At An Cosán’s International Women’s Day lunch on Friday 8th March, three adult learners were celebrated for their contributions to their communities.
The learners were met with thunderous applause as they shared their stories of their journey through education in the face of much adversity, and how they are now using the skills they learned to contribute to the development of their communities.
The three women were interviewed by Miriam O’Callaghan at the annual event, cheered on by an audience of 260+ supporters (Miriam also interviewed them two days later on her RTE Radio 1 show, which you can hear at this link).
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ and the learners of An Cosán were held up as great examples of the changemaking work that An Cosán supports. Each of the women had their own story to tell about how they had overcome challenges, and were supported by An Cosán, to embark on their learning journeys where they were able to gain skills in leadership and community development.
Tamara Kearns, who now works as part of Northside Partnership’s Community and Wellbeing Team, told the audience how she never thought she would be able to do a degree, but that she now sees herself as a leader in her community.
“I feel empowered to make a difference” she said. “When I think back to where I was: we were homeless, in the depths of poverty, so isolated and alone. But now I’m building my community around me, standing up on things like housing issues. From what I’ve learned and what I’m learning, I’m able to go off and put that into practice. Building other people up, empowering people, and helping them find a way out of their situation.”
Much like Tamara, Debbie Byrne has become a pillar of her community in Tallaght, and credits the support of An Cosán with where she is today. “If you’d said to me a few years ago that I’d be sitting my second year of a Level 7 degree, I’d have said ‘I don’t even have Leaving Cert, that’s not possible for me’, but with An Cosan it became possible” said Debbie, who is now the Manager of Fettercairn Community Centre.
Reflecting on the theme of the day, Debbie shared “For me I feel if there was a lot more women in power, there’d be an awful lot of things done better!
Abosede Grace Ogunsaya, the final learner to speak on the day, credited An Cosán with helping her integrate into Ireland and to equip her with the skills to give back to her community. “Every day I bring my learning, my knowledge, that I gained in An Cosán to practical use in the community,” she said.
Now working with the Simon Community, Abosede said, “Women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, without supports like those An Cosán provides, we would not be able to access education. It is what we need in our lives.”
An Cosán CEO Heydi Foster reflected that “Our work is increasingly known and seen for its potential and its impact. We have built something that can really empower women, exemplified by the learners we have heard from today. They are investing in their skills and knowledge, they’re leading in their communities and organisations to improve our society. We know they will lead if we can support and equip them with what they need.”
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