a seminar on volunteering organised by Glenard University Residence in cooperation with Ros Geal Residence, Galway and Overdale Study Centre, Limerick (25th-26th February)

Africa, AIDS and making a difference were the themes of the annual student seminar “Can do –can u?” held recently in Glenard University Residence, Dublin . Donegal girl, Elaine Gallagher, former volunteer and now working as a solicitor, joined young people from Ireland, the UK, the US, South Korea, Mexico, Spain and Holland who got together to exchange experiences of volunteering projects at home and abroad, and to explore some of the wider issues involved in social development.

“It's been hard work but very exciting”, says organiser Caroline Mascari , MA student of international relations at DCU. “We had high-calibre speakers from GOAL and Prof. Gerard Casey of UCD. We were thrilled that Dr. Angelina Kakooza was been able to travel from Uganda , because she has a lot of experience with AIDS projects there. Another speaker, Melanie Verwoerd , is a former South African ambassador to Ireland and lived through apartheid, which is something today's students know little about. She told us that any time spent as a volunteer is like a third-level training, in that it opens up so many unsuspected horizons in your life. I think that really made people think”.

Manon Van Alphen , leader of the Dutch group attending the seminar, says that one of the attractive features of the week-end was the session on qualities needed by an effective volunteer, given by Gobnait Ó Grádaigh . “Sometimes people get disillusioned by the difference between theory and practice”, says Manon, “so it's important to know your personal strengths and weaknesses before you join a volunteering team”.

Volunteering projects run by students themselves were also presented in the course of the two-day seminar. The UK group presented the Baytree Project, an education initiative in Brixton, while Irish projects included Citywise, the Tallaght-based educational project Citywise, a Galway community initiative project for children and an educational project in Limerick .

“I did volunteering when I was a student and I know that I received more than I could ever have given”, says Elaine , “so I would always encourage people to get involved”.

Glenard is an independent university residence for young women and an educational initiative of the Opus Dei prelature, www.opusdei.org

For further information contact: Caroline Mascari

Some quotations & photographs of the seminar

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