Into Africa: The Tipperary woman who was born to SERVE helping young people

A young Tipperary woman working with the charity SERVE is Zimbabwe has described it as “an opportunity” she could not pass up.

Nollaig Hulme from Cashel has been Zimbabwe for a little over three weeks now working as the group’s regional monitoring and evaluations officer based at the Young Africa international hub in Harare

However, the former St John the Baptist Girls Primary School student says that when she looks back, her journey began in late 2017 when, as a student in UCC, she decided to sign up to the SERVE volunteer programme.

Nollaig was following in her father’s footsteps as dad Philip had volunteered with SEVE in South Africa in 2014.
She finished her secondary education in Cashel Community School in 2016, following which she graduated from University College Cork in 2021.

In 2018 Nollaig volunteered at the Young Africa Campus in Beira, Mozambique and from there continued working with SERVE by volunteering in Vietnam in 2019 and being involved in Think Global Act Local and the ESC funded Global Goals project.

“I have been welcomed with open arms by everyone,” she says of her time since she arrived in Zimbabwe. “I have got straight into work at the hub and visited two of the YA centres in Chitungwiza and Epworth. In my first week here I spent a day visiting these centres and collecting the beginnings of what will turn out to be Impact Stories for students who have just enrolled as new students in Young Africa,” says Nollaig.

Nollaig will spend 12 months in Zimbabwe carrying out regional monitoring and evaluation work for SERVE and supporting Young Africa International in their various ongoing programmes.

As part of carrying out her role she will make visits to the sites and checking the progress of ongoing SERVE projects such as SERVE Skills for Youth Resilience Programme and Digital Vocational and Education Training for Young Africans (both being carried out in collaboration with Young Africa) and Mavambo Trust, an organisation committed to responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic affecting Zimbabwe.

Nollaig will also support Young Africa’s work which is being carried out in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia and beyond.

“I am learning every day, not just about development work but about Zimbabwean history and culture. I thought I had a good grasp on it already but there are some things you can only learn and experience by being here,” says Nollaig.

Her colleagues have been teaching her Shona and about Zimbabwean life, bringing different local food into the office to try.

“Despite ongoing economical and development problems throughout the country, it is possibly a very well-kept secret with its pleasant climate, beautiful scenery and very kind people,” says Nollaig.

However, despite her experience so far being full of positives, she says there have been some challenges too.

“Moving to a new continent by yourself is difficult, but then there is the addition of getting exposed to some of the challenges of everyday Zimbabwean life - the lack of electricity to name just one,” says Nollaig.

However, Nollaig says she is lucky enough to not be affected as much by these issues as those young people she works with on an everyday basis.

SERVE began in 2003 when a group of 12 young people living in Ireland, actively involved in youth and community work, were given the opportunity to travel to the Philippines and volunteer.

This year is a big year for both Young Africa and SERVE, with Young Africa celebrating their 25th anniversary and SERVE are celebrating their 20th, which also means YA and SERVE are celebrating 15 years in partnership.

SERVE acts as the development agent for the Dublin Province of Redemptorists with Misean Cara.