MAYO sporting legend Liam McHale is preparing for one of the biggest challenges of his life this month as he gets ready for a trip to one of the poorest countries in the world.
The well-known Ballina basketballer and footballer, and his wife, Sinéad, who is a nurse, have both signed up for a skill-sharing mission to Malawi and will leave for the povery-stricken African nation on October 30.
The couple will be travelling for two weeks as part of a 40-strong group with Tracey Piggott’s ‘Playing for Life’ charity organisation. The charity was set up by the TV personality two years ago, following her visit to Ethiopia in 2004.
‘Playing for Life’ offers sports people an opportunity to provide sporting facilities, skills and training to underprivileged youths and communities in deprived areas of the world. The funds raised by the charity organisation are used to provide sporting facilities and programmes to combat the spreading of HIV/AIDS.
“They asked us if we’d be prepared to take two weeks out of our life to help out,” Liam McHale told The Mayo News last week.
“We’re fortunate here in Ireland that we’re living in a prosperous country but Tracey explained that Malawi is in a really, really bad way. To be honest, I had no idea that Malawi is as poor as it is. People out there are lucky if they get one meal a day and there is a huge problem with AIDS.
“We attended an Open Day a couple of weeks ago and there’s no doubt it’s going to be very rough out there. But both of us are really looking forward to it and can’t wait to get stuck in.”
Liam and Sinéad are currently in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to support their trip, and have been busy researching and getting vaccinated in recent weeks.
John Maughan and a number of Mayo ladies’ footballers made a similar trip to Malawi last year, and were given a unique opportunity to see at first hand the work of the charity and were part of the efforts being made to alleviate hunger and poverty.
“While we’re over there a gym is going to be opened and we’ll be working on building an extension for a school,” explained McHale.
“What I like about it is that we’ll be doing a week of coaching and a week of building. All the kids will get three square meals a day while we’re doing the coaching week and it’ll be a chance for them to experience something that we take for granted. We’re very fortunate here and this is a chance to give something back to people less fortunate.
“The big thing that appealed to me about this is the educational aspect to it. For the two weeks we’re there people will be teaching locals how to preserve food, lay blocks, roof buildings, computer skills and we’ll get a chance to do some coaching too. But trying to leave some lasting impression in terms of education is the key thing for me.”
Among those joining McHale in coaching the local children in his first week there will be John Lynch from Tyrone, who lined out against Mayo in the 1989 All-Ireland semi-final.
While all that is going on, Sinéad will be working with a group of other medically-trained staff, vaccinating members of the local community and offering badly-needed health care.
“We’ve done a fair bit of research on the internet and the Open Day was a big help,” admitted McHale. “The reality is that we’ll be working between eight and ten hours a day in a very poor country so there won’t be any lounging beside a pool at a five-star hotel or anything.
“I’ll be doing some football and basketball coaching and I’m going to be keeping an eye out for a few footballers that might help us win that All-Ireland,” he joked.
The aim of the ‘Playing for Life’ charity is to assist in developing a safe and happy environment for young people, through sport, in several underprivileged areas. The mission is also to create an educational series of games, and the charity also strives to involve the local community in building multi-purpose facilities, sharing skills and improving self-sufficiency.
Malawi is a small, narrow country, wedged between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, and bordered on its eastern flank by Lake Malawi.
IF you would like to contribute to Liam and Sinéad’s trip to Malawi, and help the ‘Playing For Life’ charity, please contact Liam on 087 9810890
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