Farset, and home

Day 9 and 10

          Saturday was actually a day off for folks – they were free to choose whatever they wanted to do. Caitlyn, understandably, wanted to spend more time with her relatives. The rest of the group chose to take a bus to Newcastle at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, where some would choose to do a long hike, others would walk the beach and spend time in a local cafe. Most came back to Belfast mid-afternoon and either came back to Farset for a rest, others still kept going and took in another museum.

          Ruth at Farset was already cooking for a crowd of 45 youth, and offered to give us dinner (chicken curry, rice, lasagna, roast potatoes, salad) for 6 pounds. Who could turn down an offer like that? It was a wonderful meal, and an opportunity to gather casually in the Farset dining room. Farset is quite an amazing place ... a combination between a motel and a hostel. Every Sunday night there is an evangelical Christian church service, with much fervour and loud music. This morning during our reflection and evaluation session in the dining room, there was a large Buddhist group chanting in the room. All weekend long there were about 45 youth from a local church youth group with their leaders on a weekend retreat. During the week, there are high powered business meetings and community groups. It’s an amazing place to just sit in the middle of the small bistro and people watch. (plus, it’s the only place where you can be assured internet access!)

          As I write this Finton Ryan comes by to ask if I’ve enjoyed my stay. I saw him all last week but we hadn’t talked other than to greet each other in the halls. He’s a young man from Dublin who comes up every Sunday night for a week of training with an organization called Springboard. Six Catholics, six Protestants, getting skills in business management, communications, peace and reconciliation. He wants to be a youth worker, and work with youth around the world.

          It’s been our home for 8 nights, and we have come to feel quite at home here. Whether we are bantering with Ruth or asking Lynn or Joe on the desk to call us a cab, we have been made to feel welcome. Below are two pictures of the group with Ruth. Today, after our evaluation, we went to St. George’s Market for lunch, then split up into the museum group and the shopping group. We met for dinner, (at the Alley Cat, below) and as I write this folks are finishing their packing for our early flight to London, then Halifax tomorrow.

          It’s been an amazing journey – and I know we will be continuing to process all that we have experienced for a long time to come. Trish came to say goodbye to us tonight, and said “I hope to see some of you next year.” I hope so too.

Two Tapas

Day 7 and 8

          After a successful day at Boys Model on Thursday, we had a scheduled appointment to visit a group in East Belfast, a Unionist area, at the Andy Tyrie Interpretive Centre. The Centre is a group associated with Charter for Northern Ireland (http://www.charterni.com) whom we visited last year and wanted to connect with again this year. We were invited to meet folks at the Centre to talk about the peace process from the perspective of the UDA, the Ulster Defense Association. We were met by William (Billy) Rowan, Jackie McBurney, and Bobby Oshcroft, all volunteers, and two of them former UDA prisoners (pictured with the group, below).

          It’s impossible to encapsulate the two hours that we spent with these three men, who told their stories passionately and in great detail. The Interpretive Centre is filled with newsclippings, artifacts from prison days, weapons, and flags. Of course, we talked about the current flag protests and their understanding of what was happening. As they walked us around the centre, several of us made the connection to what Michael had said in Derry about the importance of people being able to tell their stories, and to feel that they have been heard. All three are dedicated to the peace process, and admit to mistakes they have made individually, and collectively as the UDA. Jackie is currently studying Peace and Reconciliation, and all are commited to the peace process. One thing that amazed us was when they said that Sinn Fein was teaching them how to document their stories, and how to organize politically, because they are years ahead of them in both of those areas.

          On Friday afternoon after the school sessions, we visited Tar Anall, the republican organization that works with ex prisoners and their families. Last year we met with Pat Sheehan, Sinn Fein MLA and former hunger striker, but because he was on his way to Palestine and unable to meet with us, we met with Eibhlin Glenholmes. The SMU group met with Eibhlin last week and Bridget said it was a wonderful session. For some of Eibhlin’s story, try http://eamonnmallie.com/2012/06/eibhlin-glenholmes-her-story-of-war-and-peace-brian-rowan-reports.

          It’s safe to say that the two hours we spent with Eibhlin was riveting. Her story over the past 40 years brought herself, and many of us, to tears. She apologized at the end for taking so long, but none of us seemed to mind. Presenting a very different interpretation of the flag protests, it was clear that she too was commited to the peace process. The complexities of the issues became very real to us through hearing these two personalized stories.

          On Thursday night Trish from Bernardo’s took us out to dinner. We went to a wonderful Spanish tapas restaurant called The Two Taps, and had an amazing meal together. Tapas are appetizers ... the prelude to the meal. However, folks often make meals of many different tapas, which is exactly what we did. We had many different dishes, meat, vegetarian, fish, potatoes ... As I reflect on our visits to East Belfast and Tar Anall, presenting very different histories and very different points of view, I thought perhaps they were like tapas – they certainly left us wanting more, hungering for a deeper understanding to the complex history of this country.

Giants and small boys

Day 6 & 7

Wednesday was an emotionally challenging day for me. It started well enough, with a worship led by Alana, Caitlyn and I in the Croi. At the request of volunteer Martha from Maine, who was at Corrymeela for several weeks when I was there in the summer of 2011, and who is now the Director’s assistant, we agreed to lead the morning reflection time. It was a nice, gentle opening to the day, and left me with warm memories of the privilege of being able to have that gift on a daily basis.

We then headed off for a quick trip to the Giant’s Causeway in the Corrymeela bus, with Peter driving. Further down in this blog you can find the origins of the Causeway, and the legend of Finn McCool. “What do you mean legend?” said Peter when I asked Steph to explain the story ... “What do you mean story?” said Peter ... “ok” I said, “the history of Finn McCool.” As I said earlier in this blog, you don’t get too far in Northern Ireland, and Corrymeela, without knowing about Finn McCool, the giant who “built” the Causeway. Although we didn’t have a lot of time, the group got to the bottom to see the rocks and I was able to poke around the new, very impressive Interpretation Centre of this World Heritage Site. And yes, I shopped in the gift shop.

Back at Corrymeela we had an evaluation and then lunch, and we were on our way back to Belfast. During these past three days, I have been truly moved by the number of staff who seemed genuinely happy to see me, and interested in the group and what we were doing. I had several deep conversations with folks who will help me continue to shape this program. As we climbed on the bus, Paul advised “keep writing the blog, and remember Derek from Brazil.” I left Corrymeela for the second time, again richly blessed by my experience.

Peter drove back to Belfast along the Antrim Coast road, which took a bit longer, but is much more picturesque. He was lively and informational all along the journey – full of facts and anecdotes about everything from who owned the small castle on the side of the road, to the salmon that are helicoptered to the salmon farm in the bay.

When we arrived back at Farset, the mood immediately changed. We were all anxious about going into Boys Model School in the morning. Boys Model is a huge, protestant boys school. We found out several weeks ago that Trish from Bernardo’s had placed us there for the last two days of the week, working with boys at the youngest end of the high school spectrum, the year 8s ... aged 11 and 12. It was unclear to us what exactly was expected, and what the topics were that the teachers hoped to have covered. All around, it was just making everyone a little jumpy and worried. We were supposed to meet Trish late afternoon, but because of work commitments we weren’t able to meet with her until about 7. She reassured the group that whatever was planned was going to be great, but the group wasn’t so sure. After Trish left, they split into their two teams for several hours to finalize their sessions. I realized that as much as I wanted to control things, to swoop in and make a plan, I had to just let go and trust the group. I had to let go. It’s hard when you think you have the answers ... which as it turns out, I probably didn’t.

Thursday morning, a very tense group met Craig Carlisle, the teacher who arranged our visit, who picked us up in a mini bus to travel to the school. The bus was noticeably silent on the trip over. It was explained that over the next two days the group would facilitate sessions with about 150 boys aged 11-12, in classes of about 30, so each group of 4 would have about 15 pupils each session. And the first group was the special needs group with all boys in that group having some form of learning disability, ADD, or autism. “I’m glad I didn’t know that last night!” said Ariane.

I was an observer, alternating between groups. After 10 minutes, I knew all would be well. Each of the young women have much experience leading camps and working with children, and in working with teams. We had worked on the guiding principles of the sessions weeks ago, which were that they were to be conversational rather than content-oriented, and in order to facilitate that, they would try to break into smaller groups as much as they could. In between the conversations, they would insert fun and silly ice breakers and games to keep the boys’ attention. 

The teachers made a point to tell the Dal group at the end of the session how amazed they were that the boys stayed attentive for the whole session. Both groups of leaders had amazing conversations with the boys over the course of the two days. My observation of both groups over the two days was that there was deep listening going on, between leaders and students, and even between the students. Needless to say, Craig mentioned to me on Friday morning that the bus was much more animated on the trip over. Below is Craig with the Dal students, several pictures of the small group discussions, one group singing "Waddle-ee-atchy", one group pretending to be sizzling Canadian bacon, and one of the group drawings. A wonderful success all around!

Stroke City

Day 5

          Tuesday morning at 10 am we were on the bus to Derry ... a trip of about one hour and fifteen minutes.  I got used to calling the city “Derry” because that’s mostly how it’s referred to at Corrymeela, but of course it’s also known as Londonderry ... depending on whether one is loyalist, or nationalist. Our guide at the Peace and Reconciliation Group said some call it “stroke” city, because officially it’s Derry/Londonderry, or even L/Derry.

          Although she couldn’t be with us for the trip, Yvonne from Corrymeela had set up meetings with folks at the Peace and Reconciliation Group. Even though we arrived a bit earlier than our scheduled visit, we were welcomed in by Michael Doherty, Director, and before too long given coffee, and tea and snacks.

          Michael told us the story of the organization, born out of a women’s peace organization in Belfast in 1976. Quoting from some of their materials, The Peace and Reconcilation Group (PRG) was established “to address practical ways to work toards understanding and reconciliation in the context of the conflict of Northern Ireland. Throughout its history it has used a variety of diverse programmes to allow people to build bridges among communities that have been polarised by the historical and political events that have occurred in Northern Ireland.”

          Michael spoke passionately and candidly about the work in which he has been involved for many years. He said that he disagreed with folks who state that Northern Ireland is in a “post conflict situation”, and that in fact “we are in a conflict that has been transformed, and is more subtle.” The PRG’s work involves projects and programmes aimed at young people, children and families, and ex-combatants. It is also a leading training organization in the North West region of Northern Ireland in the areas of mediation and peace building.

          Our group was impressed with Michael’s ability to present several points of view, while still being clear about stating his own biases and feelings. He was a wonderfully engaging speaker, and afterwards took us on a walking tour of the walls of Derry, pointing of places of interest, the murals of the Bogside (site of the Bloody Sunday massacre), and historical facts along the way.

          After our walking tour, Yvonne had arranged for us to meet with Maureen Hetherington, Director of The Junction, a community relations resource and peace building centre also located in Derry/Londerry (http://www.thejunction-ni.org). Maureen explained that for many years people working in the area of peaace building didn't know what the other was doing. The Junction creates opportunities for folks to see each other as practitioners who could help each other, and could "re-humanize" a perceived enemy. People can get take part in an accredited training program around storytelling and forgiveness which leads to understanding and healing.
          Maureen also talked specifically about the Ethical and Shared Remembering Project, which is about the societal story we tell ourselves about our past. Using the decade 1912-1922 as a prism, the project helps folks explore significant events in their entirety and begin to understand the complexities of the past, learn from the mistakes and make choices for a better future. Maureen has done work in both the U.S. and Canada, and was interested in conversations and connections about work being done within and among aboriginal communities in North America.

          It was a very full day, and there was quiet on the bus during the return to Corrymeela – much processing and  reflection about the dedication and hard work of those who work at peace building in these times. Below are pictures from Sam's camera: a picture of the Bogside, with the dove peace mural; a picture of Michael on our tour, a picture of Emma, Alana, Caitlyn, and Michael, and a picture of the group with Steph and Matthew just before the Peace Bridge.

Gratitude

Day 9

          In the interest of transparency, I will say that it is now Saturday, March 2 ... except for an official evaluation and reflection tomorrow morning, the program part of the trip is over. I am enjoying a relaxing morning at Farset (more on Farset later ...) getting caught up on the blog, doing laundry, and enjoying some down time while the rest of the group has gone on a day trip to Newcastle at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. I did this trip last year with Sarah, and it was a wonderful way to end the week, but today I felt the need for some time to myself. Later today I will wander to the City Centre for lunch, perhaps at Madden’s, a pub with my dad’s family’s namesake and one I have been meaning to visit for some time. We'll all meet back at Farset tonight for dinner.

          I am exhausted – both physically and emotionally.  This week has gone beyond even my own dreams and expectations. There have been bumps and challenges for sure, but in the end, it’s been an amazing experience. For me, it’s the culmination of three years of thinking and planning, and five months of intensive working with a team of 8 incredibly amazing young women who have taught me so much, and who I know will do great things in the future. 

So, now I will work backwards to tell the story of the last few days. Below is the group doing an art reflection Tuesday evening with Steph and Matthew.

The Team

Day 4

          It has been so much fun to watch these eight young women sink into deeper relationships with each other. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group that gets along so well and enjoys each other’s company so much. Yesterday we met at Benedict’s after their hike, and the energy and laughter present as they shared stories about their morning was truly infectious. After a huge “carvery” meal, we headed back to Farset for a bit of a rest and a three hour long meeting to check in, do some intentional reflection on what we have experienced so far, and make some plans for the week ahead. Then, there was even a bit of energy left to watch a movie together in the dining room.

          The Corrymeela Bus arrived right on time at 9:30 this morning, and before I knew it we were here, greeted by old friends (Richard, Yvonne, Martha, Paul, Kelsey, Mark, Desi, Shane, William ...) and new (Steph, Matthew, Tiff, and many we haven’t officially met yet). It felt slightly surreal to be back, as if no time had passed at all. The first thing Paul, the Centre Director told me was an unbelievable story – that they had recently interviewed a potential long term volunteer from Brazil who said that he had first heard about Corrymeela from a blog written by a woman named Martha. Really?? So he’s one of the 13,767? What a funny, mysterious and delightfully small world we live in.

          Before long we had a session with Yvonne on sectarianism. Yvonne, who worked in the 90s as a Corrymeela Schools Worker, has done much research on sectarianism, and has developed resources and tools to work with children and youth about the subject. Sadly, Yvonne had to leave us today to be with her family and her gravely ill mother in Belfast. We were left in the capable hands of Steph and Matthew, long term volunteers, married to each other, originally from England but most recently from teaching in the Philipines.

They put the group through some of the Adventure Learning activities, activities for which Corrymeela is well known. These are cooperative games and tests which are used as a starting point for conversations afterwards about decision making, leadership and group dynamics. Our group was familiar with many of the activities, and aced most of them, as they have any of the ones I have offered them. Even Steph and Matthew were quite impressed at how they worked together to perform the tasks. Below are two of the activities – the first one – jumping from one stump to another, never leaving more than two stumps between two people, and never having their feet touch the ground. The second one is a a race on skies, and the third a rope game where they have to form a square with the rope while blindfolded. The other picture is the group at the end of their hike yesterday.

After another evening session with Steph and Matthew on Corrymeela’s work in the schools, we tried to order taxis to go to O’Connor’s, one of the 19 bars in the town of Ballycastle (“it has more bars per capita than any other town in Northern Ireland” said Steph) for a pint ...  it would seem that the taxis aren’t running tonight. “It’s a sign” said I ... “or a mission” said Alana. .... whichever, we never did get a taxi, so it’s early to bed to get ready for a day trip to Derry tomorrow. Perhaps we’ll find a cab tomorrow night.

she was fine when she left here ...

Day 2

          The first two days of our trip have consisted of various activities that I would call “teambuilding” activities, and getting to know the city of Belfast. Although we have spent many hours together on Thursday evenings over the fall and winter, now we are actually living together, in a different country. We still have much to learn about each other, about Belfast, and about Northern Ireland.

          Some slept, some didn’t, the first night. We met for breakfast in the dining room at Farset International, one of the more interesting places of accommodation I’ve experienced. It’s a cross between a hostel and a hotel. Very reasonable rates, clean rooms, common spaces to gather, and an eclectic array of groups and individuals that come through the place on a daily basis, both for accommodation and meeting space. The Saint Mary’s group is still here, having just finished their week in the Belfast schools with Bernardo’s. Although many of the students have traveled to Dublin or London for the weekend, Bridget, the SMU trip leader, Judy, a Saint Mary’s professor travelling with the SMU group, and Rick, an educator from Florida who does work with Peaceful Schools International, are still here and are part of many of the morning and evening conversations.

Ruth, the director of Farset, is warm, welcoming, loud, and pretend grumpy all in one. “If she yells at you, that means she likes you” says Bridget. She makes it very clear, for the umpteenth time, that folks are not to stuff their pockets with breakfast foods (cheese, bread, fruit) for lunch. “You have to eat everything here. That’s the rule. No packed lunches.” But she has brought in fresh fruit for the Canadians, and made us croissants for breakfast. And she is always available for advice on where to eat and what to do.

We had planned to visit an East Belfast community group today, but because there is a parade of remembrance planned for soldiers killed during The Troubles today, I consult with the community representative and we decide to postpone the visit until next Thursday. It might be too difficult getting to East Belfast as the parade and our visit were around the same time. We decide to go to City Centre for some orientation and shopping, and then take the city Hop On Hop Off bus tour.

After a quick stop at Carroll’s, the Cadillac of both tacky and quality Irish souvenirs shops, and the Belfast Welcome Centre, we agreed to split up for an hour and a half. Most of the group wanted to get to Primark, a discount clothing store. It’s something I have never really understood – this obsession with getting to Primark. I do know that the young adults I knew at Corrymeela were always keen to get to Primark on their trips to the city (and for those of you in the know – is it pronounced Pree-mark, or Pry-mark?) ... an hour and a half later, 6 happy campers with very big bags full of bargain finds. When I asked some later in the afternoon what the attraction was, it was explained that it’s a unique combination of being a huge department store with a wide size range and very low prices. When we had the fashion show afterwards back at Farset, they were so happy at their finds I didn’t have the heart to insert any real social analysis about where the clothes were made ... although I couldn’t help making a light comment about it.

And, I can’t claim to be above all the shopping stuff – I made my way to my favourite shop The Wicker Man, and despite my pledge not to buy any more Celtic jewellery (I bought plenty the last two times I was here) I did seem to have a moment of weakness ... enough said. The only one who really seemed to resist well was Caitlyn, who, along with me, is not in the picture below. Alayna went for a beautiful Irish knit sweater at Carroll’s, which was actually on sale. She too was very happy at her purchase.

Caitlyn and Alayna had their own adventure while the rest were at Primark. I won’t describe it as well as they can, but they found an inflatable “room” on a side street (“kind of like a bouncy castle ...”) which was a participatory arts and culture workshop. They were welcomed in, spent time in conversation with others, and doing some hands on art activities.

We spent the next couple of hours on the city tour bus. We had a wonderful guide who made the scripted speech his own, inserting tidbits and jokes. We all thought he sounded quite seasoned and were surprised when he came to the upper level of the bus at one point and we realized he was in his early twenties. When we went to the Titanic Quarter, he observed that most folks from Belfast point out that the Titanic was “fine when she left here ... if you want to know what happened ask the English Captain, or the Scottish navigator, or even the Canadian iceberg.” Alana also got quite a kick out of his commentary about the hockey arena – the fact that after they built it they had to import the team players from Canada, the U.S. and Russia.

The tour took us all over the city and it’s outskirts, Stormont, the Parliament buildings, the Peace Walls, and the university area just to name a few. It was a great activity to get the political, cultural, and geographical lay of the land. Today, the group is doing a hike to Belfast Castle while I went to the market with Judy, and am now writing this in my favourite cafe. We will meet at Benedict’s for a late lunch, and head back to Farset for an extended check in and planning session for the week ahead, and for our three days at Corrymeela.