Cork mother and son bring sports jerseys to blind children in Ethiopia

Glanmire mother and son Tricia and Ronnie Óg Hennessy recently delivered jerseys from local sports clubs to blind children in Ethiopia as part of a charity visit.

They travelled alongside neighbours Denise Tormey and her son Theo Nolan with the “Building for Children” charity to Sebeta Blind School, Ethiopia. Both Theo and Ronnie Óg are in Transition Year, and the four Glanmire locals raised €8,500 before heading out with a group of 30 people, who raised €100,000 in total.

Ms Hennessy told The Echo: “We went with Building for Children charity, they have been going out since 2019 to a school for blind children in Sebeta. The school is very run down, they had no running water for years, but the charity built a well, set up water tanks and got electricity going.

“They go out every year to make more improvements. Myself and Denise were mostly painting and cleaning, but a lot of the men who go out are tradesmen, plumbers, carpenters and electricians, so they do a lot of work for the place, and we bring out clothes as well.” 

She said it was an eye opening experience. “They have nothing over there, they don’t have hot water and they didn’t have proper toilets until a while ago, a lot of people are living in shacks.

“In the blind school they live in dorms with bunk beds, the older kids have a little cubicle but that’s a luxury compared to where a lot of them come from, their families send them there because they can’t mind them often.

“A lot of them also have additional needs on top of being blind, so it was very upsetting for the first couple of days but you just have to park that and get on with it, try to do your best to help.

“It’s very physical work and dirty, but you really feel like you’re doing some bit of good.” 

She explained they received lots of donations from the community, including through the Sarsfields Hurling Club, and also through a coffee morning that they held in the locality, saying: “The club were a great help.

“We were able to bring out loads of jerseys, tracksuit pants, jackets and other clothes. The kids can’t see the jerseys but they can feel the good quality material, and they put them on as soon as they got them. My son got a picture of one of the boys wearing his jersey with his initials on it.”

Sarsfield Hurling Club shared the photos of the children wearing their jerseys on social media, saying: “A big thank you to everyone who donated Sars gear in support of “Building for Children” charity.” 

They explained that Ronnie Óg Hennessy was a member of the team’s minor panel, and that “our club colours brought huge smiles and real joy to the children.

“This is an experience that will stay with Ronnie Óg forever, and we at Sars couldn’t be prouder to see our colours making such a meaningful difference so far from home.”