Volunteer wins prestigious Barnardos award

Barnardos, has named a Delvin girl as the winner of its 2008 Helping Hands Award. Kathrina Bray of Ballyhealy, was named as the winner of the prestigious annual award in recognition of her work with Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organisation which builds affordable housing in the developing world.Kathrina, a daughter of Eamonn and Marie Bray, Delvin, nominally scooped the award for her recent work in the South American country of Paraguay, but also in recognition of her four years of involvement with Habitat for Humanity.In the past, her volunteer work with the international charity, has taken her to countries in Africa, Asia and South America.While nominating her for the award, Kathrina was described by one of her team members, Kilkenny girl Aisling Fitzpatrick, as 'the strongest and most hard-working girls I have ever met'.Kathrina was presented with her Helping Hands award at a special reception featuring around 150 guests at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Dublin 8 on Monday afternoon of last week.'The trip to Paraguay was my fourth with Habitat for Humanity,' Kathrina told the Westmeath Examiner this week. 'I"ve been to Zambia, Ghana, the Philippines and Paraguay since I started in 2005, and I"ve enjoyed every minute.'Based in the Paraguayan village of Encarnacion, about half a mile from the Argentinian border, Kathrina worked through sometimes temperamental tropical conditions to help build two houses for local villagers.'The weather conditions were OK in general,' Kathrina said. 'Temperatures were around 24 or 25 degrees each day, and we had some lovely weather for the most part.'We had about two days of monsoon-type weather, although it was August so it wasn"t too different to the weather at home!'Kathrina, a daughter of Eamonn and Marie Bray, Ballyhealy, Delvin, holds a BCL degree (Law) from UCD, and is currently studying for her Masters in Law at Trinity College, Dublin. She is a former pupil of St. Tola"s National School, Delvin, and Loreto College, Mullingar.At the moment, she spends her spare time working with Habitat for Humanity on a refurbishment project in Ballymun, and would like to go to Honduras next year for her fifth volunteer trip. 'This year was the toughest for fundraising,' the Delvin girl admitted.'I won"t decide whether I"m going or not until February. I"d love to lead a team on one of the building projects, but I can"t do that until I"m 25, so that"s another three years down the line.'Kathrina has extended her thanks to all those who have supported her involvement with Habitat for Humanity since 2005.Presenting Kathrina with her Helping Hands award, Fergus Finlay, Chief Executive of Barnardos said: 'Kathrina is a remarkable young volunteer. She was only 18 when she went on her first trip with this charity but she saw how much she could help people and continued to go back again and again.''On a recent trip to Paraguay she dug a two metre septic tank in three days using only a shovel, a pick and a rope bucket. When most people wanted to take breaks she wanted to keep going. She was an inspiration to her team members on these trips and she is an inspiration to young people today.The "Helping Hands" awards, sponsored by Softech, a leading Irish IT company, aim to promote the spirit of volunteering by encouraging young people"s involvement in volunteer activities. They are presented to a young person under the age of 25 in recognition of their volunteer involvement with any organization.