the fourth week

Aside from the Play for Peace session with the Harvard alumni and the Crossing the Atlantic discussion group on Monday, I've been involved with a variety of different activities and groups this week thus far. On Tuesday, much of the day was spent in preparation for the Issues Convention for that night, during which we introduced to the parents of the incoming students many of the different groups and activities that are available, including the multicultural groups and the Crossing the Atlantic group. At an integrated school, it is rather important to maintain a sense of trust, involvement, and mutual respect with the parents in order for the school to function successfully in Belfast, as the cooperation of the children is largely contingent upon enthusiasm from the parents. My discussion group worked an extra day this afternoon to finish our posters for the convention; they particularly worked on the "Why We Love Northern Ireland" poster, which was created to stir up a sense of nationalism and pride within the children who oftentimes only see the negative aspects of their community. It also, however, raised some tension concerning what should be included, such as support of the Northern Ireland football team (which was accused to be closer to the Protestant side than to neutrality). They also then worked on their "How Our Generation Can Contribute to the Future of Belfast on an Individual Level and Maintain Peace" poster, which created a significant amount of intelligent, passionate discussion amongst fairly young children (I was really impressed with their maturity throughout the discussion). Some of their ideas for alleviating sectarianism were to address cross-community issues, such as the environment and global warming (I somehow managed to get burned while hiking up Cavehill Mountain a few weeks ago since it didn't occur to me to pack sunscreen for Ireland); to promote integrated schooling throughout Northern Ireland; to mix the colors of the football jerseys so that they're not necessarily affiliated with one particular religion (the Northeastern students had met a man on the street who had been beaten for wearing a Celtic uniform in a local bar); to establish a Northern Ireland flag and downplay the use of the Irish flag and Union Jack; and to carry out simple tasks such as listening to one another regardless of alternating opinions. I realized that enhancing this notion of integration within the students' minds would be necessary when, just a few weeks ago, anti-Protestant grafitti appeared on a wall near the school's campus, presumably drawn by children in the area. It will also be important for myself and the other staffmembers to engage the students in the summer scheme, especially on July 12th (the Orange Parade), so as to occupy their free time and turn them away from the riots and confrontations with which their parents may be involved.

Today, I completed the first half of my PIPS training, which raises awareness of suicide in Northern Ireland (as well as in other parts of the world, I believe it started in Canada) and teaches people how to deal with potentially suicidal victims. There has been a significant increase of suicides in young people (often Catholic men in their teens or twenties), particularly in North and West Belfast. The community has begun to come together to address the severity of this issue: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3538886.stm. This training will be helpful for the staff in the Alternative Department, as students often come into the Bungalow with symptoms of depression and feelings of anxiety; it has been believed that the increase in depression and increasing suicide rates among youths in Belfast is post-conflict aftermath of the Troubles. There seems to be a disparity between the emotional capabilities and coping methods between the teenage generation and the generation of parents, who may still be caught up in the mindset of the conflict. The training was extraordinarily powerful, moving, and effective; hopefully after gaining a little experience with suicide prevention in Belfast, I can reform my knowledge on the subject to apply to American societal situations in our own youth communities. Tomorrow, I'll complete the PIPS training; Friday morning I'll be helping out with the drama department's Shakespeare productions. Since I have this weekend off, I'll be travelling to Galway and to the Aran Islands to visit and explore the home of my own Irish ancestors.