So quite a bit has happened since I last wrote an entry. About three weeks actually, hence the length of this entry. Sorry!
The week after St. Patrick’s Day was a good week. For our seminar we were in Derry/Londonderry in the Fountain. The Fountain is a section of town that is exclusively Protestant. We talked with William, a man who has been living there his whole life. He is working to develop the area and restore it to the thriving neighborhood and industrial area that it was before the Troubles. William told us of what life is like in the Fountain. It used to be booming with a population of nearly 15,000, but now is home to less than 500. Many people left this area because of the violence during the Troubles. William also said that any male living in the Fountain aged 14-40, has been hospitalized at least once due to sectarian violence. The Fountain is an interface area; it is surrounded by walls to keep people safe, even though interface areas are where the most violence occurs in cities. There are even gates along one of the walls that get locked at 9pm every night to help control the violence or chaos that the youth create. Now-a-days almost all the ‘stuff’ that happens at the walls are the actions of kids who are looking for something to do. What we would call criminal mischief here they call it anti-social behavior or ASB. ASB is a big issue communities are working on. It was interesting to hear William’s story and his perspective because most people in Derry/Londonderry never hear about the Fountain. It is essentially forgotten by everyone.
The last week of March was a slow week at the Junction, so I went next door to Peace & Reconciliation Group to see if I could help them out. I assisted a bit by looking up information to go into their Cross Border Heritage Project Packs, a project they are working on. These packs are lessons about Irish history that are fun and interactive, and are to be used with children on both sides of the border. The goal is to learn about the child’s history as well as the other’s history, ie Protestant/Catholic. They created a video to go with the lessons. I actually learned a lot about Irish history and how to write to the level of elementary age students. Working with young kids in schools is an important thing to help fight sectarianism. Sectarianism is learned from parents and a child’s surrounding, so reaching them early is essential. It was neat to see the project come together. I missed the launch of the project because I was in Dublin for 5 days.
The next week, March 28- April 1, was our trip to Dublin and the borderlands. On Monday we left at 8:30 am and travelled to B’fast to pick up the other half of the gang. We then made our way across the border. We stopped near the border and looked out on a field. It seemed like a normal enough place, but then Nigel told us that this border was where the majority of deaths of the Troubles took place. Nigel encouraged us to think and reflect about borders. What do they mean to us? What/who do they keep out? Why are they there? Etc.
Here is a picture of the group at Newgrange.We then visited Newgrange.
Newgrange is a burial passage tomb that is over 5,000 years old. It was built in Neolithic Times. It was created before the Egyptians were building the pyramids. It was fascinating how old things are here on this continent. I mean we have old stuff in America, but not this old or maybe I just haven’t been to the right old stuff.
Tuesday was our “touristy” day. We saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College. It was really old and kind of cool. I think I enjoyed the other old documents that were in the Long Room library better. There were lots of documents from the time of the rebellion, the civil war, partition, etc.
We then went to the Kilmainham Gaol or Jail. For short it’s known just as Kilmain. It was quite old and the location where the rebels of the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed. Luckily I had read up on my Irish history to know some important names and events, otherwise the tour wouldn’t have been as interesting.
That night we went to a football (or as we call it soccer) match. It was Ireland vs. Uruguay. Uruguay won 3-2, but it was still fun. Our seats were five rows up and right behind one of the goals.
After Kilmain we ventured over to the Guinness Storehouse. It was a big open exhibit, so there were no tour guides leading you around. It was nice to have the freedom to wander and look at the exhibits, but it seemed very impersonal compared to the Bushmills Distillery that we went to our first week in NI. My favorite part of the exhibit was the advertisements. Some were really old and pretty funny. The Guinness toucan, which was originally a pelican, might be my favorite. At the end of the tour we got a “complimentary” pint of Guinness. Even though I’m not a huge fan of Guinness I still finished mine. You can never waste a Guinness while you’re in Ireland.
Wednesday we went to the Dail and met with representatives from various parties included Fine Gael, Labour, and Sinn Fein. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on Northern Ireland. Some said NI was an issue, others said it wasn’t. Ireland seems to be more worried about their current economic issues than the friend to the North. After our meeting we toured the Dail and we received our very own Proclamation.
Thursday we travelled into the Wicklow Mountains. After driving what seemed like a long time, we arrived at the Glencree Peace & Reconciliation Centre. Glencree is all about shared learning, partnership, support, and dialogue. It is connected to the Corrymeela community up in Ballycastle, where one of the guys is doing his internship. They have a lot of programs working with different groups of people, ie women, political leaders, victims/survivors, international aid, etc. With a few minutes to spare, because we arrived early, Nigel taught us how to play touch rugby. Only one person in the group had ever played rugby before but everyone picked up on it pretty quick. It was super fun! We also ventured to Glendalough Monastery. It was beautiful beautiful view!
Friday was our last day of our field trip. We travelled to the border and met with a man named Ian, who created the organization Crossfire Trust. Crossfire Trust is a Christian org. that works to heal the wounds of society. They do a lot of great work with a charity shop, families of the disappeared, those who need support & counseling, just to name a few. Ian was very inspirational and I think I really liked the work they did because of their Christian ethos. Here in Northern Ireland religion is a big issue and to put your faith into your work and essentially out on the line is a difficult thing. Ian told us we need to listen and feel more. I think if we all did that a bit more maybe our world would be just a bit better.
After meeting Ian, we travelled to where Nigel is from. He told us his story and now I can see why Nigel is such a strong and wise person. He is the foundation of our program and without him our program and experience of Northern Ireland wouldn’t be the same. We then travelled back to Belfast and Derry. On the way home Nigel suggested we each play a song that means something to us and explain it to the group. It was such a little thing, but I felt it helped us bond as a group and better get to know each other, as well as share our music which is always good!
Last week was a good one. We didn’t have a seminar because we were all ready to not be together after spending 5 whole days with each other. So everyone had Monday off. At work I transcribed a manuscript that was handwritten in tiny cursive. It was slow work, but it kept me busy. It was for a booklet that the Junction is producing about Ethical and Shared Remembering. Friday we turned in our field trip reflection papers. I found this paper an easy one to write. Our reflection papers are much more about feelings and critical thinking, rather than the normal academic type of writing.
Friday I got off work early and went for a walk because it was so beautiful outside. This weekend we went to a fundraiser on Saturday night, Derry for Japan. A bunch of local bands performed. It was a mix of rock and punk, so not completely my cup of tea but it was still fun. Also it was for a good cause. Sunday Phil & I went to another new church that I found while on my walk on Friday. It was the closest one to where we live. It was very nice and smaller AND they did the sign of peace!! It might not seem like that big of a deal, but Phil & I were both stoked about this because no other church that we’ve gone to have done it! I’m still pretty excited about it. I’ll definitely have to return to that church because it was my favorite so far.
Yesterday we had our seminar here in Derry at the Magee campus. We talked to Grainne, who works in INCORE (an international conflict research centre) within the University of Ulster. She talked about policy and practice relating to reconciliation. It was interesting. In the afternoon Nigel left us with many things to think about including the topic of storytelling. I found this very thought provoking because I am writing my individual paper on storytelling. This weekend is our last weekend in Derry, so it should be enjoyable. Next week is our last week of our internship and the last week the Junction is at the Junction. Thursday day is moving day. We are moving into a different building so a new building can be built in place of the old one.
