Presidential hopeful Sean Gallagher today spoke of the vital work of Irish Aid and promised, if elected to champion its cause. His words of support came during a visit to Camara Education, an Irish charity which uses technology to improve education in disadvantaged communities in Africa, Jamaica and Ireland.
Mr. Gallagher commented ‘Ireland is recognised throughout the world because of the work that we do not just in peacekeeping but in aid for many generations. That gives us not just an international reputation but is part of the spirit of who we are as a people’.
Mr. Gallagher recognised the impact of Irish Aid in terms of funding for charities such as Camara Education and stated ‘We need to continue to support Irish Aid in all its work. I salute the work of Irish Aid internationally and would only be too happy to champion that if elected’.
Mr. Gallagher met with staff and volunteers at Camara and was given a tour of the Charity’s workshop facility by CEO, John Fitzsimons before loading the final computer onto a 40ft container destined for Camara’s Education hub in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where they will be dispatched to under-resourced schools.
Camara Education refurbishes computers sourced from Irish businesses, government departments and individuals. These computers loaded with educational software, teacher training, technical support, and end-of-life e-Waste recycling enables thousands of people from marginalised communities’ greater opportunity to break the cycle of poverty they find themselves in.
Since it was founded in 2005, Camara has dispatched over 27,000 computers to sub-Saharan Africa, Jamaica and Ireland improving education for over half a million disadvantaged children. Ireland’s continued commitment to overseas aid enables Camara to continue its work in using technology to change lives.
John Fitzsimons, CEO commented ‘All of us here at Camara Education were delighted and very grateful to Mr. Gallagher for visiting our facility here in Chapelizod and highlighting the necessity of the work we do and for supporting Ireland’s overseas aid programme which enables us to carry out our work in disadvantaged communities’.
Camara Galway December Computer Drop-Off
The Camara Galway computer drop-off is taking place on Wednesday 7th of December from 10am to 6pm, so why not drop-off your old PCs, laptops, monitors, keyboards and mice?
The drop-off hub is located on Distillery Rd. in the NUI Galway campus, (travelling towards Moycullen on the Newcastle Rd., turn right into NUIG at the AIB bank). You can check out the hub in Google streetview here. For each computer system dropped off at the Camara hub, a €20 contribution is requested to offset costs associated with wiping, refurbishing, packing, and shipping the computers to schools in Africa.