Diocesan News03 May 13

School Joins Fight Against Malaria

Bishop Ken Good was presented with a cheque for the Nets Work Bishops Appeal Project by pupils from Ballyraine National School, Letterkenny. The pupils raised €550 during a ‘No Uniform Day’. This will buy 92 mosquito nets for Nigeria. The cheque was presented during a visit by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe to a special Assembly on 26 April.

There was a distinctly African flavour to the Assembly. Bishop Good was welcomed in Yoruba, one of the official languages of Nigeria. Pupils with links to Nigeria performed their Nets Work drama, with the message that mosquito nets make a huge difference to saving lives in Nigeria. The school choir also performed some African songs.

Malaria kills over one million people globally each year and is responsible for one out of every four childhood deaths in Africa.

Bishop Good thanked the pupils for their thought provoking assembly and for their generous support for the project. He told the pupils that to date a total of €50,000 has been donated to the Nets Work project by the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe.

The diocese is running the project in partnership with Christian Aid. Deborah Doherty from Christian Aid said, “A child dies from malaria every 45 seconds yet the disease is so preventable. We are really grateful to Bishop Ken and the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe for their very practical support of this project and their donations to date have already saved many lives”.

Photo: Mr David Oliver (Principal) Bishop Ken Good, Mrs Karen Smyth (Deputy Principal) and pupils from the African community in Ballyraine National School