Emergency worker backing GOAL Boyne 10k
Adjudicator James McCafferty with Drogheda Brass Band winners, Grace English, Mark Nutley, Conor Rothwell and Stephen Murray.
Wednesday March 17 2010
LOUTH County Council Engineer Paul Kelly was part of an emergency response team in Haiti when he heard about the GOAL Boyne Valley 10k, which takes place on the May bank holiday Sunday.
A GOAL volunteer since 2001, he has assisted in humanitarian emergencies in Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Haiti, and has now decided to lend his support closer to home.
'Fundraising events like this give us the resources to save people's lives and get our work done,' says Paul, who is married with two children.
On his first project in Kosovo, Paul spent two years building 600 houses for refugees, along with sanitation and drinking water infrastructure.
In the Congo, he assisted in the construction of a road to transport vital supplies to nurses working in healthcare clinics, in remote areas the size of Munster. For most of 2003 he worked on over 500 water and sanitation projects in Iraq.
Paul says GOAL's approach to projects is unique.
'An emergency response team are dispatched to an relief area. The team is made of qualified medics, project managers, engineers, builders and accountants. They organise, train and instruct local people on how to distribute food and supplies to people'.
One point Paul is keen to stress is that every emergency, and therefore every response, is different.
'In Haiti after the earthquake, it was all about food distribution. The focus has now moved on to sanitation and shelter,' he adds.
'It is critical that we make the best use of our money, so we employ local people and operate a cash of work scheme. This gives local people work, and gets cash into the local economy.'
You can help in your own way too, by participating in the GOAL Boyne Valley 10k.
100% of the entry fee of € 35 goes to the charity. You can run, jog, or walk the race, but the main aim is to have fun and raise a serious amount of cash for a worthy cause.
The GOAL Boyne Valley 10k starts at 10.00am Sunday May 2nd at Oldbridge, Drogheda. Make being there your goal! www.boyne10k.com - See how Alison is getting on with her own training on page 34
- Alison COMYN
