Fr Walshe’s mission for Kenyan school
Fr William Walshe will be present at his annual walk taking place this month after returning to Ireland from Kenya.
The walk takes place on Sunday, August 21, starting from Fenton’s Pub in the Glen of Imaal at 11 a.m.. The walk leader will be John O’Reilly from the Red Cross.
It will be the 32nd walk organised by Fr Walshe to raise funds for his work in the Kenyan parish he is based in.
For the past six years the walk has helped establish and extend the St Patrick’s Mixed Secondary School in Makunga, Kitale.
The school was founded in 2010 and started from humble beginnings, consisting of one small classroom and eleven students, only three of whom were present for the Principal’s first day at school.
Fr Walshe recounts, ‘despite the paucity of students and the poverty of their parents, I assured the Principal, a man I had worked with for over forty years, that with his dedication and the support of my people back home in Ireland, the school would not fail.’
Fr Walshe’s words proved to be true. Currently, only six years later, the school boasts 373 students, ten classrooms, a library, two science labs, a computer room, IT room, administration room, ablution block for boys and girls, a kitchen and dining hall.
‘ The latest project is to extend the dining hall from its humble beginnings to cater for the 373 students and putting the finishing touches to a printing/examination room. The school also has a playing field, running track, basketball and volleyball courts, all thanks to the generosity of the people of Ireland,’ adds Fr Walshe.
The school motto is ‘Education for Liberation’ and Fr Walshe is hopeful that the students will help bring about a fairer and more equal Kenyan society.
‘We hope that through Education our students in future years might strive to redress the awful imbalance in Kenyan Society between the wealthy and the poor, between those who have a disproportionate share of the good things of this world and those with nothing. The gap between the wealthy and the poor is huge.’