MEET THE GOALies
Hundreds of brave, tenacious individuals have given their time
and energy over the years to serve as GOALies on our numerous projects
worldwide. Here are just some of them:
Maura Lennon - Senior Management –
GOAL Galway Office, Ireland, having worked in Sudan, Mozambique,
Honduras, Cambodia, Tanzania and Ethiopia
Jonathan Edgar - Senior Management - GOAL
Head Office, Dublin, Ireland having worked in Kosovo as Country
Director for GOAL, and has since travelled to most GOAL projects
overseas.
Mary McLoughlin - Roving Medical Advisor - Having worked with GOAL in Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq and
Bosnia
Louise O'Rourke - Country Director - India
Stephen McEneaney - Housing Programme Manager - Uganda
Christopher Boucher - Programme Support Officer - South Sudan
Gillian Boyle – logistics coordinator - Malawi
Ernest Khalilov - Logistician - Logistician
having worked in Sudan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger, Sri Lanka,
Turkmenistan and Afghanistan for GOAL.
Niall Boot - Roads and Watsan engineer - Sierra Leone
George Bwanali - Logisitics Manager
- Malawi
Maura Lennon has been with GOAL for 25 years and was at
the coalface of many of the world’s worst disasters. Having
worked in many countries - Rwanda, Sudan, Mozambique, Honduras,
Cambodia, Tanzania and Ethiopia - GOAL for her is a way of life.
"When I finished nursing I wanted to work with the missions,
but ended up on a plane flying out to Ethiopia with GOAL during
the famine in 1984. I wanted to save lives but had no real idea
of the realities behind this idealism.
GOAL makes a difference to
people’s lives at a basic level – I have learnt so much
from this work – GOAL has given me autonomy, spirit and hope,
and I feel privileged to be part of this organisation."
Maura Lennon's 21 Years with GOAL
Irish Independent, 26th January 2006 (read
the article)
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Jonathan Edgar - Senior Management Team
In 2001, Jonathan Edgar decided to move from Management Consultancy,
opting instead to help the poor.’ He initially spent eighteen
months in Kosovo as Country Director for GOAL, and has since travelled
to most GOAL projects overseas.
"I have realised the importance of the work GOAL does
and the manner in which it delivers – always practical and
efficient. The key factor which attracted me to GOAL was the fact
that most of the resources get straight to those who need it most."
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Mary McLoughlin - Roving Medical Advisor
 Irish doctor, Mary McLoughlin has been a GOALie since 1987 and
has worked in Iraq, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia and the Muslim town
of Gorazde, where she was trapped alongside UN personnel in 1994,
as war waged around her.
Mary had faced personal danger before when she was taken hostage
for three months by Iraqi troops during the Gulf War, but even this
could not deter her spirit and she continues her life saving work
for GOAL today. In 1997 she was awarded the ‘People of the
Year Award.’
News article: UCC Medal winner
urges graduates to engage with developing world
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Louise O'Rourke - Country Director, India
 Wexford’s Louise O’Rourke was recently handed the task of overseeing the implementation of GOAL’s programmes in India, where John O’Shea delivered the organisation’s very first aid package in 1977.
Having visited and worked in seven different countries for GOAL since she joined the organisation in 2003, Louise admits it is a career which has presented many challenges. She particularly remembers an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Darfur, Sudan, where 25,000 victims of the one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters had been living in makeshift shelters for the previous four years.
“It was a privilege to be there and to see the people living in hope of a better existence, despite the hardships and terrors that they had endured and continue to endure. I can’t imagine living in such circumstances and after witnessing their plight, nothing else was required to convince me of the need to do more to address the situation.
“The reason I chose to work with GOAL came down to the fundamental feeling that I could use my skills and qualifications more wisely and with more satisfaction working in post-conflict or developing countries. After spending over six years helping my colleagues to implement GOAL’s many humanitarian and life-saving projects, I can say that it was definitely the right move to make.”
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Christopher Boucher - Programme Support Officer, South Sudan
 “I was working in education for several years but felt it was time for a change. I suppose fundamentally I also couldn’t reconcile the standard of life that we enjoy in Ireland with what I had seen of the conditions in the Developing World. I felt compelled to do something.”
Dublin native Chris Boucher started by volunteering for GOAL in their head office in Dun Laoghaire. Since late 2008, he has been the agency’s Programme Support Officer in Juba, South Sudan.
“The role mostly involves seeking funding for our programmes from donors, and then reporting on how their money is spent. As a part of this I get to travel a lot, moving between our field sites and visiting the different programmes, which is really interesting.
“My work in the field has brought me into touch with many of our beneficiaries. Seeing a child recovering from severe malnutrition, or meeting people who tell you straight out that they’re only alive today due to the work of GOAL – I simply can’t imagine anything more rewarding.
“In short, although it is by no means all plain sailing, I’ve never once regretted coming here and I am entirely hooked on this work. I hope to remain doing it for some time to come.”
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Gillian Boyle – logistics coordinator, Malawi
 Gillian Boyle from Longford has worked as a logistics coordinator for GOAL in Africa since 2005. She is currently based in the Nsanje region of Malawi, where GOAL are running child survival health, nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS and cholera response programmes.
Gillian’s desire to continue the battle against poverty has not dimmed despite accepting that she knows she will continue to encounter situations that will test her physical and mental resolves to their limits.
“Sometimes it is very hard, there is no getting away from that,” says Gillian. “But at other times, you will find a small glimmer of hope in a situation where it seems there is little reason for optimism and it can boost your spirits and make you believe again.
“Working with and helping the most vulnerable people in the world has been a fulfilling, informative and eye-opening experience and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about helping the poor to get in touch with GOAL.
“It takes at least 12 months to settle into the African way of life and learn how the poor are forced to live. It is only then do you really realise just how lucky the rest of us are. We have everything we need and more. All the poorest of the poor want to do is live.
“It’s not a lot to ask.”
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Stephen McEneaney - Housing Programme
Manager - Uganda
 Monaghan man, Stephen McEneaney has been Programme Manager of GOAL’s
building programme in Masaka in Uganda since November 2007. After
18 months working with GOAL in Sri Lanka post tsunami, he knows
how to get things done. The job completed by the Sri Lankan team was
the largest in GOAL’s history and was universally praised.
Although Stephen was a big part of that project, he did not sit back and rest on his laurels. Stephen packed his bags for Uganda almost immediately. He now finds himself in charge of an ambitious housing project in one of the most under-developed countries in the world – a challenge he relishes.
As well as managing the 28 staff involved in the programme, there is a big training element to Stephen’s job. “We run vocational training in construction skills for youths who have dropped out of school,” Stephen explains. “They learn brick making and laying, roofing, plastering and other construction skills. We also run a parallel programme in traditional construction techniques like wattle and dub and thatching. Not letting these traditional skills die is important as they are often more sustainable.”
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Niall Boot - Roads and Watsan engineer - Sierra Leone
Staffordshire-born Niall Boot is using his engineering skills to
aid the poorest of the poor in Sierra Leone. “I’ve travelled
and worked in various parts of Africa,” Niall says. “I
don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere quite so remote.
But I guess that’s why I’m there.”
At Loughborough University after finishing his Masters Niall started looking for work.
“I’d heard a lot about GOAL and I knew the organisation had a great reputation so I went along to one of the open evenings in Birmingham,” he said.
“The places I’m working in tend to be quite undeveloped. You’re always going to miss stuff from home but I’d regret it if I let that make me not do the work here. It’s better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do.”
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Ernest Khalilov - Logistician
Fleunt in Russian, Turkish and English Ernest has worked for GOAL in Sudan,
Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
A former professional sportsman who was forced to retire early due to
injury, Ernest plays a lead role in co-ordinating GOALs logistics
in a number of countries. Ernest was at the heart of the operation after the earthquake in northern Pakistan, GOAL and every
other agency faced a massive logistical challenge.
"
Three million
people were homeless in a mountainous area, infrastructure was obliterated,
and winter was coming. We had to procure, transport and deliver
thousands of tents, blankets, shelter kits, tarpaulins over difficult
terrain, in a short period of time. It was round the clock, it was
challenging and it was exhausting".
"The same was the case for the tsunami, when GOAL intervened
in Sri Lanka. And in a different way with Darfur and Niger - different
types of emergencies. Different challenges in terms of language,
infrastructure, local capacity, security, politics. All of these
things must be considered when setting and running a good logistics
operation in a particular country."
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George
Bwanali - Logistic Manager - Malawi
“Logistics is a job which I never even thought about
before I joined GOAL,” says George. “It was introduced
to me while I was working as a programme assistant, and I fell
in love with it instantly.”
As Logistics manager, George’s job involves assisting the
Logistics Coordinator in ensuring the smooth running of the
department in the fields of insurance, fleet management, warehousing,
IT, procurement, asset management and security.
“The Logistics department accounts for more than 70%
of the money which is spent within the organisation,”
says George. |
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| Before joining GOAL,
George worked for another NGO, JRS, but by then he was combining
work with school, as he was pursuing an advanced diploma in
business administration and a diploma in accounting. At GOAL,
he only worked in programmes for about 6 months, before he
moved into Logistics where he is to date.
“Logistics is never boring, everyday brings new challenges
and I get to interact with different types of people from
different fields.” George quips. “I love the travelling
although sometimes it is difficult to travel out to the sites
due to pressure of work at the main office.”
“The most challenging part of my job is to meet programmes
and departmental needs, especially in terms of fleet, since
programmes requirements within GOAL Malawi change on a daily
basis. But GOAL has opened many doors for me. I am more marketable
to other organisations due to the experiences and training
which GOAL has given me.
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