Cork Walk for Life events to benefit children in East Africa

Children living in a poverty-stricken area of East Africa will be able to undergo life-changing surgery in 2026 thanks to a number of fundraising events in Carrigaline this year.

Cheques totalling €16,555 will be going to the Shirati Hospital in Tanzania, with funds raised through the 30th annual Walk For Life last June.

The event, which saw participants walk from Carrigaline to Rabbit Island and back, was preceded by a collection at Barry Collins SuperValu Shopping Centre in Carrigaline — organised by John Wade from Grange, Douglas, and fellow committee members Angela Wade, Fred Cowhig, Joe Valentine, Ger Marshall, Ian Keating, Norman Carroll, and others.

Funds were also raised through the Dave Philpott memorial quiz at Collins Barracks, Cork, supported by the Prison Officers’ Association.

SHIRATI HOSPITAL

Walk for Life has enabled life-changing reconstructive surgery and leg treatments at the Shirati Hospital, plus follow-up physiotherapy and care for dozens of children who have leg and/or foot deformities.

Full correction can be achieved within six months of a surgical procedure.

The cheque sent out to Friends of Shirati will enable further surgeries in 2026 at the orthopaedic department run by Ibrahim J Mazara, BSc in prosthetics and orthotics.

Over the past six years, The Walk of Life and associated events have also provided funds for club-foot procedures, and a solar pump for irrigation to produce food crops, some of which feed patients and staff, and rewiring.

Funds raised through this year’s drive will also go towards the renovation of accommodation and the purchase of new beds at the Elderly Leprosy Unit in Shirati.

Glen Brubaker and Dale Ressler, on behalf of the hospital and Friends of Shirati, extended sincere thanks to walkers from Carrigaline and beyond and other supporters who helped raise money for the life changing surgeries. John Wade also thanked all who have generously supported the Walk For Life initiative over the past three decades.