International volunteering in a Covid reality

Our three European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers talk about their experience moving to Dublin during a global pandemic.Their dedication to the project is exemplified by their decision to stay in Ireland for Christmas, one third of their way through. This is a first. We want thank them for their invaluable contributions so far to the After Schools clubs and to wish them the merriest of Christmases in a new city with new friends.

Ines

Arriving in Dublin in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis added some anxiety to the natural excitement that precedes the beginning of a new adventure. It was the 25th of August when, surrounded by my luggage cracking at the seams, I waved at my Dad from inside the airport in Verona. Attempting to distract my mind on the flight, eventually as the plane descended I caught a glimpse of Ireland’s fluffy white clouds outside the window and in my heart I knew I would land on something soft. This feeling has been confirmed throughout my stay. The support of new friends, Solas Project staff and my brilliant supervisor has given me strength to get through initial adjustment difficulties and has motivated me to keep going.

In the mornings we prepare food for the after school clubs, a total of 35 kids. Being in the kitchen is always fun; the tunes of Dublin's radio set the pace for the lifting of heavy pots and the peeling of potato mountains. Then we are ready for the children!

For my ESC year with Solas Project I have been assigned to ”The Bridge”, located in the colourful heart of the Liberties in Dublin 8. Connecting with a lively group of pre-teens is an ongoing challenge; young people utter their playful and witty lines at the speed of light, adapting to a new kind of humour as well as finding tools to solve behavioural issues is hard but rewarding. I have shared many happy moments, creating slime from scratch and baking delicious rice krispies buns with marshmallows.

So far, I have learned so many new things: when something is really cool I can use the adjective “deadly” without any macabre implication, your runners have to be “massive” in order to be hip and there is no better way to end a hard day of work than with a warm cuppa and biscuits.

I was surprised by how friendly and welcoming the people I met were: even if the world has entered in a sort of “disconnection” mode, I have always felt connected and part of a community.

Experiencing Dublin during covid-19 was at the first glance, quite sad with pubs and places of gathering closed. However, the general stillness has also allowed me to get a unique gaze of the city and its secret corners otherwise hidden by crowd and noise.

The majestic deer of Phoenix Park, the curious herons on the Grand Canal, the scent of malted barley that blows behind the Guinness Factory, the burning sunset on Dublin's beautiful bridges. All of these are already dear souvenirs of mine that I will always carry with me.

Cecile

My name is Cecile, I am 19 years old and I am volunteering in Dublin for a year with „Solas Project“ helping look after a bunch of joyful children in the Junior After schools club (JAS). Three months in, there is already so much to tell!

My first impression of the city was how colorful it is with all of its unique doors, shops and street art, even on rainy grey days. Also, I am pleasantly surprised by how open, warm-hearted and caring Irish people are.

So far the highlight of my stay in Dublin is, that you can easily reach the coast from my accommodation to watch the sea, which I highly enjoy. The other highlights include walking along Grafton street with its shiny Christmas lights, a hot coffee in my hand or exploring Dublin‘s pretty parks.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance yet, to visit museums, pubs or different cities because of lockdown level 5 restrictions. For sure it has had an impact on the quality of my time here, but now that Dublin has moved back to level 3, I am definitely going to catch up on some of those missing experiences as soon as possible.

At the beginning it felt a little bit weird to come to Ireland during the pandemic but I got used to the restrictions quite fast. Luckily just before I arrived Germany moved to the green list so I didn‘t need to quarantine for two weeks.

In short, my stay in Dublin is so far an exiting, insightful and beautiful journey with highs and lows and I am truly looking forward to spend the coming months here!

Marta

My name is Marta, I’m from Spain and I’m with the Senior After School Club (SAS).

I made this decision at the beginning of 2020, when Covid-19 was something unknown but I don’t regret it. I left my job and I adventured to this experience without knowing what to expect and, for now, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Unfortunately, due to restrictions I haven’t had the chance yet to travel around Ireland, to meet more people, to have new experiences… but I hope that during one whole year, things improve and I can do this.

Thanks to all the people around me, I have no complaints. All of them have given me support: house mates, team mates in Solas Project, strangers in the city… All the environment is magnificent.

The language for me has been the biggest challenge. The different accents, the speed, the slang… It makes you hesitate about your language skills, but with time and patience, it’s getting better and better. Come on! It has been just 3 months, at the end of the volunteering I will be an expert!

 Yes you will Marta!

Final reflections from Eddie

As he finishes up as our CEO, Eddie reflects on his five years as part of the Solas Project team.

As I approach my retirement date as CEO of Solas Project I would like to take an opportunity to reflect on my time here.

Having spent nearly 35 very happy years in Neilstown with the Ronanstown Youth Service I had no intention of becoming involved on the ground with another youth project.  I had planned to spend a number of years lecturing to youth work students and carrying out research on a consultancy basis. Then I met Graham!

Those that knew him would have been very aware of his persuasive powers.

Initially, I agreed to work with him and the Compass team to design an intervention model, then I agreed to support the team on the in-reach prison programme. An experience I really enjoyed and learnt a lot from. Then, he convinced me to take on the role of CEO and I found it impossible to say no. I got the keys to the executive office just over four years ago (in case you get the wrong idea, it was the smallest and coldest room in the house, possibly a converted bathroom as the shower was still in place).

However, I believe Solas Project turned out to be a spiritual home for me.  I found it embodies most of the values and principles that are important to me in my personal and professional life. These include:

Being non-judgemental and making long term commitments to the young people we work with as evident from our After school clubs and Step Up. Never giving up on a young person no matter what happens.

Reaching out to those most in need, which is very much a core value for Solas Project.

Care. Our care goes beyond just professional care and we are emotionally available to the young people we support, recognising their potential, encouraging their dreams, celebrating their successes and sharing their disappointments. Above all being there in their time of need.

On accepting the role of CEO I found myself and the management team facing immediate major challenges.

Finance. There was an urgent need to stabilise our finances and source new funding. We have achieved this target with considerable support from Jack Massey (one of our volunteers), innumerable phone calls to Clodagh and much appreciated expertise from Michelle and Beatriz when they joined our team. The coffers have been well filled and at times I cannot believe the generosity of people, we have had a few real miracles on the way!

Developing Solas Project’s professional reputation especially with the statutory sector. We wanted to achieve this without losing our ethos and our traditional support base. It was really important we did not lose what makes Solas Project unique.

Premises. I inherited a number of premises which were in very poor condition and which we had very little surety of tenure. In fact I spent two years dodging our Landlord who was trying to evict us (he eventually succeeded).  We have managed to secure a modern building in an ideal location as our main office. We have also secured a new premise for our Yard project at 82 The Coombe and have refurbished both this premises and our Club venue two doors down. We have also improved our premise in Basin Lane. However, as Amy is very much aware a home where we can have everything under one roof in a purpose built premises that the young people of the Liberties deserve is still the dream.

I have always been very impressed and motivated by our staff team and volunteers.  I think we have a unique brand that seems to attract very committed caring people and I have really enjoyed working with them.

I am delighted that Amy has been appointed as our new CEO and will offer her any support I can give. I would ask everyone to rally around her and help her take Solas Project on the next stage of the journey.

All of the staff at Solas Project would like to thank Eddie for his unwavering support and diligent management of the organisation over the last four years. Eddie has always believed in and upheld the team, motivating and inspiring us with a similar passion he shows towards the young people.

We’re glad Graham was so persuasive so as a result we acquired Eddie’s leadership and expertise with his invaluable experience in the youth work, and youth justice sector. He lives and breathes what he teaches. His authenticity extends to being able to laugh at himself, and allow us all to join in. We will miss those moments.

We wish Eddie the very best in this next chapter of his life.

Life in the Liberties after the Lockdown

We were happy to be back walking down Meath Street, Thomas Street and stopping for a coffee in Mannings Bakery along the way. When we first started easing out of Lockdown we spent time in the community connecting with the Young People of Solas Project and their families after such a strange number of months. We called to the door of some of the young people’s homes while we met others out on the streets.

It was great to see our Step Up young people again; to have time to talk about the challenges they had faced but also share moments of in person laughter, we had missed them! We adapted to all the new regulations and made great use of any outdoor spaces in the community. It was so nice returning to the Liberties after the lockdown, interacting with familiar faces and being part of the community again.

We welcomed back the young people from our After School Clubs to a Summer Program in mid-July. As the young people had been off since March, experienced a global pandemic and not had any structure in months, we had to take our time and support the young people that little bit more.  After the long months of lockdown, we wanted to make sure that the young people had the opportunity to take part in new activities and adventures. We spent a lot of time in nature; we zip lined, we kayaked, and we even tie dyed our own face masks!

Over the past few weeks with schools back up and running we are back to a bit more of our ‘normal’ structure (if anything is normal anymore!) All of our programmes are in full swing with a few tweaks and a some new protocols. However, the essence of our interactions with young people have stayed the same – prioritising our relationships and ensuring we are providing safe places for our young people. Yes, we have extra cleaning to do each day, we have to wear masks and keep our physical distance but we share laughter, learning and adventure daily!

Mizen to Malin Cycle in Memory of Graham Jones

DAY 1 mizen head, co. cork

On the 6th September a small group of eager yet somewhat naive novice cyclists gathered together in West Cork to prepare for the beginning of an adventure. With the weeks previous unleashing injury upon injury on us, mixed with Covid fears, we breathed deeply in a cosy pub in Schull, not quite believing we had made it this far. That evening we fuelled on carbs, and laughed nervously about what lay ahead. 

In 2017, our dear friend and Solas Project Co-founder Graham Jones, considered embarking on a cycle from Mizen Head to Malin Head. If you knew Graham, you know he could convince you into anything before you knew what was happening! This is how we found ourselves the following morning, embarking from a breezy Mizen head to begin propelling ourselves up the length of the island of Ireland. We had no doubt that if Graham were to attempt this cycle he would have done so with a lot of heart, and little preparation. And while we did attempt to put in some training, and found ourselves a top-notch support crew, we did our best to replicate just that.

As we glided up the Mizen peninsula we quickly found our groove as a team,and were pleasantly surprised by how our strengths complemented each other. Naturally, people found their ways of supporting each other, whether through navigation, encouragement, laughter, or food! It is hard even now not to smile while remembering the camaraderie and support we offered to each other from the get go, as well as the antics and craic! 

Each morning we began with a thought that we could then reflect on throughout the day as we cycled. With Graham as our inspiration, we talked about what it means to us to live a flourishing life, we chatted about identity and friendship and team. Graham came up often in these conversations as we remembered the positive ways he impacted our lives. 

Continuing our journey through the counties, we were overcome by the generosity of our cheerleaders donations, as well as the gifts from random strangers we passed along the way. At petrol stations, in town squares, in the middle of the road(!!!), people called us over to give us donations towards our cause, Solas Project. In both Cork and Galway, we anticipated a driver was beckoning us over to moan about our nuisance on the road, only to be melted as they placed cash firmly in our hand (…don’t worry we had hand sanitiser at the ready!). 

As we panted over undulating hills, meandered traffic filled cities, and sailed along stunning coastlines, we chatted, sang, laughed or cried depending on how the day was going! At times we sang ‘Ireland’s Call’, or to the delight of some and dismay of others, quoted Yeats to inspire us up the next incline. But whatever the day, and whoever the teammate that happened beside you on a given stretch, encouraging conversation and welcome distraction were always to hand. And if that was a miss someone was likely to belt out a chorus of our altered VengaBoys tune ‘We Like to Cycle’ to motivate you along!

During the week we began a team bonding event of sea swimming - again to the great delight of some, and dismay of others. Under the guise of muscle relief, we managed to coax every member of our team into the icy sea of Enniscrone! This tradition was made all the more special by the arrival of friends along the way. In Donegal we were joined by Graham’s wife, Louise and her girls who could not be dissuaded from running into the sea with us. It was such a boost to our tired bodies to see the smiling faces of the extended Jones family as we arrived in Letterkenny, and a pure delight to have them with us as we completed the journey. 

Although the last day did not go as we had anticipated, with a crosswind taking some of dear friends off course, we paused for the night. Once assured that their injuries were being looked after, and with their blessing, the following morning we took back to the road to begin our final ascent to Malin Head. Albeit the final hill was one of the steepest of the journey, we managed to push our way up largely motivated by our screaming supporters. With sighs of delighted disbelief we took in our surroundings and breathed deep the magnificent headland.

It is difficult to describe the support we felt from people around the country cheering us on.  We are so chuffed and overwhelmed to have raised over €20,000 in donations. Through our own personal involvement with Solas Project we have come to really value the incredible work they do and couldn’t be more delighted to support this worthy cause. 

If you would like to donate to the cause you still can here.  

DAY 8 malin head, co. donegal