My name is Aisling Connolly and I am a former pupil of St Ninian’s High School. After I left school I had the most amazing but challenging five weeks of my life. I took part in the Lasallian Developing World Project which is a charity which helps education in the third world. I was lucky enough to travel to a small town in Uganda called Lutisi. Myself and eleven other volunteers from around Scotland and England built accommodation for teachers. We worked with a charity called Kulika, which is a charity committed to improving the livelihood of those in need through community development and education. The project was a huge challenge for me but I knew it was something I had always wanted to do. I had the most incredible, life changing experience that I cannot fully explain. The trip had a great impact on me and it was a massive learning experience as I have not only learnt about the country of Uganda and the people but I also learnt a lot about myself. During my stay I witnessed an enormous amount of poverty which really made me realise how different life really is here.

I became extremely close to the builders we worked with. On our building site we had nine builders, and although some were much better at English than others we still managed to get to know them all and form relationships with them. All nine workers were poor and did not receive an education, but most of them were working to make money to make sure they are able to give their children the education that they didn’t receive. The building work was challenging especially in the heat but I had an amazing group and we all motivated one another.

The children without a doubt made my trip. One thing that I was really apprehensive about was that I knew I was going to find it hard seeing children live in poor conditions and suffering. However, I was surprised at what I saw, all the children are happy. When walking around the streets, I found many children who enjoyed the freedom and playing with other children. I realised that the children in Scotland are caught up on having the latest gadget and have the pressure of their peers which means they don’t appreciate what they have. This opened my eyes as I realised I was guilty of this and the people of Uganda have virtually nothing.

Whilst we were in Uganda we were lucky enough to visit schools. This was one of the many highlights of my trip. Our first school visit was overwhelming, when we arrived at the school, I am not exaggerating when I say about 300 children came running towards us. In Uganda, like many other developing countries, having people from outwith their community visit their school was a great novelty.  We were warmly welcomed into the school.

The weekend trips were amazing as we were able to relax and also see beautiful sites. After a hard week of work we would visit different parts of Uganda, including the safari, the source of the River Nile, Lake Binyoni and Jinja which is the second largest town in Uganda after the capital Kampala, which was incredible.

I had a fantastic summer.  I have gained so much from this experience and I hope I that I have made an impact on at least one person whilst I was away. I would definitely recommend participating in the Lasallian Developing World Project as it will be an experience you will never forget.  I am lucky enough to have been selected to go on a teaching project next year to Sri Lanka.  I can’t wait.

More information about Lasallian Developing World Projects can be found at www.delasalle.org.uk

Aisling Connolly (Graduate 2012)