.
“It’s been a great year and one of the most tremendous years of my life and I’ll never forget it.
“I’ve done lots of things and (taken part in) lots of activities and I’ll be very sad to give back my sash!”
Last week, the Newcastle/Gateshead Rose was back in her old school, Convent of Mercy Roscommon, to give a presentation on the Chernobyl disaster to young students.
“It was really lovely of Convent of Mercy to invite me back to do the presentation. It was great being back there”.
She also had high praise for the people of Ballintubber for their generosity during her Chernobyl Children’s International fundraising efforts.
“It’s not until you find yourself in this position that you realise how good people can be. I want to say a huge thank you to the people of Ballintubber and everyone else who has supported me,” she said.
