The President, Mrs McAleese, leaves Ireland today for an 11-day visit to Uganda and Kenya focusing mainly on the work of Irish missionaries in the east African countries.
After a stopover in Crete tonight, the President will first visit Uganda, where she is due to be welcomed by President Yoweri Museveni at Entebbe late tomorrow afternoon. Over the following five days she will travel around the country, mostly by plane and helicopter, to visit mission hospitals, schools, development projects and AIDS clinics.
Mrs McAleese will meet the Irish members of several missionary orders, including the Medical Missionaries of Mary, the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, and the Little Sisters of St Francis. She will also visit the Fields of Life Academy, a development project that is part sponsored by the Church of Ireland.
On Tuesday she will pay an official visit to President Museveni at State House, Kampala. Uganda is one of Ireland's six priority countries for bilateral aid and President Museveni has been seen as one of Africa's most progressive leaders. In less than a decade, poverty levels have dropped by 20 per cent, primary school attendance has doubled and the economy has grown steadily while neighbours such as Kenya have rapidly declined.
However President Museveni's reputation has been sullied in recent years. His troops have been involved in the war in neighbouring Congo, which has caused widespread devastation and, according to some estimates, up to 1.5 million mostly civilian deaths.
There was evidence of intimidation of opposition figures and of some vote-rigging during last March's presidential elections, which President Museveni won by a large margin. His main challenger, Dr Kizza Besigye, has since fled Uganda claiming his life was in danger.
On Friday, the President will be the guest of honour at a ceremonial reception in the eastern town of Kumi, a priority area for Irish aid funding, and will later visit a primary school and a water supply scheme.
The following day she flies to Lodwar in northern Kenya, a hot and marginalised region where Irish Catholic missionaries have played a critical role in the provision of social services and, more recently, in educating local people about their voting and other civic rights.
In Lodwar the President will meet Bishop Patrick Harrington before travelling south to Baringo district the following day, where she will meet three of the original five Kiltegan Fathers who first came to Kenya in 1951.
The following day she will travel to the capital, Nairobi, to meet other Irish missionaries, such as the SMA fathers, the Mill Hill Fathers and the Sisters of Mercy, and well as Irish aid workers. Nairobi serves as regional hub for Irish aid agencies such as Concern, GOAL and Tr≤caire.
In both Kenya and Uganda the President will also visit projects funded by Irish Aid, the Irish Government's bilateral aid programme. Last June Irish Aid was criticised by GOAL director Mr John O'Shea, who said the funding was "wasted by people who make Hitler look like an altar boy".
The criticism drew a furious response for Minister of State Ms Liz O'Donnell, who said GOAL was principally a "welfare" organisation and Mr O'Shea's aim was to maximise his own funding levels.
In Nairobi Mrs McAleese will pay an official visit to President Daniel arap Moi.
Kenya has been in the grip of a severe economic slide in recent years, which is partly due to corruption by government officials. The President will meet with other missionary groups active in Kenya on October 30th before returning to Ireland the following day.