Ireland’s Green Dragon met some friendly faces in Capetown recently, including Galwayman Fr Padraic Naughton.
Dressed in his Galway colours, Fr Padraic visited the Green Dragon with a group of children from the Salesian Project, before she departed for Cochin in India.
Known as Fr Pat, he was born west of Spiddal in 1940, but in 1959 left for South Africa where he worked throughout the region teaching and working with groups in need. He is currently the Rector of the Salesian Institute, working with youths and street children in Cape Town. His brother is Joe Steve O' Neachtain, well known for his role as Peadar in TG4's Ros na Run.
Fr Pat and the children visited the Green Dragon base, sail loft, and workshops, learning about life on board, what the sailors eat, and how long it will take them to reach India.
The Salesian Institute's Street Youth Project provides education for children from various shelters around the city, and accommodation, and skills training to those who are over the shelters' age limit.
