Limerick students' rewarding trip to Uganda with children’s charity

TRANSITION year students from Villiers School traveled to Uganda during their Easter break, to work in schools and hospitals, spending their trip help- ing children, particularly those with disabilities.

Four staff members and 22 students from the secondary school on the North Circular Road traveled to Uganda with the charity organisation Zest4Kids at the beginning of their holidays from school. 

“Villiers School are very proud of the fact that so many of our students, teachers and parents want to make a real difference to the lives of children in communities less fortunate than ourselves,” deputy principal Mary Quinn said. 

“It was an emotional, tough, rewarding experience and we are very proud of our students,” she added.

During the year, the students held a number of fundraisers for their trip, including a 24-hour fast, a colours day, a raffle and a Christmas card sale. 

The group were based in the Kumi region of rural Uganda and worked in a number of schools in the area. They also visited the Kumi Orthopaedic Hospital and an Orphanage for Deaf Children in Kampala where they donated medical supplies and sports equipment. 

Zest4Kids is a registered charity that focuses on helping children in “desperate circumstances.”  Zest4Kidz operates projects helping children in three main areas: child soldiers in Africa, children in slums and on streets in India and children in prisons and in orphanages in Eastern Europe.

The charity’s projects fall into three main categories: educational, counseling and medical.