Romanian youth visit to Cork; Your chance to spend time on the Hill; Christian Aid Laganside Walk; Irish priest who made running a religion in Kenya
Romanian youth visit to Cork
From 20th July to 1st August the Cork Diocesan Youth Council again hosted a team from Sibiu Romania. This is the second time that a team has visited from Romania, since the link was first formed in 2009. It is great to see how relationships have developed and hoe the exchange has benefitted both groups. This year`s theme was Citizens of Europe, Citizens of Heaven, and team members through discussion, bible study and debate addressed the complex issue of responsibility to God and responsibility to the state.
Funded again by the European Youth in Action programme, which encourages youth exchanges, the joint team, comprising 15 Irish and 11 Romanians, spent a week in Rosscarbery leading a childrens club, visiting various local attractions, listening to guest speakers on the theme of citizenship, and engaging in discussion, drama and debate. The team then spent three days in Cork, where accommodation was kindly provided by Cork Community Church on Mc Curtain Street. They were involved in various programmes including Cork Penny Dinners, the yellow bus ministries and Rehab.They were also engaged in outreach in Cork City, distrubuting coffee in Patrick Street and in Fitzgerald Park. This was a most successful exchange trip, and one which will no doubt be repeated.
Your chance to spend time on the Hill
The Hill of Armagh offers a welcome to visitors to spend a morning or an afternoon at the heart of the City of Armagh.
Visitors have the opportunity to visit one, two, three or four buildings, as time allows.
This year a visit to St Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland), where Patrick established his church in the fifth century, includes the recently restored Cathedral Crypt which was opened to the public this summer. Access to the Crypt helps to turn back the centuries for visitors, while the pre-Christian statues give an insight into bronze-age civilisation in Armagh.
Banbridge man, Leigh Vage, who is the Cathedral Steward says: ‘The Crypt enhances the visitor experience by letting people see a section of the Cathedral, relatively unchanged since the thirteenth century.’
http://www.banbridgeleader.co.uk/community/your-chance-to-spend-time-on-the-hill-1-4117120
Christian Aid Laganside Walk
Christian Aid invite you to join them for a family-friendly sponsored walk in Laganside, Belfast and help raise much needed funds for Christian Aid’s overseas work.
The annual Christian Aid Laganside Walk is suitable for walkers of all ages and capabilities, including toddlers in buggies. The route is also wheelchair friendly.
When: Sunday 2 September 2012 Where: Laganside, Belfast City Location: The Visitor’s Centre adjacent to Lock-Keeper’s Cottage Time: 2:30pm- 5:00pm
There is free parking at Cooke/Inst. Rugby Club Car, Milltown Road, Belfast.
Enjoy a walk along this famous Irish peninsula, make new friends, enjoy a great community spirit and raise crucial funds for Christian Aid’s work.
Please register early. Please contact Ann McIntyre to register, get more information or to request sponsorship forms.
• call 028 9064 8133
• email amintyre@christian-aid.org
Registration fees are £5 per adult, £10 per family. All funds raised will go towards supporting the work of Christian Aid partners in some of the world’s poorest communities.
Irish priest who made running a religion in Kenya
The rise of the east African nation as a global athletics powerhouse is one of the most unlikely stories in modern sport and the secret behind its success lies in a small village, in the Rift Valley, where a 63-year-old Irish priest has mentored champion after champion.
Rudisha, 23, is only the latest in a long line of world beaters who have trained in the village of Iten, the Mecca of running, under the guidance of Brother Colm O’Connell, a Catholic missionary turned inspirational coach.
Brother O’Connell arrived in Iten, 2,400 metres above sea level in the Rift Valley, in 1976, to teach geography on a three-year contract. Thirty-five years later he is still there. In that time he has mentored 25 world champions and four Olympic gold medallists, acquiring what he calls a “sixth sense” for the sport. An estimated 800 to 1,000 runners live and train in the Iten area. The facilities are basic and diet Spartan – a mix of cornmeal porridge, bread, eggs and meat – but runners from all over the world come to the village. Last winter Mo Farah went to train at Iten. Three days ago he won gold in the 10,000m.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/irish-priest-who-made-running-a-religion-in-kenya-16194622.html