Ireland – Kenya Schools Link Project: 1609 -2009 Initiative

To mark the 400th anniversary of Mary Ward's first apostolic foundation in Saint Omer 1609, the Irish Loreto Education Office decided to embark on a project that would bring together Loreto students from all over Ireland with Loreto Students in Kenya.

Over the next few weeks we will share with you some of their personal reflections and read how this immersion experience has impacted on their thoughts, their perspectives, and their dreams.

Ahead of the immersion experience in Kenya, a series of workshops were held in the schools in Ireland and students working from the backdrop of the Millennium Development Goals focused on Kenya as a developing nation on the Continent of Africa.

Students from all Loreto schools were invited to apply to take part in an immersion experience in Kenya in June. Many hundreds of applications were received and the process of accessing the candidates and whittling these down to two students per school was not an easy one.

 The 32 students chosen for the trip to Kenya, together with their parents, met in Dublin.

In a workshop facilitated by Mr Michael Denny (Education Office), Mr Colm Regan (80:20 Ireland) and Sr Kathleen MacLennan (MWI IRELAND) issues of development, justice, ethics, morality, and global politics were explored. The students and parents were challenged and encouraged to discuss and debate inequalities and injustices of our world and the nature and ownership of possible actions in response to these.

In early June, the 32 Loreto students left Dublin for Kenya. In the course of the next two weeks they worked, played, shared, studied and most importantly of all talked with Loreto students in Kenya. The girls, divided into four groups, attended classes every day in four different Loreto schools in and around Nairobi.

Read Caoimhe's reflection on her time in Kenya

Read Laura's reflection on her time in Kenya