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18 VIEWPOINTS (YHQLQJ (FKR Thursday, September 23, 2010

How
THIS week,
world leaders
gathered in
New York to

Ireland is
mark the tenth
anniversary of the UN
Millennium Development
Goals to end hunger. The
Evening Echo’s Helen

Murderer
helping
Walsh reports from
Zambia on how Irish

must be taxpayers are playing a

role in helping Zambia’s

found quickly
Zambia’s
endeavours.

Z
GARDAÍ are investigating the murder of
a taxi driver in Cork city. The remains of
Michael Healy, aged 62, were found at his
apartment at 3 Rockspring Terrace in St
AMBIA is a land full of contrasts.
Although rich in natural resources
such as copper and water, 64% of the
country’s population live on less than a

Luke’s yesterday. He had head injuries.
This is a time of deepest grief for his
family and friends. Nothing can console
them in their sorrow.
They are trying to come to terms with
their grievous loss at the same time as
knowing whoever killed Michael is still
at large. It is the toughest of situations
for them. The best thing the person or
persons responsible could do is give
themselves up to the gardaí immediately.
It is not fair to add to the grief of the
family by delaying in doing this.
Also anyone with any information,
however small or insignificant it may
seem should also immediately contact the
gardaí. The fear in the community
caused by Michael’s murder will
continue until the perpetrator or
perpetrators are brought to justice. This
needs to be done as soon as possible. We
urge anyone with information on the
death to contact their local garda station
immediately.
poor
dollar a day.
Despite overall poverty levels improving, the
average life expectancy is just 42 years, and
with a population of 11.9 million, some 6.2
million are under the age of 18.
One in six adults has HIV/AIDS, meaning one
in five children have lost either one or both
parents.
This week, world leaders gathered in New
York to mark the tenth anniversary of the
United Nations Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
The eight MDGs – which range from halving
extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/
AIDS and providing universal primary educa-
tion, all by the target date of 2015 – form a
blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries
and leading development institutions.
Zambia is currently on track to meet seven of
the eight goals by 2015 — ending hunger, univer-
sal primary education for all boys and girls,
eliminating all gender disparity in education,
reducing child mortality, improving maternal
health, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and
developing a global partnership for develop-
ment. The only goal the southern African coun-

Families in try is unlikely to meet is environmental sus-

tainability.
Zambia is one of the great stories of hope in

need of help
THE Government must step in
immediately to help the 110,000 house
holders who are unable to pay their
electricity or gas bills.
They have put billions of euro into
saving ailing banks.
Ordinary people now need their help.
Winter is fast approaching.
The Government should set up a fund to
help distressed families, many with
elderly and young people, the most
vulnerable to the ravages of cold weather.
Africa, where extreme poverty is declining,
where school enrolment for grades one to seven
has increased from 1.6 million in 2000 to 2.9
million children in 2008, and where the total
number of basic primary schools has increased
from 5,324 to 8,195 since 2000. The number of
community schools has increased threefold
from 883 to 2,994.
With the support of Irish Aid, the number of
primary school teachers employed by the Gov-
ernment has increased from 37,000 ten years
ago to more than 65,000 last year and the
number of classrooms built annually has risen
from less than 500 in 2007 to more than 2,000 this
year.
Misean Cara, the Irish development organ-
isation that promotes the work of missionary
organisations, has distributed more than F80
million in funding from Irish Aid.
Every year, more than 100 projects are
co-funded by the organisation across Africa,
Asia and Latin America.
Last year, it allocated a total of F1,452,767 to
member organisations in Zambia to help devel-
opment work in areas such as education,
primary healthcare, human rights, rural devel-
opment and water and sanitation projects.
Over this past week, I have witnessed the role
some of these organisations play in enhancing
the quality of life for Zambians with Irish
taxpayers’ euros.
Early in the week, I visited Shimungalu
fishing village in the southern part of Zambia.
Located on the Kafue River near a major sugar
plantation, the village school took root under a
mango tree more than ten years ago.
Eager to see their children educated, parents
travelled to the nearby Religious Sisters of
Pupils at the Matero Ana Amasiye School Project in Lusaka, Zambia. The primary school, which
was co-funded by Misean Cara, was opened this month by the Jesuit Fathers. Though the
country has a long way to go, poverty levels have been declining.
Charity to ask for help in setting up a proper
school. Based on an agreement that they would
provide 50% of the costs and the Sisters would
match it, work got underway.
In Shimangalu, with the help of donors such
as Misean Cara and the locals, they built three
classroom blocks and offices.
Today, some 717 pupils attend the school,
although they still need stationary, school
books and items that Irish school children take
for granted. They greeted us with songs, poems
and proudly showed us the mosaics they had
created using seeds from the ground.
Children whose parents never imagined
them being schooled speak with pride about the
life-changing role the Irish have played in their
communities. I was greeted at hospitals,
schools and care centres to a chorus of music
and dance, thanking Irish donors and pleas for
continued support.
At Matero Ana Amasiye School Project in
Lusaka, the pupils have just moved into a
purpose-built school building, which was
co-funded by Misean Cara.
Here, hundreds of children, many of them
orphans, eagerly attend school everyday des-
pite the clear lack of schoolbooks, posters and
crayons common in Irish classrooms.
Through Irish Aid and organisations like
Misean Cara, Zambia has begun to reduce the
spread of HIV/AIDS and a new chapter in
Zambia’s history is about to be written.
Anyone who is HIV positive receives anti
retroviral treatment (ART) free of charge from
the Government and for the first time since the
first known case in Zambia in 1984, the increase
in the spread of HIV/AIDS is beginning to be
reversed.
Last year, more than 864,000 people were
tested for HIV/AIDS and the number of adults
and children receiving ART is estimated at
270,000 or some 66% of those in need of treat-
ment. In 2003, just 143 people had access to
ART.
Nelia Makasa is 39-years-old and is HIV posit-
ive. She has been on ART for five years. Speak-
ing in her modest living room, she described
how the treatment has changed her life. Al-
though clearly thin and weak, she said she had
lost her sight before beginning treatment and
would spend all her time in bed.
Now, she has regained some sight, however
she has double-vision, but is able to get out of
bed and bathe herself.
Hers is one of many stories in Zambia, but
with the number of new infections in children
aged under 14 halving from 21,189 in 1996 to
9,196 last year, there is hope on the horizon.
● Helen Walsh is currently travelling in
Zambia with Misean Cara.