Mayo woman kidnapped in Haiti returns home to visit former Westport school

Mayo woman Gena Heraty who was kidnapped from her bed in Haiti in August, has paid a visit to her former school in Westport.

Heraty came to Sacred Heart School to receive a donation collected for the orphanage she's running in Haiti.

The school wrote in a statement: "As part of our TY Wellbeing class, we wanted to raise money for charity. We decided to host a fundraiser for ‘Our Little Brothers and Sisters’ organisation.

This is an organisation that runs an orphanage in Haiti for abandoned, disabled children. It has of course very strong links with the town of Westport as our past pupil and local hero Gena Heraty is the powerhouse behind it."

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is undergoing a prolonged humanitarian crisis driven by escalating gang violence and the collapse of essential services.

Ultimately the school decided to hold a raffle, as a great way of garnering support for this very worthy cause. They asked local businesses to sponsor prizes for our hampers and raffle prizes.

Sacred Heart School would like to give out a special thanks to Boots, Golden’s Pharmacy, Market 57, Lally’s Pharmacy and Tesco.

And they would also like to thank Eleanor Mc Nally and last year’s TY Ball committee for generously donating their leftover monies to this cause.

Thanks is also due to their school community for their very generous support – this cause really resonates with us here in the SHS.

"We were delighted when we heard that Gena Heraty would be coming to the school herself to collect the donation. She was really kind, genuine and shared her life experiences and wisdom with us. It opened our eyes, that all it takes is one person, to really make a difference," the school commented.

"Gena spoke to us about the power of our mindset. She told us that when we put our mind to it, when we believe in ourselves and persevere, anything is possible.

What really stood out to us the most was, to love those who mean a lot in our lives, to be kind and to support each other. These simple measures can really impact our lives so much.

Gena is really inspiring and so good- humoured, despite all the recent hardships she has endured, a real example of the power of mindset!"

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