Home from Africa

John Hanlon from Rochfortbridge, plus John-Joe Brady and his son Paul from Milltownpass, returned from South Africa last Sunday, having taken part in the Niall Mellon Township Trust Building Blitz, which provides homes to impoverished communities in the townships in South Africa.It was John Hanlon"s second time on the blitz, while for John-Joe and his son Paul Brady, it was their first time, and speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, they witnessed many things that acted as an eye-opener for them.'It was unreal and an experience I"ll never forget,' says John Joe Brady. 'I flew out with my son Paul and we really found it a major culture shock to the system.'Every year before this the building blitzes took place in compounds, but this year we were building houses right among the shacks which housed about a million people, in an area four miles long and two miles wide,' he continued.'It was very very tough to see young children who were so poor running around. They had absolutely nothing but at no stage over the course of the entire trip did we hear one child cry.'We visited a school which had 1500 children and 31 teachers. There were 120 special needs children there with only one teacher to teach them, and she took eight children twice a week for only 40 minutes.'Food used to be delivered to the school, but there was never enough to go around and you"d see children just huddled on the ground shaking because they didn"t have enough to eat. It makes you wonder how any of us complain,' he said.So when John-Joe left South Africa, he felt that he had given something back to those people: 'The building blitz succeeded in completing around 800 houses, which were two-bed houses with light and running water, which is a big difference to the galvanised shacks they were living in.'When we handed over the keys on the Friday, the people were so happy and were all out smiling and shaking hands, but it is only a drop in the ocean.'It"s dreadful to think that only five miles down the road from the shanty-towns where they live are the five-star hotels,' he said.All three men said they wished to thank everyone for their support towards the building blitz, while John-Joe said he will definitely be going back to South Africa again next year, so he will be knocking on doors again in the near future.Local group to appeal planning decisionThe Rochfortbridge Development Group will make an appeal to An Bord Pleanala following a decision by Westmeath County Council to grant permission to construct 48 residential units on the Dublin Road, Rochfortbridge.Following a meeting held to discuss the matter last Tuesday night in the Parish Hall, Colm Arthur, PRO of the Development Group said the people of Rochfortbridge were disappointed and disillusioned about the fact that permission for the development was granted.'This is the first development in Rochfortbridge that is totally unsustainable with regard to infrastructure and services. What does this say for future development in the town and indeed other small towns across Westmeath?' said Mr. Arthur.'They have gone against everything the people of Rochfortbridge want, and it"s contrary to what the planners and the Rochfortbridge and County Plan laid out,' he finished.The Rochfortbridge Development Group will make the appeal to An Bord Pleanala before the closing date on December 17.Christmas shows in the Parish HallOn Monday, December 22, the Convent National School will hold a Christmas pageant in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rochfortbridge at 1 o"clock, and all parents and friends of the school are invited to attend.Later that evening, St. Joseph"s Secondary School will hold a Christmas Carol service in the Church to get everyone in the Christmas spirit. The service will begin at 7.30pm so don"t miss it!