On 1st of March, all Transition Year students were given the wonderful opportunity to take part in an on-line workshop with John O’Shea, a Dublin journalist and founder of the aid charity Goal. The experiences and stories John had to share were inspiring to all involved. For many people, the workshop has really sown the seed of social entrepreneurship and the value of volunteerism. In a transition year with many changes because of the pandemic, this was a fantastic opportunity to greater our understanding of the wider world.
In 1977 John O’Shea visited Kolkata (Calcutta), he was moved by the amount of street children he saw all living in horrible conditions whilst on his trip. This encouraged John to do something to help these children and others like them. In the same year John and four of his friends founded the aid organisation Goal to help the poorest people of our world. Now 44 years later Goal is an especially important aid agency to many communities around the world. Since 1977 Goal has worked in communities in over 60 countries. They have responded in many times of crisis such as the famine in Uganda, the genocide in Cambodia and the Rwandan genocide. In 1984 Ethiopia experienced the largest famine ever to be recorded. Goal responded with hundreds of staff including nurses, doctors, and engineers.
There was one observation made by John O’Shea that really remains with me. We hear in school, the media or in life in general about the “Developing World” or the “Third World” so it was strange to me when John used the term “forgotten world.” He talked about how he had worked in these counties for over 40 years and had never seen any “developing”, the people of these countries instead were “forgotten”. Hence the term “forgotten world.”
Aid agencies like Goal and many others along with missionaries and members of the EU and UN, work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of the “forgotten world” but it is often not enough. The scale of the problem is far too vast. John told the story of a nun who worked in Ethiopia for 30 years. She said that about 15 million people were in danger of losing their lives from starvation. Despite their optimum efforts, how could a few hundred aid people solve such a wide scale issue?
We can listen to facts and figures all day, but nothing really impacts us more than real stories. Among many stories John had to tell, this one by far remained in my mind. After he returned from his first visit to Ethiopia, John was horrified by what he experienced. He went to talk to a school in Skerries, north county Dublin about the life conditions of children their own age in Ethiopia. During his talk, a young boy stood up and said “Mr O’Shea, my daddy has a boat, and he will go to Ethiopia and collect all the hungry babies and bring them back to Skerries to fatten them up and when their all fattened up, he will bring them back to Ethiopia and we will all live happily ever after.” The love that child showed for children he never even met was inspiring. Such a simple solution to such a complex issue.
We hear so much about the issue of refugees or migrants but behind the news stories are real people. John talked about families at the borders practically begging for a “safe haven;” however, the international community takes little action to help them. What if we could convince every country even just within the EU to take in a certain number of refugees, anything would make a difference. John was lucky enough to meet Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. A question John asked both of them was “What can I do to help?” and they said, “by saving the life of one person you are doing something extraordinary.”
If we can take anything from the touching experiences of John O’Shea, it would be that we can make a difference. The international community needs to intervene. They hear the pain filled cries of the “forgotten world” yet they do not listen. John has spent the last seven years visiting schools to encourage young people to do good for the “forgotten world” because we are the future not only of our own country but of the world. The difference we can make without even leaving our desk is astounding. We can get our laptop, phone or good old-fashioned pen and paper and communicate with world leaders and people of importance, to open their eyes to the struggles of people in the “forgotten world” and encourage them to not only hear their cries but listen to them.
By H. Fennessy – Transition Year
