All over the island of Ireland they're at their work. Young men and older teachers from Christian Brothers' Schools are linking into Africa in a partnership for progress.

A group from CBS Newry have just returned from Zambia and to a man and a holy nun, a Sister of Mercy, they've come home changed and charged with a personal ambition to make a difference.

Hugh Markey, a teacher of Business Studies at The Abbey said the idea was that students and teachers would go into Africa, immerse,themselves in the culture for a time and then return to Ireland to work to heighten awareness of African problems and, importantly, of African happiness.

"They have so very little," Hugh Markey told me, "they are deep in povertry but yet they are extraordinarily happy. That's the paradox.

It was the Irish Christian Brothers' who came up with the idea and they did it to mark the 2OOth anniversary of the birth of their founder Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. They are strong in Africa where, increasingly their members are African.That's their success."

The Abbey has taken on a project to help complete tWo schools and to supply the funds for the salaries of teaching staff.

Student Michae1 O'Hare from Rostrevor said the experience made him more confident in his lifestyle and in his approach to life.

"Before going I wasn't very much into charity but now at every chance I get, I try to support projects in Africa with time and money. It Certainly made a great impact on my life."

Michael's fellow student Richard Gilmore from Dromara spoke about the Poverty they had seen.

"We saw people With extreme special needs; they were everywhere along the roadside. There was a lot of begging but you couldn't give them because you are trying to make them se1f-sufficient."

I put that dilemma to Sister Anne Lyng. By the time se1f-sufficiency was established as the norm, all the generation they had met would be dead! "The di1enlma can be solved by raising the awareness of the people in the developed world. If you can harness the energy of young people then the future will be bright. Good things have happened in Africa as a result of some twenty five Christian Brothers' schools and getting involved."

Out of Burren and into Africa went student Kevin McKernan. "It made me realise what we have here at home. We have so much, such a good life supported by our families. AIDS has robbed these children of their parents and they're left with nothing else but the orphanage. I will definitely follow up this up and will put my energy into other projects and go back to Africa in the future."

Mark Grogan teaches ICT at the Abbey so, I wondered, what can technology do for these people in their mud huts?

"Not a lot at the moment but something like the internet, and it does exist there, is opening up their world to information, education and health.

It's a slow country but, from the point of view of computer technology, it's improving all the time."

The commitment at The Abbey is obvious. They are a stout-hearted group of individuals motivated by their Christian and humanitarian values.

I have little doubt that their willingness to take a first step in the long journey towards development in Africa will make a difference.

Written by Rowan Hand & published in the Newry Democrat 26th April 2005