01.03.2013
Photographic Exhibition Celebrates Blessington School’s €10,000 Calcutta Project
Pupils at Blessington No 1 School have helped to give the gift of education to children in Calcutta. The west–Wicklow school has raised €10,000 to refurbish a school building on a dump in Calcutta giving children there hope for better lives.
To celebrate the achievement of the pupils a photographic exhibition of the project will be hosted by the school. The exhibition will be officially opened on Thursday March 14 at 2.00 pm. The school’s patron, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson will be in attendance along with Lisa and Karen O’Shea from GOAL and the Abbott of Glenstal Abbey, Mark Hederman.
The seeds for the project were planted in October 2010 when a parent from the school, Dr David Mulcahy was on a visit to Calcutta with Lisa O’Shea of GOAL. They identified a school building in desperate need of repair and refurbishment and felt that the pupils of Blessington No 1 School could get involved.
The school is situated on Dhappa dump, one of the largest dumps in Calcutta. The children who now attend the school forage daily on the dump with their parents in order to earn money to survive. It is hoped that by providing a school for these children and giving them an education it will help improve their lives.
The project captured the imagination of the Blessington pupils and after much discussion, the children of 5th and 6th classes hosted a Mad Hatters Tea Party and raised a very impressive €4,589. A number of other events were organised including a joint Carol Service with Blessington Community College and St Mary’s Junior and Senior Schools. The funds raised, combined with a donation from a private benefactor in the school, amounted to over €10,000 for the project.
The Calcutta school, which has also been named Blessington No 1 School, was officially opened by Dr Mulcahy in October last year. To celebrate the occasion the children of the Irish school sent out a suitcase full of pencils, rubbers, colouring pencils, markers and other supplies.
The photographic exhibition aims to bring the celebration back home to the local children and the wider community.