SAAS is a small Irish based charity, that we in the Pastoral Area support.
Details of a recent visit are available below.
If you would like to find out more about this Parish Overseas Social Justice project, come along to our gathering on Wednesday 17th January at 7.30pm in St. Brigid’s School Hall, Greystones, for a presentation and social gathering. All Welcome.
SAAS is a small Irish based charity, that we in the Pastoral Area support. Fr. John Daly (the PP at the time) brings us an insight into its work.
Dear Sponsor and Parishioner,
A visit to Mombasa in Kenya is always an assault on the senses. You are hit full in the face with the beauty and joy of life along with all its struggles and challenges. My visit this year to SAAS (Sponsor An African Scholar) a small Irish based charity, we support, which is located in Mombasa was no different.
We were visiting the SAAS CENTRE which has recently been refurbished and looking all the better for a lick of paint, new furniture and curtains etc. The Centre is the meeting point for most of the students we support to socialise, complete schoolwork and to gain access to the internet. It’s also used for computer and secretarial courses. When we arrived we were warmly greeted by Maria and Sylvia, the coordinators on the ground for SAAS. We also met with some of the students we sponsor and had lunch together after a presentation on SAAS’s work this past year.
After lunch we headed off to visit various schools in the Kongowea slum where we met with staff and some of the students we sponsor to catch up on how they were getting on with their studies and to present them with some school resources. The gulf between the school facilities we have in Wicklow and Mombasa is frightening but the students are just as keen and enthusiastic to learn and to graduate as our own teenagers. In the entrance of one of the schools we were greeted by the words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” It sums up the work of SAAS and why I feel it’s so important to support them.
To see how SAAS is having an impact was probably embodied in our encounter that day with one particular student called Gloria. She is 20 years of age and only just beginning her secondary education. Her family, who squat in a tent on a piece of waste land, could not afford to send her to school and we’re trying to arrange marriage for her so that she would be someone else’s responsibility. SAAS has stepped in and is now sponsoring Gloria’s education, giving her hope and, with an education, the possibility of breaking the cycle of poverty, and offering new opportunities for Gloria and her family.
Later that day we visited the homes of some of the students we sponsor in the vast Kongowea slum. One particular home, a mud hut, was the size of a small garden shed and home to a girl we sponsor and her mum. We were welcomed warmly by the mum into her home. The only furniture was a small bed, the rest of the small space was filled with pots and pans and their few belongings. The young girl slept on the floor at night. Her three brothers lived elsewhere for lack of room. There was no bathroom or cooking facilities. It was a truly humbling experience, and our only response was one of silence and respect for this woman trying to provide a better future for her family. It was great to know that we could support her family through the work of SAAS.
Finally, the highlight of the trip for me was meeting Fr. Eric. A newly ordained priest who was working locally in a parish. He was a resident of the Kongowea slum and had been sponsored by SAAS with his secondary education many years ago. To hear him speak with thanksgiving and deep gratitude for the sponsor that provided not just an education, as he said, but with an opportunity to fulfill his hopes and say “yes” to God’s calling to the priesthood was truly inspiring.
Presently, individuals and families within the parishes of Greystones and Kilquade support 74 students from the Kongowea slum in Mombasa. We would love to grow the number of students we can support for 2024. It costs about €420 to sponsor a student for a year or €35 euro a month. If you and your family or a group of friends could sponsor a young person’s education it would be a fantastic gift with its benefits lasting a lifetime. If we can provide a young person with an education and improve their chances of getting a job, thus breaking the cycle of poverty for them and their family, it becomes a gift that keeps on giving to future generations. I would encourage you in any way you can to support our overseas social justice project and help give a gift that will last for a lifetime and more.
If you would like to find out more about this Parish Overseas Social Justice project, come on Wednesday 17th January at 7.30pm in Kilian House Family Centre, next to Holy Rosary Church, Greystones for a social gathering and a presentation on how you can become involved in the parishes of Greystones and Kilquade’s work with SAAS. Details of SAAS are also available our Pastoral Area website: gkpastoralarea.ie or contact Vanessa Hayes directly on 0874187616.
Thank you. Fr. John Daly, (P.P. 2015-2024)