Huge donation to Laois man's charity for impoverished African island community

A Laois humanitarian has welcomed the latest huge donation from a Sligo property developer, to his charity that transforms lives in a vulnerable African community hit with climate floods and hunger.

A cheque for €20,000 is the latest generous donation by Sligo businessman Cathal O'Connor, to the Laois founded charity Ulemu.com.

The charity was founded by Evin Joyce from Glenbarrow in the Slieve Bloom mountains. He has spent years living on Chisi Island in the middle of a vast lake in Malawi, teaching and supporting the community. 

Cathal and Basia O'Connor delivering school books from Clonaslee Primary School to a homework club in Zambia in 2017.

Mr O’Connor, Managing Director of Beldare Homes, recently presented the donation to a delighted Evin.

Evin who is from Glenbarrow near Clonaslee, told the Leinster Express / Laois Live what it means.

"This single donation equals the whole of Ulemu.com’s budget in 2025 and gets the project off to a solid start for 2026.

"Ulemu.com supports Chisi Island’s 6,000 residents, half of whom are children. Seasonal hunger is common on the island, school fees are often unaffordable, and hospital care requires costly boat transport to the mainland.

"The charity pays secondary school fees for more than 50 teenagers from the island, provides training for the islands pre-school teachers, and operates a motorboat ambulance providing free emergency and scheduled transport to hospital on the
mainland," he said.

In 2025 alone, the ambulance boat transported more than 120 patients to mainland care and featured on a video report by the BBC.

With O'Connor’s donation the charity hopes to restart its school meals project that fed more than 500 children per day through the island's preschools and primary school during last year's "hunger season".

Ulemu.com operates a weekly membership model where the families are helping themselves.  Parents pay €0.03 per week for their children to access educational resources, medical transport, school meals and funeral support. The charity now has over 1,000 paying members.

“This system builds ownership,” Evin Joyce explains.

“It means families are not just passively receiving aid. They are shaping it. €0.03 is not insignificant in a country where people’s average annual income is €570. These families’ small weekly payments give a sense of ownership and increase the charity’s accountability to the families it exists to help.” 

Ulemu.com’s constitution has been written to allow subscription-paying members to vote annually on the charity’s leadership and, in time, take control of the charity's governance themselves.

Cathal O’Connor has been visiting projects run by Evin in Africa since 2017. Cathal and his wife Basia have previously donated more than €22,000, including their wedding gifts, and even visited Chisi Island for their honeymoon.

Cathal and Basia visiting Chisi Island on their honeymoon, with Evin in the background.

They also donated the shipping container (code number: SKIU 292388.0) filled with an estimated €50,000 worth of lego donated in Ireland for the Chisi Island children.it was stolen in early 2025.

It is still missing and Evin still hopes for its safe return.  

"We were very keen to follow every lead, and we still are: you can't make one of those containers disappear, we'll find it yet," Evin told the Leinster Express this week.

Their 8 year old son, Ethan, is also a weekly subscription paying member, one of the first in Ireland. He contributes €0.10 of his pocket money every week towards the charity.

“We need more children like Ethan to become members of Ulemu.com,” said Evin.

Evin, Cathal and Basia on their first visit to a community-run primary school in Zambia in 2017.

Mr O'Connor explains why he supports Evin's charity.

“This model stands out. What impresses me most is the way the charity listens to people's problems in community meetings and then it's the local people who take responsibility for putting what's agreed into action. I'm happy because I know this
donation backs communities who are already invested in and doing the work,” he said.

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Joyce added, "The 3 cents per week are important but they're not going to cover the total cost of what needs to be done. Cathal's donation of €20,000 is equal to our entire budget in 2025. It means we can plan ahead with confidence. We will build on last year's progress and do more in 2026," he said. 

Parents of children who want to become members, can send a message through the charity’s ‘Contact Us’ form. 
Ulemu.com is registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed by the Zomba District Council in Malawi.