Carlow man takes on incredible TransAtlanticWay Cycle Trek in support of Girls’ Education programmes

Misean Cara’s Project Funding Manager, Seamus O’Leary, who hails from Killeshin in Carlow,  is currently taking on the 2,400km WildAtlanticWay cycle trek from Derry to Cork.

One of just 18 active contestants in the race, Seamus is sponsoring a campaign to raise €5,000 in funds for Misean Cara Girls’ Education projects, which help girls in developing countries such as South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Kenya stay in school and improve their futures through education and skills training. Projects like this have never been more important than now, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the effects of the pandemic are being felt in every single country and community around the world, school closures have had a disproportionately negative impact on children in marginalised areas of the world where access to online learning is not even a fall-back option. U

NICEF estimates that up to 1.6 billion children around the globe have been unable to attend school at this time, about half of whom are girls.  And there are additional concerns that when schools do re-open, girls are less likely than boys to return, perhaps as many as 20 million secondary school girls in total. You can learn more about his campaign at his GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/939cd32f

Misean Cara is an international and Irish faith-based development organisation made up of 88 missionary member groups working in over 50 countries.

Members work at the forefront of long-term development and humanitarian work with some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in the Global South. Adopting a human rights focus, our members  b  support communities addressing basic needs in the areas of education, health, and livelihoods, as well as advocating for economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. At times of humanitarian crisis, the trusted and long-term presence of missionaries in affected communities also allows for rapid, efficient and targeted responses.  Find out more at www.miseancara.ie