Management Committee
Aidan Donaldson
& Trustee
Coming soon………
Fionnuala McGeough
Trustee
I became involved with Project Zambia in September 2015. A few of my friends who had travelled with the school group wanted to get involved with the adult group and so I jumped at the opportunity to join them. I travelled for the first time in July 2016 and fell in love with everything the charity was about and the projects we work with. I knew it was not going to be a one-time thing and have been involved ever since! I joined the management committee the next charity year as I wanted to more involved with the day-to-day aspects of the running of the charity and wanted to be further involved in developing the relationship with our host communities. In October 2017 I was elected as Chairperson and held that position for 3 years and have recently stepped down to allow a fresh perspective in the role. I have travelled 4 times so far in various roles; as a new volunteer, as lead volunteer and as Chairperson. Each experience has been so different, but each are equally as rewarding and exciting. Project Zambia has become such a big part of my life and I wouldn’t change it for the word.
Stephanie Corr
Secretary & Trustee
After a trip to Zambia back in 2011 with St Dominic’s & St Mary’s school, I returned with a new motivation I never had, to study, to choose my university degree and career. The focus of my life had a paradigm shift after meeting the communities we work with in Zambia. I immediately reached out after school to join Project Zambia adult group and flew out the following year again. I learnt more about how PZ works with locals within the communities to encourage growth, exchange ideas and seek long term solutions in order to sustain the development of the communities we help. I became involved with project management committee in 2013 and travelled out a further 2 times after this. Despite moving to Amsterdam and then London previously, it has continued to remain a big part of my life and I still sit on the committee with pride today. I believe in the work we do and can’t imagine not being a part of it. It has been amazing to watch the charity grow over the last 12 years.
Joe Marley
Trustee
My involvement with St Marys CBGS Project Zambia from 2016 opened the way for my continuing involvement with Project Zambia. My initial trip to Lusaka with the school group back in 2016 gave me a glimpse of what to expect; work needing done with each project, our mission statement in action, and effectively meeting our goals alongside maintaining our ethos. This visit fuelled the desire for a further 2 trips. Having been present for many Project Zambia milestones in the past years I look forward to seeing and supporting the consistent progress and development of what was once a small local charity. With the growth of Project Zambia arising within QUB and various other areas outside of Belfast I look forward to meeting more enthusiastic and charismatic people to join our team!
Eadaoin Donaldson-Kelly
Treasurer & Trustee
My name is Eadaoin Kelly and I am a volunteer, committee member, and Treasurer of Project Zambia. I have been involved since the first adult group travelled out to Zambia in 2005. I have travelled to Zambia on six occasions, most recently in 2015. It has been an honour to see the progress made year-on-year in the impoverished Zambian communities with which we work, especially for a small charity based in Belfast.
As much I have enjoyed personally volunteering and travelling, in more recent years, I have enjoyed contributing to the training programmes for our volunteers and improving charity governance. One of the aspects of PZ's work which means a lot to me has been the introduction of partnership agreements between ourselves and our host communities. For such a small charity, it's quite a novel way to work and it is something of which I am very proud.
Volunteering is a very meaningful aspect of my life. Outside of PZ, I am a keen runner, podcast fanatic and parkrun enthusiast.
Dominique Groves
Chairperson & Trustee
My name is Dominique. I’m Project Zambia's current chairperson and I have been volunteering since I was first introduced to the charity at secondary school. I am a student of languages and as such, I love to explore and appreciate other cultures different to my own. Travelling to Zambia has given me great opportunities to meet and work with people from all walks of life, learning about local culture, food, dance and languages (there are over 72 spoken in Zambia). Aside from this, meeting new people from a background similar to my own and learning alongside them is a very rewarding experience. Interesting discussions on global poverty, immersion, child protection and sustainable income generation are always made more engaging with a great team around you. The Project Zambia family has been a support and comfort to me over the last number of years and I look forward to seeing what the future brings.
Nóra Monaghan
Trustee
Hi my name is Nóra Monaghan and I am the Queen’s University Officer for Project Zambia. I joined Project Zambia through the QUB society during my second year of university, and subsequently travelled to Zambia with the team in 2019. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Zambia and it was a privilege to meet the communities that Project Zambia support. I had the privilege to work in partnership with a community group in Mapepe Village to help develop a Home Based Care Team to provide medical support to those in need. Since then, I have continued my involvement with QUB Project Zambia as Chairperson of the society. During the last academic year we held a host of Covid-friendly fundraisers and recruited lots of new members into the society. I hope to continue to grow our membership during the upcoming academic year, so that there will be lots of new volunteers ready to travel with Project Zambia.
Fiona McCann
Trustee
I have been a supporter of PZ since 2012 and joined the Committee in 2021 with a wealth of experience gained in both the commercial and charity sector. I have extensive experience in fundraising, sales & marketing, business development, management and leadership achieved throughout her business career. Working for one of N Ireland’s leading charities as my day job, I am also an active volunteer within my local parish as a member of the Communications & Social Media Committee and within Music Ministry, both as a member of Holy Family Folk Group and as a cantor. Additionally, I have been a voluntary facilitator on many youth and faith development programmes. This year specifically, I will be leading the development of a sustainable fundraising strategy for PZ.
Leah Smyth
Trustee
I first travelled with Project Zambia in Summer of 2015 with St Dominic’s Grammar School, after hearing so many inspiring stories from the teachers and older students over the years. Admittedly, it was quite daunting to imagine myself in the scenes that I had seen so many photos and videos of. These thoughts immediately disappeared on day one as we were welcomed into Broads Backpackers Hostel and by each host community. Since that first trip, I have ventured back out to my second home twice more and hope to be back very soon. I joined the management committee in 2016 to maintain ties with the charity throughout the year and during those summers that I did not travel. In 2017, a few other volunteers and I began to develop a fundraising society within Queen’s University Belfast called QUBPZ. This helped spread awareness of our projects, Zambian culture, and give students a way to fundraise alongside their studies and travel. I’ve met so many amazing people in Zambia and Belfast through PZ and I look forward to the next chapter in our charity’s journey