Teen Times:Recently, some papers carried a report of an Irish nun who had received a prestigious award in India, the Padma Shree, given for her lifetime dedication to India's poorest. This prestigious award is given almost exclusively to Indians. To many, this was a small item of news, but to myself and my classmates it came as no surprise. We spent three weeks last January working in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) with Sr Cyril Mooney, a Loreto nun from Bray, Co Wicklow, who has been in India for more than 50 years.

She now runs Loreto Day School Sealdah, a school for girls, both rich and poor. This safe haven for children from all walks of life was our base while we worked in other schools in the area. During the day we built classrooms and school facilities, and during the evening we would play with the street children who were housed, fed, clothed and taught by Sr Cyril's school. These children, dubbed Rainbow Children, were the success stories of this school. Each of them had come from appalling poverty, living on the streets of one of the most heavily populated cities in the world. Despite this, they were all bright, happy children with huge ambitions.

I feel privileged to have been there, to contribute, to work with Sr Cyril, and to witness the huge contribution she has made to education. Before we went on the trip, we were told not to focus on the poverty, but, rather, to see the dignity behind the struggle. Kolkata is a city of contradictions. Great wealth and crippling poverty exist side by side in the former capital of India. Dilapidated slums exist on the roadside, under billboards for new, expensive housing estates.

One of my friends witnessed a vignette into the shocking poverty these people endure. One morning, a woman begging on the curb lifted her sari to reveal a newborn baby, umbilical cord still attached. To think, in Ireland, a newborn child spends it's first day of existence in a clean, warm environment being showered with affection and gifts. There, the baby's first moments were spent in the gutter.

I learned so much during that trip. I learned of practical matters, how to lay bricks and haggle with street vendors, but I also learned about life, death and what lies in between. My sense of global justice was challenged, seeing small hunched beggars line the streets like paving stones. I learned about ambition, and, regardless of where you come from, that enough of it can get you anywhere. I learned that dignity can be found anywhere, no matter how bad the outlook seems. But, most importantly, I learned that due to one woman's effort, many lives were changed, smiles were put on the faces of those who have nothing, and many street children have found a home.

Simon Acres (15) is a transition-year student at John Scottus Senior School, Morehampton Road, Donnybrook

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