Limerick father and son are among hundreds in South Africa helping to build better futures

SINCE his son was just two-years-old, tiler Mícheál Fitzgerald has been travelling to South Africa to help with building projects for those living in poverty in the townships.

Mícheál and his now 19-year-old son Tom, from Knockanes, just outside Adare, are currently in South Africa together, where they are part of a group building a school for the community of Lwandle - just over an hour from Cape Town.

Mícheál explained that when he first volunteered, it was to build houses to replace the shacks where up to 12 people might be living, as part of the Niall Mellon Township Trust.

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He said that being part of the team to make these homes back when he started, and now schools, a reality, is really rewarding and fulfilling.

Even though Mícheál is a tiler, he said that he hasn’t done any tiling in South Africa as a volunteer for Mellon Educate and he said you don’t need to be a tradeperson, that there is something for everyone to do.

“At the moment, I’m on the roofing team, but I’ve done blocklaying, and lots of other things. It’s great to have a trade, but everyone gets a job,” Mícheál said.

When the team of volunteers arrive, they get to meet the children who will be learning in the school, walk around the site and meet the others who arrived earlier.

“I remember when I first went that the kids would rub my hands - they were not used to seeing white people and were trying to see if my freckles would rub off,” Mícheál recalls fondly.

He explained that they are not merely building schools and these are not just buildings. “That is stability”, Mícheál said, adding that a house and an education can mean a good life, they get meals in school and sometimes the children who learn in these schools go on to teach in them as adults.

Mícheál said the experience gives people perspective and helps them to realise how happy people can be with less, in an ever increasingly materialistic world.

“There are stalls selling food every day and they are only ever sufficient for a day,” he said.

Over the years, Mícheál has heard about and seen some really tragic situations, where young children who did not have the opportunity to access education ended up out of the system, some ended up in crime or prostitution, so what these volunteers are doing is really life-changing.

“It’s a tough place to grow up,” he said, appreciating that the lives of these children are vastly different to the lives of his own three children.

He added that having a safe home, food at school and access to education can be “the difference between making it in life or not.”

The children are excited to see the volunteers, they are happy, jumping and playing.

“They all have the same amount of nothing,” Mícheál said.

“It’s a great leveller too with volunteers - there’s about 400 people from all walks of life and everyone is on the same boat, we are all there for the same reason and there’s great fun and great banter,” Mícheál explained.

Tom first went to South Africa when he was in transition year in school.

He said: “It’s always something I talked about doing when I was older” and he will be joined by his cousin, his father’s nephew Eoin, who lives in Clare.

“When I went with Dad when I was 16, I was excited and nervous and didn’t know what was ahead and when you get there, you just get it - you have to see it with your own eyes,” Tom said.

He said that when it comes to the last few days of the trip, he’s already planning his return trip the following year.

“We see videos of our progress while there and it gives you a real sense of achievement,” the 19-year-old said.

Mícheál added: “We’re all like ants, it’s incredible how quickly these buildings go up. Last year, on Saturday afternoon the roof was on, by Monday it was plastered and the windows were in by Tuesday, and it was painted and blackboards were hanging by the end of the week.”

Tom said that he’s a general labourer on the sites and will be doing whatever is asked of him.

“You’re never stuck for something to do - you can always lend a hand,” he said.

Mícheál added: “You don’t need a skill or trade, people should consider it - you’d surprise yourself.

“We have a Cork hairdresser and she’s out there plastering.”

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Volunteering has been part of life for so long in the Fitzgerald house that their annual coffee morning to raise funds for their trip is a local highlight in the calendar.

“It’s like a social - our neighbours and friends are fantastic and so supportive, without those people we wouldn’t be able to go.

All of those people have donated generously on the day and online on GoFundMe and you feel like you’re out there representing them and your neighbours and you do your bit,” Mícheál stressed.

Over the past 23 years, Mellon Educate has housed 250,000 homeless people in South Africa, thanks to the voluntary work of 10,000 Irish people - 365 of whom were from Limerick.

For this father and son duo, volunteering at Mellon Educate has become part of their identity.

“It’s part of who I am now,” Mícheál said, with his son Tom adding; “When you meet people around the village, they’ll ask about the trips to South Africa - it’s almost an extension of yourself.”

2025 positions have been filled, but the charity is accepting expressions of interest to participate in the 2026 Building Blitz.

Anyone interested can visit melloneducate.com.