Graiguecullen pupils meet President Higgins
Akifa, Sumaya and Elena from St Fiacc's NS with President Michael D Higgins in Arás an Uachtaráin
THREE children from St Fiacc’s NS in Graiguecullen ‒ Elena, Akifa and Sumaya ‒ were invited to meet President Michael D Higgins after they worked on a project about the Rohingya community.
The fifth-class pupils were accompanied by their teacher Kevin Keogh and principal John Brennan after they successfully made a short video for a competition organised by Global Citizenship Schools. The video had to be based on one of the 17 sustainable development goals created by the United Nations and it had to be no longer than one minute.
The trio decided to focus their attention on the Rohingya community, of which Sumaya is a member. Sumaya’s family, along with up to 60 other refugees, came to Carlow in 2009 and have since built new lives here.
They fled Myanmar after they were denied basic human rights and were forced to leave their country, seeking refuge elsewhere, including in Bangladesh and Ireland.
“We felt we had to raise awareness about the Rohingya as the news cycle now is mainly dominated by the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East. We helped raise awareness about them by having lessons about who the Rohingya are and their story. We even invited a speaker from the Rohingya community to tell us about her personal experience, as she had been one of the 60 or so Rohingyans to come to Carlow in 2009,” explained Elena.
The Global Citizenship Schools competition attracted entries from all over Ireland, but the three friends from St Fiacc’s managed to secure an invite to meet President Higgins and his wife Sabina, one of only 12 schools to do so.
They attended a reception with the president and Mrs Higgins, after which Elena gave a talk about their video. They were then treated to a delicious lunch and a tour around the historic Arás.
“This was an amazing experience. In addition to the feeling of happiness in general, I and everyone else who worked on this video were and still are very proud of having raised awareness about the Rohingya and given a voice to the voiceless,” said Elena.
The film can be watched on the school’s YouTube channel.
