A County Galway family of six who spent their summer holidays working as volunteers in eastern Europe say the experience was “ life changing”.
The Clarke family from Maree, Oranmore were part of a team of 16 who travelled to Romania for two weeks earlier this year, organising summer camps for needy children.
Ray Clarke, who works as group ATM manager with Bank of Ireland in the republic, says they got involved because of their strong Christian faith and desire to live it out in practical ways to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.
“The camps cater for children who live on the streets, in orphanages, social centres, in poor families, from gypsy communities, etc. The message to these children is that they are loved, are special, and while socially outcast they are still precious in the sight of God.”
He says they live in appalling conditions. The camp provides time for fun and games and spending quality time with these children while working through interpreters. The children are selected by partner charities in the particular country and all of the costs are covered by the Irish team who fundraise to pay for themselves and for the children.
“The accommodation was basic, with meals per head of €11 per day. However there was nothing wrong with mash and water for two weeks. The joy it brought to these children to experience the ‘holiday of a lifetime’ made it all worthwhile.”
Charity work is nothing new to the Clarke family. They became involved in Operation Christmas Child - the shoebox project which sends gifts to poor children in developing nations globally - in 2,000.
Ray headed up the project in Galway for the past number of years. “It now impacts on the lives of almost 20,000 children each year who receive Christmas gifts in colourful shoeboxes from Galway. The charity involved is Samaritans Purse who last year distributed about eight million shoeboxes worldwide to 100 countries.”
Their initial involvement in the shoebox project prompted them to organise summer camps for needy children.
“For the past number of years Irish teams have travelled to eastern Europe to conduct these camps and this year there was a Galway team for the first time. All our family, including David who is only 14, have experience of previous trips and have been to places as diverse as Russia, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine, Armenia while Rachel has also ventured further afield to Mozambique, Brazil and India.”
The Clarkes say they are grateful for the support they receive from local businesses and the public.
“We want to express our gratitude for the support we have received over the years through bag packing in Supervalu Oranmore and through other fundraising efforts. Only through this financial assistance has it been possible to bring joy to these children.”
