Cork Rose recalls trip to Cambodia to carry out important research

APPLICATIONS have already opened for the Rose of Tralee 2023, but for Cork Rose Jenny Byrne, the experiences last summer brought are only just sinking in.

That’s because the Douglas native spent the three months after the festival in Cambodia conducting research for her PhD, not returning home to Cork until the start of December.

“Things have been crazy. It’s been so hectic, basically since the Cork Rose selection in May,” she says.

“It was amazing but so busy and so full on, and then I got home and spent two weeks packing up my life to head to another continent.

“I didn’t really have time to process the whole thing. It’s only now that I feel like I’m decompressing.”

As a field researcher specialising in employment opportunities for women with disabilities, Jenny is used to things being busy, but nothing could prepare her for what the Rose of Tralee would bring.

“I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect, especially because it was the first year back after Covid. Some things I was expecting; we got to see parts of the country that I’d never been to before, I made some absolutely amazing friends, and we had great fun,” she says.

“But, I never could have foreseen how busy we would be and how much energy the festival would generate. I really didn’t expect the response we got. I was genuinely shocked.”

Most people would want to sleep for a week after such an experience, but having planned her research trip prior to being crowned the Cork Rose, Jenny didn’t have time to do anything but buckle up for the next experience. However, staying on her feet did have some advantages.

“During the festival, you’re on the go for weeks. You have all this adrenaline keeping you going because you’re having such a good time and you’re meeting people and feeding off their energy, and a lot of the girls said that they went home and that it was such a come down,” Jenny says.

“But I didn’t feel that at all. I went straight from Rose of Tralee mode to field worker mode.”

‘A complete 180’

The two hats are very different, but it turns out that both proved useful during her trip.

“The whole thing was a complete 180. The Rose of Tralee is so glamorous and beautiful and you have so many people around you all the time, and then I went to Cambodia on my own with just a backpack. It was the least glamorous thing,” Jenny says with a laugh.

“But I was asked to bring the sash with me by one of the organisations I was working with, and a lot of different businesses and organisations ended up asking me to take a picture with it for their social media, which I thought was amazing. It’s so nice that the Rose of Tralee has spread so far.”

But when the sash came off, it was back to work. The trip was the first of two that Jenny will embark on as part of her PhD, which she is completing at the University of Galway. The research entails conducting interviews and talking to various charities in Cambodia and Rwanda to find ways in which NGOs can create better programmes to help women with physical disabilities tackle the job market.

“What I’m interested in is hearing from these women specifically what they think could be done to improve their lives and their access to jobs in Cambodia and Rwanda. 

"I want to talk to them and try to understand what types of jobs they do and what education they have had. Once I have that information from both countries, I will be able to compare it and see if there are things that we can do to help that are universally applicable, or if things need to be country-specific,” Jenny explains.

“I think people with disabilities have generally been left out of the development agenda, and that’s what I heard in Cambodia. I want these women to have a voice and to tell me their stories so that I can tell them to others.”

Pressure and Inspiration

Such a task is no easy feat, and Jenny says she feels an enormous amount of pressure to try to get it right.

“I heard the most incredible stories. Some of these women are not only working to improve their own lives, but the lives of their entire communities.

“I spoke with one woman who has been blind since she was born, and now she runs a massage parloru. She’s given talks all over the world about how disabilities don’t need to hold you back,” Jenny says.

“Another woman who lost her arm set up the Siem Reap Food Bank, which distributed food to people who didn’t have any money during Covid. She would never think of herself first - she’s always thinking of how she can help other people. It was so inspiring.

“We think of the disabled people of Cambodia as people who need our help, when in fact there are women who are doing incredible things for their communities and are advocates for both themselves and for other women with disabilities. There’s much more to it than just the ads you see on television.

“And these women have trusted me with their stories. They told me what I asked them to tell me, and now it’s up to me to do something about it.

“The onus is on me to figure it out and help in any way I can.”

Transition

First, though, Jenny needs to complete her two month trip to Rwanda, which will begin at the end of May - just weeks after she hands back the Cork Rose sash. She’s already excited to travel again, having enjoyed her time in Cambodia immensely.

“I absolutely loved Cambodia. There’s such a sense of openness there and there are a lot of expats.

“I was also very lucky because some incredible Irish NGOs work there. So, it was an easy transition in one sense,” she says.

Parts of the culture also reminded her of home; especially an experience she had on her first night.

“A contact of mine over there brought me to a restaurant, which ended up being managed by a man called Cecil from Co Antrim. I told him I was from Cork and I had literally just arrived, and it turns out that he’s from the same town as the Dubai Rose. I couldn’t believe it, and he was such an amazing help for the whole three months that I was there.”

After she finishes her PhD, Jenny hopes to return to her work as a development consultant and specialise in disability. Her love for the area goes all the way back to her work as an English teacher abroad, and to an internship she completed with Self Help Africa. Countless trips have taken place since, and, at aged 25, she already hopes to settle a bit going forward.

“My parents are very supportive, and my partner, God bless his soul. There were times where I was away more than I was in Ireland. They’ve all been so helpful and visit me wherever I am,” she says.

“But there came a point where I realised that I had worn myself out from trying to be everywhere and trying to solve everyone’s problems. I have to focus on one thing and dedicate myself to that.

“Which is what I’m trying to do now.”