Gaelscoil uniforms are a big hit with ever-grateful Kenyan kids

BEAMING faces all decked out in the iconic brown of Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuarisc – thousands and thousands of miles from where the uniform first started out.

Staff and parents at the Carlow primary school have been deeply touched by the whole new lease of life the school’s former uniform is enjoying in Mukuru Promotion Centre (MPC), Nairobi, Kenya. The centre, run by Sr Mary Kileen, welcomes children from the Mukuru Slums, an extremely tough and impoverished place that’s home to more than 700,000 people, all living in shacks made from cardboard or plastic materials, without sanitation or running water.

MPC runs a range of programmes, including education, health and social development and rehabilitation, in collaboration with the Mukuru community and is making a genuine impact on the lives of Makuru’s most vulnerable. Many of the boys attending the centre have been abandoned, suffer from extreme hunger and poverty and are also susceptible to crime and exploitation.

When the Gaelscoil decided to change its uniform last year, one local woman knew exactly the right home for the no-longer-needed jumpers, shirts and trousers.

“My niece in a teacher in the Gaelcholáiste and she told me the Gaelscoil was changing their uniform. I thought, oh, I’ll take them,” said Catherine Nolan from Graiguecullen who, along with seven other local women, has volunteered with the Mukuru Promotion Centre for a number of years.

On one of her first visits to the centre, Mary recalled speaking to one of the centre’s boys who, when asked what he would wish for, he replied: “Please, Miss, can we have a uniform.” “The boys had seen other children in the school across from them wearing uniforms and they wanted to have them, too,” said Catherine.

The call went out to Gaelscoil parents to donate their no-longer-needed uniforms and the response was incredible.

“The response was amazing; it surpassed all expectations,” said Catherine. “I had three rooms in the house all filled with Gaelscoil uniforms,” she said.

Catherine spent weeks sorting the huge piles of clothes into various sizes and on her recent visit to Mukuru took out three large suitcases filled with uniforms.

“The boys were absolutely thrilled. The reaction when we handed them their little bundle with their name and age on it and their new uniform was amazing,” said Catherine.

Catherine admits that visits there can be heartbreaking, while the task can often seem enormous, with so many children from the slums in need of support.

“While I was out there, a little four-year-old boy was found abandoned on the dump. There are children who are starving. Before I left, we were handing out food to mothers with babies and children and you know that that food has to last them until Christmas … it is heartbreaking,” said Catherine.

But there are success stories, too, and lots of moments of joy.

“Two of our boys have gone on to university and a boy I sponsored is now making a career in photography, so there are success stories.

“The boys are so good, so grateful and thankful for everything. It’s unbelievable – they are great,” she added.

If anyone would like to support Mukuru Promotion Centre, where a little goes such a long way, contact Catherine on 086 8709846 or Vera Smyth on 086 8317940.

The volunteers will be returning to Nairobi in March.