An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 20 | By CoMDt EAMonn SMyth REtD FOR THE GREAT ETHIOPIAN RUN (GER) E amonn Smyth served 29 years with the Irish De- fence Forces and was mainly stationed in the Cur- ragh, Co kildare. During his time he served overseas in kosovo, Lebanon and Central America. he first heard of Vita, the Irish charity fighting hunger and climate change in East Africa, about a year ago when he met up with an old school friend, gerry Murphy. gerry works with Vita and explained to Eamonn that Vita's mission is about helping rural people in East Africa establish themselves and create sustainable livelihoods so they can choose to stay within their own communities and with their own families. Eamonn liked the sound of Vita's programme and felt it was very complimentary to the Irish Naval Mission in the Mediterranean, rescuing people in danger of drowning who took the risk because they felt they didn't have a future in their country of origin. Gerry encouraged Eamonn to get involved, and to spread the word amongst his military colleagues, so Eamonn put together his 'task force' of retired Colonels George Kerton and Declan Carberry. Their task is to raise awareness of Vita's work amongst the ranks of serving and retired per- sonnel of Vita's work and to put together a team to partici- pate in the Great Ethiopian Run (GER). Eamonn is looking for members of the Defence Forces, current or retired, male or female to participate in the Great Ethiopian Run, an annual 10km run / walk in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November this year. Vita's programmes are in Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the main aim of assisting com- munities to survive in the locations they live in. This work is complimentary to the Defence Forces historical mission to East Africa in the past and the Naval Services on-going mis- sions to the Mediterranean. The main aim of engaging with members of the Defence Forces for the Great Ethiopian Run is to raise awareness of development challenges in East Africa, where hunger and drought are driving millions of people towards mass migration. In 2012 BSM Billy O'Neill (Retd) formally of the Military College and DFTC ran the Great Ethiopian Run in 42 min- utes for another Irish charity working in Africa to combat eye disease. "I have great memories of the dizziness from altitude, the locals running in support of the runners, and of giving up my GER t-shirt and race number to a 17-year-old boy who was eying up my medal and cert. It really was a great experience." An Cosantóir July/August 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 20 |

• Cover