A LIFE ON THE FRONT LINE OF POVERTY, CONFLICT AND HUNGER
MARY T MURPHY FROM REENAREE HONOURED WITH PRESIDENTIAL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD AFTER A LIFETIME OF SERVICE TO THE WORLD’S POOREST
THE compassion and dedication of a mid- Cork woman who has spent almost three-decades working with some of the most poverty-stricken communities in the developing world has been rewarded with one of Ireland’s most prestigious accolades.
Mary T Murphy from Reenaree near Ballyvourney, an aid worker with GOAL, visited Áras an Uachtaráin recently where she was presented with the Presidential Distinguished Service award by Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins.
The award is presented each year to 10 Irish people living and working abroad across different sectors, who have given ‘sustained and distinguished service to Ireland.’
Mary T, who has spent her entire working life caring for and supporting those affected by illness, poverty and conflict, received the award under the Charitable Works category.
Following a decade working and training as a staff nurse in the special care and intensive care units of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, Mary T. joined GOAL in 1994.
In her role as medical co-ordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo she helped respond to the refugee crisis precipitated by the brutal Rwandan genocide.
She subsequently spent a decade working with the American NGO, International Medical Corps (IMC) in Burundi, before rejoining GOAL in 2008.
She has more than 27 years’ experience working to improve the health of the poor in the developing world, specialising in areas such as healthcare, nutrition, HIV and AIDS, motherand-child healthcare, and gender equality.
Mary T currently works currently works as a refugee programme manager for GOAL in Eithopia, where she has taken charge the organisation’s large-scale emergency refugee programmes that cater for tens of thousands of South Sudanese and Eritrean refugees.
Mary T said that she was “very proud” to accept the award from President Higgins and that she did so “on behalf of all the people we work with in Eithopia and and my colleagues.”
“I know that I would not be here today without them,” she said.
As part of her job Mary T regularly travels across Eithopia and she recently spent some time in the Somali regions close to the Ethiopiaborder, where people are in desperate need of assistance.
“The Somali region has experienced a huge drought in recent times. As you are driving along the road, you will see a camel carcass. After another few kilometres, you will see another camel carcass. They have had a huge problem with lack of water,” said Mary T.
“It’s a little better now, food has been brought in and GOAL is responding, but the people there still need all the help they can get, as do those suffering from drought right across the country.”
Asked to explain why she continues to work as a humanitarian aid worker almost three decades after she began, Mary T replied simply - “It’s what I love to do.”
General Manager of GOAL, Celine Fitzgerald, said the organisation was very proud of Mary T and the work she continues to carry out in Ethiopia.
“Mary T. has spent her entire working life – almost 40 years – caring for the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable at home and abroad. She has spent much of that time working in some of the most inhospitable, underprivileged and challenging parts of the world, tending to people who have been deeply affected by poverty, conflict and hunger,” said Ms Fitzgerald.
“For 12 of those years, she has worked tirelessly and passionately for GOAL, always on the front line, always prominent, always ready. She has not just been an example to everyone in the organisation; she has been an inspiration.” Photo: Maxwell Photography.