A Return to China

A Return to China

Last June Columban missionary Fr Kevin O’Neill returned to the Chinese city of Wuhan where he lived 11 years ago. He writes about some of the changes of the intervening years and the special Columban connection with this part of China. My last visit to China was five...
Interest in Teaching in China Revives

Interest in Teaching in China Revives

Now that Covid is fading into the background, interest in teaching in China has revived. Enquiries are coming in about the Volunteer Teachers for China, a Columban-sponsored programme also known as AITECE, with requests for updates on a number of concerns. Is it safe?...
Fr Joseph Houston

Fr Joseph Houston

Fr Joseph (‘Joe’) Houston was born on 14 December 1940 in Belfast. He was educated at St Gall’s Primary School and St Malachy’s College, Belfast. He did a degree in Arts at Queen’s University, Belfast and followed that with a MA in Celtic Studies. He taught Gaelic for...
Interest in Teaching in China Revives

AITECE looks forward to renewed activity in 2022

The Volunteer Teachers for China, a Columban-sponsored programme also known as AITECE, has been facing a number of challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hugh MacMahon explains. The teachers who never left China were allowed to stay on but those who left for...
Tribute to AITECE teacher Fr Leslie McNamara

Tribute to AITECE teacher Fr Leslie McNamara

Columban Fr Joseph Houston pays tribute to Fr Leslie McNamara, former president of St Munchin’s College in Limerick, who as an AITECE teacher, taught English in China for a number of years. When she heard the news of Leslie McNamara’s death, a former student of...