Michael Commins
CROSSBOYNE student nurse Shelly O’Neill (pictured) is making plans for a trip to India this summer. She will be part of a team of 14 voluntary workers from around Ireland who will assist the SERVE group working on projects in Bangalore and Kerela.
The SERVE organisation emerged from partnership relationships between young Irish adults, Irish Redemptorists and marginalised communities in the developing world. It now works to empower vulnerable and excluded groups and communities to become agents of their own transformation.
During the summer of 2008, 14 SERVE volunteers, led by two experienced leaders, will travel to India. They will work on projects in Bangalore and Kerela. These projects will include HIV/AIDS projects, a leprosy project, a slum educational project, a project assisting the disabled, a homeless project, orphanage programme and a mental health programme. These projects reach the most vulnerable, and offer assistance to the weakest and the poorest members of society.
To assist Shelly in her fund-raising efforts for SERVE, a special night of music has been arranged for the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris on Saturday night, March 29. It will feature a variety of acts such as Silver Circus (her brother Ricky is a member of this band), Phase, Aoife Caulfield, Galaxy, a traditional Irish music band, and a number of other guests. Admission is €10 and the show gets under way at 9pm.
Shelly, who is daughter of Frank and Mai O’Neill, Coolroe, Crossboyne, and who is doing her nursing studies in Castlebar, is looking forward to the challenge during her six weeks in India in July and August. “Another girl, Frankie Dolan from Longford, who is a third year nursing student at the GMIT in Castlebar, is also making the trip as one of the volunteers. It will be a whole new experience for all of us. It’s all for a very good cause and we hope our time among the people in that part of India will have a positive outcome for those we will assist during our six weeks in the country,” says Shelly.
