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NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children)
Each child is a small wonder.
So it’s small wonder that we do what we do.
There’s little doubt that we help.
Still, big obstacles remain.
But not so big as to stop us
Or even discourage us.
Because safety is a child’s right.
With the help of our friends.
We see to it.
And that is no small thing.
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Derry and Raphoe Action
In the rural communities in the counties Londonderry,
Tyrone, and Donegal, Derry and Raphoe Action helps
Protestants play an active role in community life
on both sides of the border, supporting their work
with Catholics on social, economic, cultural, and
environmental issues.
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174 Trust
The silver birch is native to Northern Ireland. It symbolizes
birth and rebirth, youthfulness, love, and purity.
And so it is the perfect memorial to recent suicide
victims, both Protestant and Catholic, who have succumbed
to the desolation that persists
in North Belfast.
After a spate of suicides in the Catholic community,
The 174 Trust formed a working group to raise awareness
and provide support. What soon became apparent was that
suicide was also afflicting the Protestant community.
So expertise and resources were shared, and cross-community
meetings were held for parents and family members of
suicide victims to share their thoughts. The result was
PIPS, The Public Initiative for the Prevention of Self-harm
and Suicide, which provides support for people at risk
and a forum for those left to deal with their grief.
“
That’s what all our initiatives are
about: allowing people to tell their stories and find
some peace in that,” says
the Reverend Bill Shaw, Director.
John Curran, a member of The American Ireland
Fund’s Board of Directors, and his wife Connie,
see hope in the faces of Northern Ireland’s children.Connie
notes “there is a change in the look of
the children. I truly believe that now they feel they
do have a future.”
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Children’s Friendship Project
for Northern Ireland
CFPNI is a discovery process. Catholic and Protestant
kids discuss how prejudice develops and learn how it
can be overcome. The focal point is a month-long summer
trip to the United States, which serves as a break from
the divisions in Northern Ireland and a chance to examine
how social barriers at home compare with those in the
States.
Class difference is one barrier that typically catches
the students off guard. They fully expect all Americans
to be rich. “That’s the number
one thing!” says
Florence Brunt, principal coordinator. Students’ main
impression of America, though, is that people of different
cultures can get
along well. It’s an important revelation that contributes
to a life-altering
experience overall.
“
The fact that (the students) won’t tolerate somebody
being disrespectful of anyone else — that’s
a very big plus.”
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Spectrum Centre
The Spectrum Centre is a place and an approach. Trust-building
exercises teach
young people to rely on each other. A rock-climbing wall
gives them the confidence to rely on themselves. Through
adventure learning, sports, and the arts, they learn
to take the risk of
reaching out to each other.
In the greater Shankill area, which was hard hit by the
Troubles and continues to falter from
an economy sorely in decline, this dynamic facility is
a revitalizing force.
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Pushkin Prizes Trust
Experiencing the form and function of nature, its wonder
and character, children
learn to weave its patterns and moods into the fine arts.
Trees,
hills, rivers, and flowers are happy to lend inspiration
to anyone who’s open to it. Knowing
this, the Pushkin Prizes Trust teams children of both
traditions with environmentalists and artists — dancers,
dramatists, sculptors, painters, writers — who
teach them how to dive into nature and surface with
a work of art.
Spokesperson Gordon Ferguson recalls one nine-year-old
boy who was extremely introverted,
so much so that his teacher accompanied him to the
program. He’d never demonstrated any
talent in the arts; in fact, he hadn’t excelled
in any subject. Then, during a creative writing
exercise in the log cabin, the instructor saw that
his work was exceptional. It was an epiphany
for the student, who began to believe in himself. His
good work continued at school, and
this year, at 13, he was awarded the school prize in
literature.
“
Even now it makes my hair stand up on end,
so we do do some good,” Ferguson says.
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123 House
Next generation. Regeneration.
In disadvantaged North Belfast, 123 House plants the
seeds of self-esteem, cooperation, and joy with the children
in its daycare, and helps young people nourish in after-school
and youth programs.
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Footprints Women’s Centre
On the outskirts of West Belfast, women are striving
for something better. Determined to
leave behind the weight of abuse and social isolation,
poverty and depression, they have goals that Footprints
helps them reach: finding a job, entering university,
or simply learning
to value themselves.
The agency’s system of support frees these women
to discover their strengths and live them
every day. As each finds her voice, she comes into her
own. “I feel that as the community itself
grows stronger and develops itself, the sense of hope
for the
future grows, too,” says Paula Cunningham, Training
and Education Coordinator.
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Bawn Development Centre
Aughnacloy, County Tyrone is a community on the mend.
Bawn is doing its part. Family fun days. Social events.
Supper dances. Connection. Music. Light.
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Springboard Opportunities
For young people, for those who are unemployed, for those
who are disadvantaged, Springboard is a resource and
a catalyst, preparing people for work in the hospitality,
leisure, and travel & tourism industries.
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Cinemagic
Students at Avoniel Primary School in Belfast got a kick
out of Finding Nemo,which they watched as part of a
Cinemagic series of screenings throughout Northern
Ireland.
The organization also conducts filmmaking and television
workshops that not only teach young people about the
various disciplines involved, but also aim to enhance
their social skills.
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Playhouse, The North West Play Resource
Centre
It’s the deeper questions and the darker struggles
that give rise to inspiration, that enable
a society to reflect on its history, shape its identity,
and express its vision.
The Playhouse hosts several groups that train, cultivate,
and support artists and
artisans, it provides gallery and performance space,
and most importantly, it knows how
creativity can feed the soul of a multifaceted culture.
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Gaeloiliuint: The Council for Irish Medium
Education
Largely through the generosity of an American Ireland
Fund benefactor, Gaeloiliuint can be credited with launching
the revival of the Irish language and culture in Northern
Ireland; it’s a movement that accounts for the
33 nursery schools, 27 primary schools, and three secondary
schools operating there today.
But it’s about more than language. The council’s
motto, “discover your life secret, follow your
true path,” is pure and universal. Enriching students
with the language of their ancestors, Gaeloiliuint empowers
them to know themselves fully and to believe in their
own potential.
For some, these studies mean reclaiming an identity that
had been profoundly marginalized.
Others embrace the thinking that Gaelic is common ground,
since it is the original language of the Catholics of
Northern Ireland, whose dialect became Irish Gaelic,
as well as the Protestants of Scotland, whose dialect
is Scottish Gaelic. So, it should by rights be depoliticized.
“
These groups come from a common culture
that has been divided by geography.
Politics and religions change over time, but originally,
we were one,” says Pól Mac
Cana, tutor and development officer. |
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