News
UCD Sport link up with local children in Haiti
In July, a member of UCD Sports staff, Deirdre Moloney flew out to Gros Morne in Haiti along with 30 UCD students and another two members of UCD staff as part of a UCD Volunteers Overseas project. They spent four weeks working in a town called Gros Morne, which is north of the capital, Port au Prince.
One of the major projects that took place in Haiti was a sports activity camp, which was run from Monday to Friday for the month of July. Over 200 local children from Gros Morne participated during the four weeks. There were 10 groups of boys and girls ranging in age from 6 to 12 years. The camp would start each morning with the children singing local and national songs and the Irish leaders would also teach the children songs in English.
The local children do not have any equipment to play sport at a competitive level yet alone for recreation. Young boys currently knit together elastic and cover it to make a football. Consequently the Irish contingent brought over several large training bags full of sports equipment for a wide range of sports. The equipment, which was kindly, sponsored by UCD Sport and brought screams of delight from the young children it was produced on the first day. As result they had four weeks of playing numerous hours of soccer with world cup footballs, they skipped, played with all sizes of balls, learned to play cricket and compete in novelty relays. They learned how to throw a Frisbee, play hockey, run a three-legged race and play marbles. There was also a sports day on the last day and each child was presented with a gold medal when they completed all ten activities.
The Irish group also brought with them 200 coloured t-shirts. Each group had their own colour and as the World Cup was on, groups ended up with nicknames like Argentina, Brazil and France. It brought enormous colour to the whole camp and for some children it would become one of the very few pieces of clothing that they would own. The t-shirts were kindly sponsored by the UCD Sports Clubs via the AUC.
The children that participated in the sports activity camp come from the Ravines (hills) area of Gros Morne. Many children have lost one or both parents and the extended family tend to take care of each other. Many of them must work to help with their upkeep so hence they do not get any education let alone attend primary or secondary school. Disease is widespread because many cannot afford healthcare and as result something like malaria can go untreated. The aim of the camp is to not only bring sport into their lives but to teach them basic etiquette, arts and crafts, some English and to give them an insight into the lives of people outside Haiti. The camp is growing and becoming more advanced. Many of the younger children will return next year and build on what they learned this year.
UCD Sport is very proud that they were able to make a positive difference in the lives of the children in Gros Morne and through UCD Volunteers Overseas, they hope to continue their support.
Filed By UCD Sport - 28th August 2006
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, occupies one third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Haiti has recently undergone a state of transition following an uprising which deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004. He had been re-elected in 2000 in an election which several parties boycotted due to disputes with the vote-counting of a previous parliamentary election. René Préval was elected president in his place on February 7, 2006, and took office in May.
