It's Your Right: AJ Dunne (13) - Life with the Aisling Project

Jun 11, 2014, 09:31 AM

AJ (13), is a new member of the Aisling Project, having joined with a friend just before Christmas 2013. AJ has settled in very well, and even classes his fellow Aisling Project members as his best friends. He tells of the support that Clare and the other team members give to him to help him through any issues he has. AJ also acknowledges that it is the leaders and the project that has kept him off the streets. He now has hopes for the future of going to culinary college to become a Baker, with the prospect of owning his own bakery some day.

Accompanying Music: 'Train Track' by Michael Gallen, Mark Gavin and Robert Hope

© West Pole Music and Management Ltd.

The Aisling Project, primarily aimed at young people aged 8 to 13, work to prevent early school leaving, benefit the community and advance education by running an after-school intervention project for children at risk.

For more information on children's rights or the 'It's Your Right' campaign, visit the It's Your right website:

http://itsyourright.ie/

00.00- Music 00.10- AJ: I'm AJ Dunne, I'm 13 and I'm from Ballymun Usually we'll just come in, do our homework. We usually do an activity, like play a board game, or do a bit of reading or knitting. And then we'd go have dinner, clean up. That's usually our typical day. 00.31- AJ: It's just it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble and away from all the bad things that is around Ballymun. It's not a bad place in general, just just a couple of people are bad, the place itself isn't that bad. 00.50- AJ: Usually when I get angry I take my anger out. Here Clare and all the other leaders teach me how to control my anger, like how to be good, nice and kind to other people, and to relax and calm them down. 01.05- AJ: I came in and they were all really nice to me, asking "What's your name?". After a week or two I started to know everyone. Now I'm very close to everyone. I could basically class them as my best friends. 01.18- Music 01.27- AJ: In C.S.P.E. we're learning about the rights of people in Third World countries and in Ireland and how they've the right to get educated and all that stuff. If they didn't have those rights, some people wouldn't get fed, wouldn't get clothed they wouldn't have an education. They'd probably end up dying. 01.48- Music 02.08- END