News
Brazilian student on the ball with his idea
An English student who works to promote education among the poor in his native Brazil is the brains behind a project which educates international and Galway students about each other’s culture.
For the past two months, primary schools students of the Educate Together School in Newcastle and the ‘Jes’ on Sea Road have been welcoming students from the Atlantic Language School to give presentations on 11 different countries around the world.
Yesterday, the primary school pupils returned the favour, giving their take on all things Irish for the international students of the Atlantic School.
It has led to a fascinating exchange of ideas between the students, reveals Nitlon Clécio, the project architect.
When he arrived here eight months ago, Nitlon had barely a word of English.
He came from a poor district in São Paulo where many of the young people leave school early and take to selling drugs to the rich to make ends meet.
He went to college, studying computer science and later a masters in project management.
He became a consultant, working on projects in some of São Paulo’s biggest international companies who were keen to contribute to educational programmes. He became the bridge between these companies and the charities on the front line who were trying to get young people to turn their back on a life of crime.
“I’m from a poor community. When I started to do courses in university everything changed in my life. Big gates opened. I wanted the same for the children in Brazil. You can see there are very many possibilities as long as you keep learning.”
For the past two years he had worked on a large project and had managed to save up a considerable amount of money.
“I could pay for one house, or pay a car. I said no. Education is the key, so I decided to come to Galway as it was cheapest to do a course,” he explained over a coffee.
“In Brazil there are very many companies from America and England. Companies from China, they too speak English. I lost many projects because I couldn’t understand English.”
Not content to just concentrate on the language, Nitlon began to read as much as he could about the education system here.
He read up the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) which aims to “ensure that learners are equipped with the relevant knowledge, and the key dispositions, skills and values to motivate and empower them to become informed citizens acting for a more sustainable future”.
He came up with the idea of ‘The World in the Class’ programme to allow for the exchange of knowledge between young people.
“This exchange is promoting respect for differences, love of neighbours and building a sustainable future,” he explains.
“I love that quote – ‘knowledge helps out, but only love rescues inside’ – I think it’s so true and I wanted to bring that to a reality.”
Nitlon was shocked to learn about the statistics on suicide and the problem of alcohol among young people. He felt the project could show young people that finding happiness was possible in many ways.
It has been an emotional rollercoaster for many of the students from as far away as China, Iraq, Korea and Brazil.
During the questions put to them by the Irish classes, some have been reduced to tears as they speak about the more difficult aspects of their lives. Their presentations cover the usual facts about their countries such as size, population, religion and geography. It also discusses politics, music, education systems and the racial makeup of their homes.
“Every language school has a big opportunity to share knowledge. My idea is to show this is possible and I hope all language schools in Galway will continue this after I’m gone,” he reflects.
“Sometimes the companies only think about the profit and you forget you can do something for your community. Behind a company there are always people who have a heart.”
Next month he leaves Galway to do a whirlwind trip of 16 different countries before returning to Brazil armed with competent English, and a fresh appreciation for Irish culture.
“I have learned so much, not just English, but about the culture of Ireland, Celtic history. The culture is beautiful, the castles, the cliffs, Connemara.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
