BY COLM BRADLEY

Three young Fermanagh girls have just returned from a life-changing experience in the slums of Brazil.

Judith Gilmour, from Enniskillen, and sisters Angela Speight and Kelly Ann Speight, from Belnaleck, all worked in the 'Bom Pastor Project' in Brazil. The girls described scenes of abject poverty and stated that the trip 'really opened their eyes.' All three girls spent their time teaching English to Brazilian children in a bid to improve their chances in life.

Angela was first to go to Brazil and spent four months there while her two friends joined her for the last month. The three girls lived in the same communities as the children that they were teaching and got a real taste of what life was like for those living on the poverty line. They said that they were amazed that the gap between rich and poor was so marked in Brazil and were shocked that total poverty could exist side by side with overt affluence.

"It really opened my eyes," Judith explained. "It is only when you see how others live that you realise the privileged life that we have here."

Kelly Ann picked up on that point.

"It is amazing the amount of things that we have taken for granted and we seem to have a need for material items that the people in Brazil simply just cannot afford or even dream of having."

Angela, who spent the longest time in Brazil, was rather accustomed to the conditions when her friends arrived.

"I suppose the biggest difference is the things that we take for granted. Things like education that we just expect to be there. For the children we taught, education could act as a way out of poverty."

The girls explained how by teaching the kids English, the 'Bom Pastor Project' kept children off the streets.

"If the children were not in the class room, then they would have been out working. The Project was able to give the parents money and food when the kids were in school, so that there was an incentive," Angela explained.

Now, back from Brazil, the girls are not content to leave their good work at that. They are planning to organise a number of fundraising events in the forthcoming week for the 'Bom Pastor Project' to ensure that the important work being carried out in the slums of Brazil can be continued.

The first of these money spinners will be a cake sale next Thursday (16th August) at the Diamond in Enniskillen. The cakes will have a distinct Brazilian theme, and they urge as many people as possible to come along and support this worthwhile charity.