stjosephsmercypsnavan.ie

Children from St. Joseph's Mercy Primary School presented Sr. Celestine with a cheque for €1,500. Sr. Celestine worked in St. Joseph's for 20 years before going to work with other Mercy Sisters in Zambia. Teachers from St. Joseph's who worked in Zambia with Sr. Celestine - Ms. Caffrey, Ms. Doran, Ms. Hogan and Ms Savage - organised an Easter raffle and some sixth class children organised a Bring and Buy Sale to raise funds for the work of the Mercy Sisters in Zambia. The Sisters will use this money to fund a feeding programme which will mean that children attending the schools will receive one meal each day.

In June 2007, Emma Caffrey and Karen Craughan went to Mazabuka, Zambia to spend a month working with the Mercy Sisters. Emma teaches in St Joseph’s and Karen teaches in Scoil Mhuire. This is an account of their work in Zambia.

We are both Primary School Teachers and wanted to spend the month of July teaching the underprivileged children in Zambia. Before we went we raised €19,300 through various fund-raising events and we wanted to spend this helping the people in Mazabuka.

We taught each day from 7am until noon. There is no electricity in the school so everyone must work with the light and this is why school begins so early. We found the children very courteous and eager to learn. They loved Music, Art and football.

We spent €2,000 on school books for them as there were up to five children sharing each text book in our classes. We bought colouring pencils and white paper for art, which were a huge novelty. We spent some money on parties for the children, many of whom are orphans due to AIDS. The children took the boxes which had held the pencils and the paper cups home to play with. We also bought footballs, art materials and supplies for the teachers.

We spent €10,000 funding feeding programmes in three different schools. Here the children received some porridge each morning. This may be the only meal they have each day and the reason they attend school. We also gave money to a programme that teaches computer skills to teachers.

We went to see the compounds where the people live. There are hundreds of mud huts right beside each other in the compounds. We gave some money to a nurse who visits the compounds each day with home help – they bring food and medicine to the many AIDS patients. We also gave money to a group of women who are trained to teach new mothers how to care for their new babies. We went to visit these programmes after school each day.

There are two other teachers in our school, Celine Doran and Muireann Hogan who went to Mazabuka in previous summers to teach. In January 2008 we learned that the town had been badly flooded. The mud huts were washed away and the few possessions that the people had were gone along with the huts. Cholera was threatened, as was a famine because all of the crops had been destroyed.

We organised an emergency fund-raiser to avert a huge tragedy and we raised €8,653 for the community that we had worked with. This money was transferred directly to Zambia and the Mercy Sisters have spent it trying to house and feed the people.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to the collection.

In July 2008 Carrie Savage and Finola McMahon who both teach in St. Joseph's and two other friends went to work with the Mercy Sisters in Zambia. They spent each day teaching in the local schools and visiting the sick, the poor and the needy. Life in Zambia can have a very bleak outlook for many families especially the children as many are affected by hunger, sickness and poverty.

After lots of fundraising, the girls were able to bring almost €40,000 with them for the people of Mazabuka. The two schools that they worked in received books, art supplies and sports equipment which will make a big difference to all of the children in the schools.

They allocated €3,000 to build a new teacher’s house in Nziba, a remote bush area. The people in this area have been trying to build the house for the past five years and they were delighted to receive the donation.

€5,000 was given to the Mercy Sisters to help educate the children of Mazabuka – without this help the children of the town might never get the opportunity to go to school.

Two new feeding programmes were set up in bush schools. Money was set aside to keep these and the three other programmes established by teachers from St. Joseph's running. These feeding programmes provide much needed nourishment for the children in the schools.

Money was given to Sr. Terry to support the Widows and Orphans Programme which she runs. These women have all lost their husbands due to illness and they cannot support their families. There are also many children who have been orphaned in the area and Sr. Terry uses the money to provide food for the women and their children.


The girls left money in an Emergency Fund - after the severe flooding in January, the crops failed and the effects of this will only become apparent during the dry months from October to January. The Emergency Fund will be used to buy food and new crops for the farmers.

Sr. Mary runs the Life Start Programme and Sr. Andrea runs the Home Based Care Programme in the Mazabuka compounds. Money was given to these sisters to help the people living in the compounds. This money will be used to transport people to hospital, to buy furniture for their homes, to buy medicine for those who are ill.

The Irish Dancing Class! Everyone had great fun learning the Walls of Limerick.

The new football was very welcome indeed!

We would like to thank the children, parents and staff of St Joseph’s Mercy Primary School for the support and help they have given us by raising €2,681 of the money that we brought to Mazabuka with us. That money has given so much relief and hope to so many who are in need.