Page 34 - Aidlink Annual Report 2020

Development Education – Immersion Spotlight:
Who
Darragh Cottor Fifth Year Student Blackrock College
What
Aidlink Immersion Programme
Where
Kenya
Feb 2020
When
In the 10 days we were in Kenya, I felt we had ample opportunity to experience many things that tourists wouldn’t ever get to, such as being able to attend school with Kenyan boys that were studying the same courses as us like science, math, English, geography and their native language Swahili. Throughout the immersion programme
I came to realise that there are many similarities between the life of
a teenager in Kenya and in Ireland. The school life in Holy Ghost Schools is very similar to our school life. They have sports after school and even travel to other local schools for matches just like us. Then after sports they have dinner and then into study, which is pretty much the same
as a Blackrock boy’s day. On reflection on school life and the lads our age, we have a lot in common and we had plenty of stuff to talk about in between classes such as sports, music, tv shows and movies, even though we had a lot of cultural differences we still had a lot in common.
When we went on a day trip from school to the visit the Masai communities they were extremely welcoming. They were singing local music and dancing together having such a good time. They even allowed us to get up and join them dancing which for me was one of the best parts of the trip. When reflecting on the trips to the Masai communities you realize just how welcoming they were to invite 28 of us into the community. This experience has made me look at the world differently.
Darragh Cottor, Blackrock College in class in Holy Ghost Secondary School, Sultan Hamud, February 2020.
Immersion Programmes are a type of Development Education. By giving first-hand experiences of a different way of life, these programmes aim to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges people face in extreme poverty. We support Irish communities to engage with African communities through Immersion programmes, Walk for Water and developmenteducation.ie
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