GCA Mentors

Anastasia or Annie studied Arts and later Film and Screen Studies in University College Cork. In 2019 she was awarded the EIL Explore Mexico Award and travelled abroad to a small village to take part in an environmental project which included preparing baby mangroves to be planted in a swamp as part of a reforestation project. While in Mexico, Annie practised Spanish and learned more about conservation by experiencing first-hand how the community of La Ventanilla lives alongside nature without depleting its resources through an ecotourism service. When she returned home, Annie participated in the Global Citizen Award programme and was awarded the Silver award in 2020. Her action projects and reflective posts focused on Global Goals 14 and 15, Life Below Water and Life on Land, as she feels these are important goals linked to Climate Change that should be accomplished first. Annie has continued volunteering with her local Tidy Towns group since taking part in the GCA. In her own words, “Travelling abroad was an enlightening experience that helped me to learn more about myself and a new community. Learning to embrace the new with open arms is a vital part of growing as a person and as a global citizen.”

Domhnaill Harkin, is 25 years old and currently working for a homeless charity in Dublin. He studied Law and Society as an undergraduate degree in DCU and then went to UCD to firstly study a Higher Diploma in Social Policy followed by a Masters of Sociology.  His main areas of interest are social justice, politics and international development and he has a keen interest in LGBTQIA rights. He became involved with EIL and the GCA when he was selected to go to Hanoi to teach English during the summer of 2018, which he says was “an amazing experience”. He completed the Gold GCA in 2019. He also went volunteering overseas again during the summer of 2019 with Suas Educational Development in Kolkata, India. He says that both volunteer placements were “life changing experiences”. Being a mentor in the GCA programme allows him to continue to be involved with projects that focus on volunteer programs and international development projects.

Jorge has mentored many Global Citizen Awards and shares his project plan to help participants staring off the award. He explains how; I Decided to Volunteer Abroad and booked a place with a Volunteer Sending Agency, EIL Intercultural Learning. Next I attended the pre-departure workshop and learned about the global context and what to expect when volunteering abroad. I spent 2 months volunteering on a Community Education project in India learning about the people, culture and global challenges. When I got home to Ireland I attended a debriefing workshop to share my experience with other Volunteers. There I learned to use my experience to raise awareness about global justice issues to make a difference in Ireland. I became more interested in global issues and took a module called Social Justice & Citizenship in Cork Institute of Technology as part of a community education and development degree. I shared my story through blogs that included photos and writings, to explain global issues based on my experience overseas.

Kathleen lives in the Garden of Ireland, county Wicklow. She got involved with the GCA after receiving an EIL Explore travel award to volunteer in Mexico working in the Children’s Library project of Barra de Potosi in the summer of 2018. She applied for and received the Gold Global Citizen Award in May 2019.

She studied in Trinity College Dublin and is currently a student of University College Dublin. She has a background in IT, technology and Business Admin, public speaking and also in the DJ business. She is an active volunteer with NLN Bray, UCD Mature Access and Eco UNESCO. She was invited to join the EIL Global Education Committee (GEC) in 2019.

Kathleen says, “Because of the experience and feedback I got from the Awards & Standards committee l felt I had something to offer regarding feedback and helpful advice to the people applying to the GCA going forward. To me being a mentor means passing on the knowledge you have.”

Kathleen likes reading, line dancing and walking with her dog in her spare time. While she likes to keep up with all the SDG’s she thinks the most important one is “Peace and Justice” and “Strong Institutions and Partnerships for the Goals” because all the other SDG’s have a much better chance of succeeding with these two in place.

Sarah Enright is a primary school teacher from Dublin. She first volunteered with Suas Educational Development in 2017 and then again in 2018 where she worked as a teaching assistant in schools in Zambia and India. She then taught in a school for children with intellectual disabilities in Vietnam in 2019. She began working towards the Gold Global Citizen Award after returning from Vietnam, which she received in 2020. While working towards her GCA she started volunteering with a social club for children with intellectual disabilities. She has continued volunteering with them since and is very thankful to have found them as part of her GCA journey! She is passionate about many of the SDG’s, but particularly SDG 4; Quality Education. Sarah is delighted to be a GCA mentor this year for the first time to encourage others to take action about things that interest them, to offer motivation if it’s needed, and to be a helping hand along the way!