Tanaiste meets sport legends who are legends for justice too

When he was in Kenya recently, the Tánaiste Micheál Martin stepped into a Nairobi hotel lift and instantly recognised the man who happened to step into the lift at the same time.  Fr Sean Barry, an outstanding hurler from Cork and member of the 1966 All Ireland winning team.

Mr Martin also met with another Cork legend, Br Colm O’Connell, an Irish missionary and athletics coach, known as “The Godfather of Kenyan running”.

While both men were sporting legends, they are legends as priests which the Tánaiste forgot to mention.

Br O’Connell has changed many children’s lives with his coaching talent, while Fr Barry has been working to help young girls forced into child marriage and children with disability.

For both missionaries, the meeting with the Tánaiste was a fun moment to reconnect with their Irish roots. Br O’Connell said “It’s always special to meet somebody from home. It gives us Irish living in the diaspora a sense of belonging.”

Fr Barry said he met Mr Martin in the lift on their way to the reception, and the Tánaiste recognised the priest for his hurling achievements. “Micháel Martin used to play GAA, so we had a lot in common”. Br O’Connell said meeting Mr Martin was a unique moment for him, and “his ability to listen and chat to everybody impressed me.”

Br O’Connell, a Patrician Brother, is known as the ‘The Godfather of Kenyan running’. That “may be a bit of an exaggeration in my books”, the brother told The Irish Catholic. He also mentioned athletics “might be considered by some as a strange vocation for a missionary brother. But to me, it provided an opportunity to work among the youth in an area that they were passionate about and in which I felt I could make a valuable contribution.”

Calling

The Patrician Brothers were among the founders and administrators of the St Patrick’s High School in Iten, a town located roughly 350km northwest of Nairobi. In 1976, two brothers were requested to move to that country to volunteer their services and teach in the school.

At that time, Br O’Connell was teaching in Newbridge, after completing his studies in NUIG. “The idea of working outside my own culture and country appealed to me, also the challenges and adventure it offered to a young man”, he said.

The brother moved to Kenya as a regular missionary teacher, which gave him the opportunity to work among the youth, and “not only in the classrooms”. He was sent to a school with a strong sports tradition, but he “had practically no knowledge of coaching athletics before coming to Kenya. I had to learn the sport from scratch here.”

The Godfather of Kenyan running’s goal was never to just produce Olympic or World Champions, but to enable and empower young people”

Even though he had no experience coaching, his interest in sports was nothing new. When working with those kids he realised “that sport can be a tremendous connecting point with youth, it opened doors for me to have a positive impact on their lives.”

Over time, Br O’Connell’s coaching program grew beyond the school, to include the wider community and the neighbouring schools. “This enabled me to broaden my catchment area and also extend the program to the coaching of girl-athletes, a feature that was still in its infancy in Kenya at the time.”

The Godfather of Kenyan running’s goal was never to just produce Olympic or World Champions, but to enable and empower young people to reach their full potential in whatever area, through sports.

After his retirement from regular classroom work, Br O’Connell was appointed by the Kenyan Ministry of Education to serve on the Board of Management of St. Patrick’s High School in Iten. He also plays a role in the four other schools the Patrician brothers have in Kenya, two primary and two secondary schools.

Working closely with the Kenyan community, some 38 years ago, the Patrician Brothers seeing “the need to incorporate Kenyan members into our congregation,” created a Formation Program whereby young Kenyan men would endeavour to discern the possibility of nurturing a religious vocation to the brotherhood.

Youth

While Br O’Connell started his sports career in Kenya and used that to help improve children’s lives, Fr Barry, of the St Patrick’s Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers), arrived in Kenya with an established hurling career. He was a member of the 1966 All Ireland winning team.

The priest moved to Nigeria in 1971 after being ordained. There, he was part of church leadership from 1996 to 2002, before he moved to Kenya in 2003.

Fr Barry is part of important children safeguarding projects today. Working in a project funded by Misean Cara, he helps to prevent child abuse. “All sorts of abuse. Sexual, physical, emotional,” Fr Barry explained.

“Pope Francis said the Church needs to be active on behalf of the children”, so that is what the Kiltegan Fathers are doing in Kenya. The program is volunteer based, with three full-time staff, “one in Nairobi and two other parts of Kenya.”

Fr Barry said the project has “95% of all allegations coming from the wider society”, then they investigate each case and “respond to the issues appropriately.” They “work to educate the elders on early age marriage and girls’ schooling.”

They “talk to the elders, to bring awareness” and explain that young girls should not be getting married, but the opposite, should be allowed to study and build a future for themselves.

According to the organisation Girls Not Brides, 23% of Kenyan girls get married before the age of 18 and 4% before 15. While only 3% of Kenyan boys get married before completing 18 years of age. These rates vary across regions and ethnic groups.

A 2017 UNICEF study shows that 64% of Pokot origin girls got married before reaching 18 years of age. Followed by 54% of Rendille girls, 38% Somali girls and 28% of Maasai girls.

Another issue Fr Barry works with relates to children with disabilities. “People have a lot of stigma around children with disability”, he said. The project looks to improve their personal safety and promote inclusivity into society.”

Fr Barry and his team work on parish based programs in Kenya and South Sudan. They are present in six Kenyan dioceses and one in South Sudan. They also have church based workshops, to outreach the community, spread awareness and make a difference in the children’s lives.

The work these two Irish missionaries are doing in Kenya are not similar in action, but they are the same in meaning. Both Br O’Connell and Fr Barry have been following the Word. “I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (MT 25:40)