Bridgeen Harkin during one of her trips to Kenya.
Two Donegal charity workers have been left traumatised after being robbed of money and jewelry during an aid trip to Kenya.
Sisters Bridgeen and Sonia Harkin were left terrified after being confronted by six men at a special needs unit in Nairobi.
The young women were just a couple of days into a planned two week trip when the horrific hold-up took place last Thursday.
The women, from Buncrana, were at a meeting at the Songa Mbela na Masomo Special Needs Complex when six men burst in.
Bridgeen, 35, told Donegal Daily “These men burst in and started shouting and all the other workers lay down on their stomachs.
“We didn’t realise what was happening so we didn’t lie down. They came over to us and started pulling at my back.
“I refused to let it go but they pulled it so hard they broke the strap.
“They also began to roar at Sonia and she initially wouldn’t give them her bag as our passports were in it.
“I told her just to give it to them as I was terrified of what they might do to her if she didn’t.”
As well as €980 the gang got away with their watches, phones and they even pulled a ring off Bridgeen’s finger.
“That was the worst of it all. My grandmother Bridget Harkin gave me that ring a few years ago and I’ll never be able to replace it, she added.
The women’s passports were found by a river the following day.
The two aid workers, who were working with charity group Africa Direct, were so shaken by the incident that they decided to leave the country and return to Ireland the following day.
Bridgeen, who was on her sixth charity trip to Nairobi, said she was very shaken but sister Sonia, who was on her first trip, is still very shaken up.
“Sonia was very nervous going out in the first place but I never thought anything like this would happen.
“This was my sixth trip and I never had any bother before,” she said.
The Buncrana woman admits that she is unsure if she will go on another charity trip to the region.
“It’s to early to even think about it because we are still very shaken. I’m not sure.
“I will continue to raise money for the unit and for Nairobi but I’m not sure if I will go back or not yet,” she said.
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