Fundraiser moves online to continue local missionary work

FOR THE first time in its 20-year history, the annual church gate collection in Cavan for local missionaries working abroad has been cancelled.

Every year, usually over the August bank holiday weekend, local volunteers from the Cavan Famine and Aids Appeal for Africa Committee have been a familiar sight at various churches in Cavan as they collect donations from Mass-goers.

All the money collected goes directly to three charities in African countries where Christian missionaries from this area work to deliver healthcare, education, food and training in developing countries.

The money raised is distributed between missionaries from the Holy Rosary Sisters in Cavan who are working in Nigeria; Sr Mary Okumo, who belongs to the Sisters of Mercy order and who worked alongside a Leitrim volunteer at the Our Lady of Lourdes, Mutomo Hospital in Kenya and; to Fr James Connolly from Killygarry who is working in Zambia.

The Cavan Famine and Aids Appeal for Africa is a registered charity which was established by the late Rita and Michael Sheridan of St Martins, Drumalee.

To date, the collection has raised around €10,000 a year with 100% of money raised going to use on food, healthcare, education and medicines.

Secretary of the charity, Liam de Paor, told the Celt there are a number of reasons why the in-person collections are no longer viable.

“We are a committee and some of us are getting older and others have passed on,” Liam said. “Church gate collections are getting harder in general because people give money to the collection during mass and when they come out, they often don’t have any change left.”

He said timing can also prove difficult. “For example, over the past two weekends in Cavan there were three graveyard masses and people attended those in their numbers. Also, people go away over bank holiday weekends.

“Church gate collections are on the way out,” he concludes.

All is not lost, however, and the fundraising goes on for the three worthy causes as, the appeal has moved online.

“It’s still important we continue to raise money for the work our local missionaries are continuing to carry out in their areas,” an upbeat Liam said. “You only have to look at the very impressive hospital that Sr Mary has built. Now, she wants to develop a nursing school to train nurses of the future.

“In Kenya, parents don’t have the money to send their children to be trained and the Government doesn’t provide the funding either. Our collections are still important and very much needed,” he points out.

From Cavan to Kenya

From 1999 until her death in 2020, Anita McTernan from Dromahair, Co Leitrim volunteered as a nurse at the Sisters of Mercy Mission Hospital Hospital in east Kenya.

Anita returned from a mission to Kenya in the summer of 2020 with shingles and, despite treatment her health deteriorated, and she passed away in November of the same year.

For many years, some of the money raised by the Cavan Famine and Aids Appeal for Africa church gate collection went to the hospital where Anita worked. On average, the collection raises €10,000 annually for the three charities.

Today, Sr Mary Okumu continues the work Anita was involved in. The Celt spoke to Sr Mary and asked her how the money collected in Cavan is used and why it is important that people continue to donate online.

“We can use the money for a feeding programme for malnourished children and also for the nourishment needs of our TB patients," said Sr Mary, who is both a nun and a nurse with a doctorate.

“We support young women who have been victims of gender-based violence, some are pregnant.

When they attend ante-natal clinic at our hospital we offer them support. It could be a cup of tea and transport to and from the clinic,” Sr Mary explained.

“Some of the girls who are pregnant need to go back to school and have to leave their babies with their mother or grandmother and in that case, we need to provide the women and babies with powdered milk.”

Education

Sr Mary says €100 can feed five children for three days. Money raised in Cavan also goes towards training nurses at the Mutomo.

“A good number of girls who wish to train as nurses are unable to pay their course fees and neither are their parents,” she said, “Money we get from Cavan goes on girls’ education.

Sr Mary trained as a nurse and worked alongside Anita McTiernan. Today, she has just completed a PhD in medical management and says: “Although Anita passed away five years ago, the work continues.

“With €100 I can achieve a lot,” she added and described how the hospital needs funds to treat out patients and in patients, pay staff, carry out operations and then run social projects like the feeding, gender-based violence survivors group and nurse training.

“Socially, the programmes are a great support,” Sr Mary said.

“The money from Cavan has been a great support to the hospital over the years.

“If we didn’t get the money from the people in Cavan we wouldn’t be able to stretch as far as we do,” she said.