Letterkenny-based couple continue to go the extra yard for HOPE Mission in Africa

Gareth and Brónagh Hayes have spent the last 26 years living in Letterkenny.

Brónagh, originally from Louth, and Armagh native Gareth moved to Letterkenny for Brónagh to attend college. As the age-old story goes, they met, fell in love, married and raised two daughters, Aoife and Aimée. But there is more to Brónagh and Gareth than meets the eye. They are no ordinary couple. They have committed their lives to helping others. As Christians, Brónagh and Gareth say, their aim in life is to give people hope.

They do that in several ways, the most recent being their newly published children’s book called SOS, Save Our Sheep. The story was written by Brónagh and illustrated by Gareth. The story of Sammy Sheep had origins in an incident that impacted not only Gareth and Brónagh’s lives, but the lives of many others in Ireland and on the continent of Africa.

Gareth, an outdoor person, enjoys activities that sensible people would never think of doing, like paragliding from the top of Muckish and Errigal in Donegal or surfing big waves off the coast of Donegal and beyond. It was on one of these adventures on a Sunday afternoon about 10 years ago, something unexpected happened.

He takes up the story: “I and a few friends were in Bloody Foreland hoping to do some surfing. A farmer was rounding up his flock of sheep when one broke away and darted into the sea. The waves were very big, and the sheep was struggling to stay afloat as he was being swept out to sea.

“I asked the farmer if sheep could swim but the farmer informed me that it was only a matter of time before he would drown. Feeling sorry for the sheep I asked the farmer ‘Would I go and rescue the sheep’?”

“So feeling like David Hasselhoff, I got on my surfboard and headed out in my shorts into the freezing waters towards the sheep, who was by now quite a distance from the shore. As I was heading out to sea an old parable from the Bible came into my mind about The Lost Sheep, where one precious sheep wanders from the flock and the shepherd goes after it and brings it home.”

By the time Gareth got to the sheep, its nose was the only thing above the water. With the assistance of one of his friends, they managed to tow the sheep to shore and gave it back to the happy farmer.

He said that for the rest of that day and the next couple of days, he felt a deep stirring in his heart to use his life to rescue ‘lost sheep’ of the human kind.”

Gareth responded to that experience of rescuing a lost sheep in the sea in Donegal by setting up a charity whose aim is rescuing lost orphan children from the streets of Africa’s poorest nations. “Hope Mission was born out of rescuing that little sheep,” Gareth recalls.

After a few years of working with young people on the streets in Derry, Hope Mission partnered with Drop Inn Charity to open a charity shop in Newtownunningham called Hope @DropInn. Through this shop and two others, in Cardonagh and Monaghan Town, the charity work with the street orphans in Zambia and Burkina Faso has been funded. “The generosity of the Irish people is always so humbling and encouraging. We could not do any of this without them,” Brónagh admits.

Gareth described what the charity has been doing recently in these countries. “We began the work with a feeding program for the children who live on the streets, which now regularly feeds 150 children. It guarantees them a hot meal and some dignity, as we also built a facility for showers, toilets, and washing clothes. This regular contact with the children allows us to get to know the ones in most need and tailor our resources accordingly.

He said: “Last year we also bought a building to make a home for young girls, some with babies of their own, who were living on the streets. This year, we are in the process of buying a premises for young orphan boys, some of whom are as young a seven-years-of-age, who also live rough on the streets of Zambia. Sadly, Aids has wiped out a whole generation and left a lot of orphans with no homes, families, prospects, or hope.

“We also bought land last year and are in the process of drilling wells and building the infrastructure needed to create a large farm to feed both the children and surrounding local villages. Our aim is to be self-sustaining for food in the future.

“Education is also a very important part of what we do. We have recently opened a new school in Lusaka, Zambia, where the street kids and the girls from Hope House are receiving an education, some for the first time ever.

Also last year, in Burkina Faso, we were part of a project to open a new medical centre. All the supplies were kindly donated from hospital and medical centres in Ireland. It is amazing to watch the work growing and we want to grow with it.

The continuing need for funds for charity work with the orphans is a huge part of why Gareth and Brónagh have put the adventure of their sheep rescue in a children’s book. Brónagh explained that the more she heard the story of the rescue, the more the sheep became a real character in her mind; a sheep with a personality, plans, and adventures to entertain children.

“The book recounts the rescue from the sheep’s perspective and creates the character of ‘Sammy Sheep’, who we hope will go on many more adventures in the future.”

The book was funded personally by Gareth and Brónagh, and 20% goes towards the work of HOPE Mission in Africa.

Gareth, ever the adventurer, also plans, on March 1, to paraglide off the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, which happens to be Africa’s tallest mountain at 19,340ft. The project is called ‘Raise the Roof’ and the plan is to raise one euro for every foot of altitude he climbs. The money raised will go toward building new schools and children’s homes in Africia, raising roofs over the heads of the most vulnerable children.

Leaving the last word with Gareth: “For over 20 years I have suffered with kidney disease and even lost a kidney in the process. Some days my energy is low, and life’s goals can seem so hard to reach. But with the right frame of mind and help, I believe you can achieve great goals in life.

"Now that I have the all-clear from the doctor and training has begun, I look forward to accomplishing my dream of flying off the roof of Africa. Hope is a powerful word and it means a lot in my life. Being able to help others find Hope and see their lives changed has been one of the greatest joys in my life.

“Whoever you are and whatever you’re facing, remember that…There is Hope.”

You can support Gareth and Brónagh in their work by buying SOS Save our Sheep on the GB Hayes website, or by sponsoring Raise the Roof – Paraglide Kilimanjaro.