A Rose in India: Ballinahown's Jennifer visits Kolkata

Rose of Tralee Jennifer Byrne has been spending this week in India volunteering with the HOPE Foundation and seeing first-hand the struggles of children living on the streets and in the slums of Kolkata.

This is Jennifer’s first overseas trip since becoming the Rose of Tralee and she said that she was excited to support the work being undertaken by HOPE to tackle humanitarian issues in Kolkata, India.

HOPE works with the most vulnerable street and slum children and their families. HOPE operates over 60 projects in Kolkata and has provided 30,000 children with access to education and a further 300,000 adults with access to healthcare and training programmes.

Jennifer arrived last weekend and her week included visits to the HOPE projects including their child protection centres established to get the children off the streets and into education. 

Many of the children, who have come through HOPE education centres, return to work with HOPE in their training centres. Jennifer also took part in the 18th annual cultural Foundation Day celebrations on 1st November.

Speaking from India, HOPE Honorary Director, Maureen Forrest stated, ‘Jennifer is a fantastic role model and we are delighted she agreed to become an Ambassador for HOPE. We are thrilled that she accepted our invitation to come to Kolkata and visit the girls and boys in our projects.’

Jennifer is the eighth Rose of Tralee to be announced as an Ambassador for the HOPE Foundation.