Meath GAA stars make their point with new house-building charity

Two of Meath"s star GAA players are throwing their support behind a new NGO which aims to build homes and hope in Haiti. Haven, founded by businessman Leslie Buckley, is recruiting 250 volunteers to travel with it to Haiti at Halloween for its first ever Build-it-Week, Anthony Moyles and teammate Nigel Crawford are supporting the new building charity as it calls on the people of Meath to show their generosity to those less fortunate than themselves. Ahead of their key clash this weekend with rivals Dublin in Croke Park, the men from Clonee and Dunboyne donned hard hats and picked up some tools to show their fellow countymen how everyone can make a contribution. Each Haven volunteer has to raise a minimum of €4,000, be physically fit enough to work in a tropical climate and be available for a week at Halloween. Build-it-Week takes place from 25th October until 2nd November this year. CEO of Haven, Hugh Brennan, said: 'The people of Haiti really need our help to achieve the basic human right of a decent place to live, so I am hoping that the people of Meath will respond to Haven"s call for volunteers to come to Haiti at Halloween,' he said. One representative of the Royal County is already signed up for the trip to Haiti. Phonsie Gilsenan from Hayestown, outside Navan, will be one of the 250 Haven volunteers travelling there in October. The general builder admits that it"s a tough year for those in the building industry but he hopes to make the fundraising target. 'It is not a great year to be in construction, but there are lots of people all over the world who are much poorer than ourselves. Meath people are one of the best at donating to good causes and that"s certainly the case in my community,' he said. The 46 year-old added: 'I watched a television programme on Haiti a couple of months back and it was a real eye-opener. The country looks unbelievably poverty-stricken, so I"d like to try and help in some way.' Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. More than 70 per cent of the population of almost nine million people live below the official poverty line of US$2 a day. Almost 40 per cent of families do not have enough to eat and a child dies every hour from malnutrition.