HURLING CHALLENGE FOR ZAMBIA
The Under 21hurlers of Kilkenny and Tipperary will lock horns in a “Hurling Challenge for Zambia”on Wednesday March 7th next at 7.30pm under the lights at the home o fnewly-crowned All-Ireland Junior Champions St. Patrick’s Ballyragget. An additional honour for the Club on the night will be that, as reigning CountyUnder 21 Champions, one of their own players will Captain the Kilkenny Under21s this year. Also on sale on the night at just €5 will be the book ‘Bally Boys Abú’ produced to mark St. Patrick’s Ballyragget great year in 2011.
This match is another of the on-going fundraising efforts in Kilkenny CBS as part of the Zambia Immersion Project. The CBS has adopted what is known as the ‘WaSH’ Programme for 10 Zambian Schools run by the Christian Brothers. Eleven CBS students accompanied by 5 teachers will travel to Zambiafor a 2 week Immersion working in the 10 schools. Three of the teachers involved hail from Tipperary;Principal Tom Clarke from Clonmore, Pat Downey from Boherlahan/Dualla and Paul O’Donoghue from Cashel. The funds raised will be invested in providing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene hence the acronym‘WaSH’. Zambia is one of Africa’s poorest nations and basic facilities are often non-existant. Toilet facilities in the 10 schools are extremely basic and in many cases are just open’ pit latrines’.Former Principal of both Kilkenny C.B.S and Thurles C.B.S. and avid hurling supporter , Bro. Michael O’Donoghue is the driving force behind thi sproject which strives to provide adequate water, sanitation and hygiene amenities in these centres of education catering for over 10,000 students. TheZambia Immersion Committee would like to thank both Under 21 Managers, Richie Mulrooney and Ken Hogan for their unstinting support in agreeing to this fixture and also to St. Patrick’s Ballyragget for providing their pitch on the night. Admission to the game is € 5 euro and all proceeds go towards the financing of this worthwhile project. Why not come along and enjoy what should be an interesting and informative game of hurling between two age-old rivals whilst making a contribution to the lives of thousands of young Zambians who are infinitely worse off than we are despite the recession we find ourselves in? Your support would be greatly appreciated.
By Mary Morgan Thu 1st Mar
