Bringing hope and comfort to people in the direst of conditions

Nenagh World Aid Society street collection on May 10

Nenagh World Aid Society, since its foundation in 1966 by John Darmody from Silver Street, continues to support worthy causes in deprived parts of the world.

The Society could not function without the wonderful support of the people of Nenagh and its surrounds, and we are, as always, very grateful for the continued generosity of our donors and friends.

As in the recent past our aid consists mainly of cheques presented by our local contacts to religious and lay people from the Nenagh area, who are living and working in poor and developing countries. However, as religious vocations are declining, we now diversify, giving grants to local students and other young people volunteering in areas of need. On occasion, we have included some reputable national and international charities, for example, Mary’s Meals and MSF, working in Gaza.

Generally, we hold a public presentation of cheques in February each year and to date in 2025 we have presented 22 cheques amounting to some €12,000. As we receive no state grants or aid of any kind, we are totally dependent on the generosity of the people of Nenagh and its surrounds and we raise our funds through two street collections each year, through private donations, and other endeavours from time to time.

Our Summer Collection will be a cash collection, taking place on the streets of Nenagh on Saturday, May 10 next, coupled with a churchyard collection before all Masses on that weekend also. As always, no donation will be too small, and all will be gratefully received. Alternatively, donations can be lodged at any time to the Society’s Bank of Ireland, account number – 21322682.

Nenagh World Aid Society incurs no administration costs.

The following accounts outline the experiences and stories of some of our beneficiaries:

BRAZIL

Sr Celine rescues children from a dump and educates them. She currently has three groups of children ranging from 10 to 12 years of age and they are learning to read and write.

For these groups to function, she needs to pay a teacher and provide material for the children, such as pens, books, copies, etc. She also provides a daily lunch for each child.

INDIA

Hugh, from Nenagh, worked with the Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity in Calcutta, India. The charity has a number of homes that care for the sick, destitute and the dying, along with providing care and medical supplies to people and families living in the slums.

The people are the poorest of the poor and many are living with psychiatric conditions, without treatment of any kind. Our donation was used to buy food, medicine, blankets and to pay for hospital care.

RWANDA

Nenagh World Aid Society helped to supply a clean water storage tank in Sambi Parish, Rwanda, ensuring that the people have reliable access to clean and safe water. The tank has had a profound impact on the lives of the parishioners, especially children and the elderly.

However, the parish has other pressing needs, particularly in the education sector. They have an urgent need of laptops in order to enhance learning opportunities.

KENYA

Ciara, a final year medical student from Nenagh, has spent some time working in two hospitals in Kenya with the UCC Surgeon Noonan Society. The charity is run by UCC medical students and raises over €150,000 each year, which goes directly towards providing medical aid to underfunded rural hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Every year the students collect medical supplies, which they distribute to hospitals they visit. The hospitals are desperately lacking in basic analgesics, antibiotics, vitamins and sterile medical equipment.

The Surgeon Noonan Society also undertook the building of new wards, a surgical unit and the introduction of an HIV Outreach Clinic.

Ciara and her fellow students at UCC were involved in numerous fundraising ventures in Cork City and surrounding towns, such as carol singing at Christmas, partaking in sponsored runs, etc.

UGANDA

The Coloma Primary School in Mbarara, sponsored by Fr Lorcan and supported by Nenagh World Aid Society, helps poor, promising students such as Sylvia to advance to further third level education. Sylvia will become a teacher, but without this help, she would remain at home in her village, just waiting to get married.

TANZANIA

Eileen, our local contact, distributed our cheque to the Medical Missionaries of Mary, Nangwa Community, Tanzania in their healing mission.

They provide Antenatal, Postnatal and Under-Five clinics in six remote villages, and also care for other patients who come to them with various diseases, such as malaria, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Sr Maria Borda, MMM, identifies and follows up women with actual or expected complications of pregnancy and sadly, many of the women who come to her have had three, four or more miscarriages; other mothers have been lost because of severe haemorrhage.

Contributing factors could be, that they were unable to get to a health facility to be assessed during their pregnancy, and unable to get to hospital in time because the roads were impassable in the rainy season.

LESSONS FROM OUR BENEFICIARIES

We, the members of Nenagh World Aid Society, following deliberation on the above, and on the many other experiences of our beneficiaries, have reached a number of conclusions.

Many of the world’s people are enduring severe deprivation, neglect and hardship in their daily lives.

Though, a small organisation, we in Nenagh World Aid Society, with the continuing generosity of the Nenagh area, are privileged to be able to bring hope and comfort to people in the direst of conditions.

Finally, we wish to commend all our local contacts who connect with those on the ground helping the needy. Particularly creditworthy is the fact that all involved with the Society give of their own time and effort on a voluntary basis.