EIL Intercultural Learning

Ciara Cunningham is one of the winners of EIL Travel Awards 2009 and will spend two months in South Africa as part of the Global Awareness Programme. We asked her some questions about her expectations, motivation and ger feelings before she leaves this month. This is what Ciara told us during the interview.

"My name is Ciara Cunningham. I am from Roscommon Town and I am 24 years old. I am travelling to South Africa with Lynda Piper-Roche to work in Themba Care, an 18 bed palliative care centre for babies and children living with HIV&AIDS. I graduated in 2007 with a degree in Valuation Surveying and worked in a property company in Dublin for two years, so the work in South Africa will be a very different to what I am used to! I finished work in April 2009 following my acceptance to a Masters in the University of Limerick which I am due to commence when I return from South Africa."

Next month you are going to South Africa for the Global Awareness Programme. Are you excited about that? Is that your first volunteer abroad experience?
"This is the first time that I will be volunteering abroad and the first time that I will visit South Africa so I am very excited. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Global Awareness Programme. The whole experience will be very different to anything I have participated in before. It is an exciting adventure, challenge and one that I am really looking forward to."

Why did you decide to apply for this programme and what are you expecting from this volunteer experience?
"I have previously volunteered in projects in Ireland and was interested in volunteering abroad however I wanted to get involved in a project that would allow me to contribute to a cause when I returned home. HIV&AIDS is a very important issue that affects millions of people and communities all over the world, including Ireland. It is vital that Ireland acts on its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and does its share to halt or reverse the spread of HIV.
"Although we are only going abroad for a short period, our work there will give us a broader understanding of the issues surrounding HIV&AIDS and the way in which it impacts on people’s day to day lives. These experiences will be imperative to our awareness raising campaign when we return. Personally, I am expecting a challenging and mind broadening experience and potentially life altering as some previous volunteers have described it."

On your return to Ireland, you will be leading an Awareness Raising Campaign. What do you think about making your community more aware of Aids/HIV issues? How important do you think public action is?
"Since HIV has emerged as the international public health crises that it is today, dissemination of information and education has become one of the main tools to combat the virus and therefore it is vital to inform and educate local communities in Ireland.
"Similarly, since its revelation HIV&AIDS have had a negative stigma attached. This stigma is borne out of people’s lack of knowledge of what exactly the virus is and how it is contracted. It is important to inform Irish people about the virus and reverse their misconceptions of it. Raising awareness in our communities is an important means to reducing the stigma attached to HIV&AIDS thereby reducing the prejudice that many sufferers and their families experience.
"Something as simple as creating a greater understanding of HIV& AIDS in communities in Ireland is a positive step to realising our commitment to the MDGs."