Leitrim man leads aid mission to Uganda for third time

Leitrim man Seán Kelly is seeking donations for his third trip to Uganda, where he and a team will deliver aid as part of the ATU/St Angela’s Uganda programme this July.

The initiative, which the Dromahair native helped to start, will send a thirteen-person team from ATU St Angela's to provide health, education and financial assistance to vulnerable communities in the Entebbe region.

Organisers—including Siobhán O’Shea from the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Disability Studies, and Michelle McCabe from the School of Home Economics—are asking the public to donate items such as old glasses, communion and wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, satin or silk fabrics, and sunglasses.

The inspiration for the project began when Seán first volunteered in Uganda in 2017. “I saw potential for St Angeles to really be able to do something out there,” he says.

Following delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the team made their first trip in 2022 with just six people. 

This July they will return with thirteen participants for a two-week visit to support local communities with the help of their NGO partner, Bright Kids Uganda.

During the trip, the group will support children with disabilities at the Noah’s Ark school. Student nurses will assess the children and collaborate with staff to identify support mechanisms that can be put in place.

“Disability doesn't get the funding or, I suppose, the recognition … A child with a disability is literally brushed under the carpet or locked away in a room somewhere,” says Seán.

The programme also raises funds to support a local nurse who serves both the school and the surrounding community. The long-term goal is to make this role self-sufficient through local support.

“Over time so that this nurse's salary can be self-funded. She'll be able to, by the money that's coming in, that will eventually pay for that nurse's salary.”

Seán says sustainable change is the core aim of the programme. "It's about sustainable projects and working with the Ugandan people rather than going over and just telling them what to do and how to do things … we're really happy with the direction it's taken.”

The team will also host three vision clinics, offering free eyesight tests and distributing donated glasses.

“We have brought over at this stage thousands of pairs of old eyeglasses that people have lying around the house,” says Seán.

“Many of them would be quite elderly people and they just want to be able to read their Bible at night,” he adds.

To further support the local economy, the group buys locally and will set up craft enterprise workshops for women in the community This year, they launched a new initiative: donated dresses will be given to a local businesswoman—who supports a child with a disability—who will upcycle and rent them out.  ATU St Angela's Home Economics students will learn from her process.

“Our students get to learn about the culture of the textiles industry over there, and fashion industry over there, which is very much embedded in home economics,” says Seán.

According to him, reciprocity is central to the programme. While students provide meaningful help, they also gain invaluable, hands-on experience in their chosen fields.

“The students come back and they're getting what I got years ago and they're infectious and you just want to go back. It is a bit life-changing.”

Donations can be dropped off at the Sligo Food and Furniture Bank, Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The drop-off point in Dromahair is McGoldrick's Centra or simply contact Seán by email at Sean.P.Kelly@atu.ie

The students are also fundraising towards the various projects with Bright Kids Uganda and the local communities with 100% of all donations going straight to the source where it's needed. 

Donations can be made here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/atu-st-angelas-community-engagement-in-uganda-2025

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