When long-serving Kate Doherty retired as the principal of Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar School in 2004, she felt God was telling her it was time to go – but where?

She had no idea, but through a series of connections with former students, she found herself in Ethiopia, where she has become heavily involved with two NGOs – Operation Rescue, and Mums for Mums.

Miss Doherty returned to Ethiopia in September for the first time since 2019; one of the reasons she could not return sooner was the outbreak of war in Ethiopia.

She described how she waited anxiously for news from the area, and from her friends at Operation Rescue.

More than a million people are estimated to have died in the two years of the Tigray War, from 2020 to 2022.

Looking back at how the journey began, Miss Doherty said: “I really did feel that God was saying to me, it was time to go [from the Collegiate], and I was puzzled because I didn’t know why.”

She admits that leaving the school that she had been principal of for seven years – and vice-principal for 16 years, and 34 years on the staff – was very challenging, and she had thought she had made a huge mistake.

However, a ‘God coincidence’ led to a connection with a former student, Alison Hilliard, and she arranged to meet Ms Hillard and her husband in Ethiopia.

In the process, she asked them to help her find some voluntary work in Ethiopia, and it was through this that Miss Doherty’s connection to Operation Rescue was born.

“I flew first to Addis Ababa in 2005 and stayed with Alison and then flew up to Mekelle [the site of the first Operation Rescue Centre in Ethiopia].

“It was quite small-scale; there were only about 120 children in the project, and they were in rented premises, but I fell in love with the children, with the staff, with the whole concept.

“I just kept going and kept going. I think, today, I’ve been 16 times.”

The project has now grown and caters for about 700 children, and is Christian-based. Every child who attends receives a warm meal every day.

“There are now three centres – the one I went to in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, and they went on to form two other ones in Adwa and Adigrat.

“We in Northern Ireland have committed to building a forth one,” explained Miss Doherty, who is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Operation Rescue Northern Ireland.

Connection

She strengthened the connection to the project in Northern Ireland through her church, Enniskillen Presbyterian Church, and with other churches.

On her most recent visit, a full Enniskillen Rangers kit was donated to the children, as were a variety of other sports tops and clothes.

Another involvement with the NGO Mums for Mums came through a connection with a former student, when Tebereh Wolde-Gabriel, the mother-in-law of Janet Farrell, contacted Miss Doherty.

“Tebereh had set up an NGO for young women to train them in vocational skills, to avoid them going into prostitution to keep their families.

“So she had them learning, knitting, using knitting machines, and sewing embroidery.”

Miss Doherty, a Soroptimist, then linked up Mums for Mums with the wider Soroptimist group.

“Tebereh wanted to set up a day care centre for old ladies. Northern Ireland Soroptimists raised the money, and the centre was built.

“And to everybody’s amusement, quite cleverly, she decided that she was calling it the KCCE ¬– the ‘Kate Community Centre for the Elderly’!”

Miss Doherty has visited the centre named in her honour on many occasions, and took great joy in spending time with the residents.

Reflecting more on the project, she continued: “I do believe that God has a plan for all our lives, and you know, sometimes I think God submits amazingly imaginative and creative and amazing things.

“I believe he brought me there, and the children are loved and they know they’re loved within the project.

“They’re loved practically – they are fed, they are clothed, they are supported, but they also know from what they’re told that God loves them as well.”

Now 76, Miss Doherty has no plans to stop her visits. She added: “As long as God gives me the health and strength, I’d like to still keep going out.”