tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25883611961606074112024-03-12T18:00:54.971-07:00Amie's AdventuresAmie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-64714567632205084782013-01-16T15:04:00.005-08:002013-01-18T03:42:08.992-08:00January 16, 2012 4:04 P.M.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">January 16, 2012 4:04 P.M.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The last two
weeks have been incredible. I think I have Hillary Clinton to thank for making
this project possible. I said a little
about the program at the beginning of this journey; here’s a bit more. </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Professional Fellows Program, funded by the State
Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, brings emerging
leaders from around the world to the United States for intensive month-long
fellowships designed to broaden their professional expertise.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;">The fall 2012 program brought together 241 young
professional fellows from 51 countries representing regions around the world.
The fellowship offered participants a chance to build networks with each other
as well as with their American colleagues, and creates an opportunity for the
next generation of world leaders to develop a deeper understanding of U.S.
society. , The University of Montana Mansfield Center coordinated the
fellowship for ten SE Asian women in Missoula, matching them with local women in
their field so the fellows can learning firsthand how the issues they care
about are addressed in the United States. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/11/20121121139004.html?CP.rss=true#axzz2GZA8zEUv"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Bopha</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> was selected as a fellow, and I was matched with her as her
fellowship partner. The second part of the exchange brings the fellowship
partners to visit the fellows in their countries. Lucky me. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now that the official
fellowship program is complete (I’m writing from the air somewhere between
Tokyo and Seattle), I’m reflecting on the Top 10 things about my Cambodian
adventure:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Lunch with Bopha’s family.</b> Though Bopha’s siblings all live within a few
miles of one another, it is not that often that they all have free time at the
same time. It was incredible to spend a few hours gathered with Bopha’s family,
feasting on the most delicious pork/omelet/salad situation ever. After the
lunch I was offered a shower and a nap, which is a very sweet tradition. Following
lunch there was a family weigh in, which is a very funny tradition (to me). At first
the kids were weighed and everyone was happy at how they were growing, and then
one by one the adults took turns on the scale...Bopha’s mother was shocked at
how much I weigh. I am very large by Cambodian standards. She took some
convincing that I’m really ok with how many stones I weigh (especially since I
have no idea what a stone is).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: -24px;">pork/omelet/salad situation.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some family and friends. Bopha's parents are on either side of her.</span></div>
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At first glance the road seemed an unorganized jumble of bikes, motos, tuc
tuc’s (the open air moto-pulled taxi), cars (there are not many, but every
other one is a lexus) and the occasional pedestrian. There are stop lights, but
not many. There is a general principle that one should travel on the right side
of the road, but it is very loosely followed. For instance, it is quite common
to make a left hand turn into the left land and drive among oncoming traffic
until you can make your way to the right. After a few days of walking through
Phnom Penh I came to think of Cambodians as expert surfers, predicting force
and volume of a wave and entering flow through openings imperceptible to my
untrained eye. There is a shared agreement that the slow and/or small give way
to the powerful and/or large. If you are a pedestrian – even if you are already
in the middle of the street – you yield to a bike, bike to tuc tuc, tuc tuc to
moto, moto to car, everyone to lexus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It all happens so seamlessly- people taking their place in the order of
things – I wondered whether it was reflective of their Buddhist orientation or
years of yielding to someone else’s control. Nonetheless, nobody seems to be
really speeding and nobody has to stop for too long. Everybody moves steadily
forward, some just more slowly. There
was something beautiful about the gentle organized chaos of it all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Moto-travel.</b> I was ridiculously impressed that Bopha buzzes
around on her moto in her business-best, and it was a treat to get to ride
along. It turns out you get a lot of time
to engage with other travelers from the back of a moto in all that traffic. Given
that I know about four Khmer words, “engage” meant me grinning a lot and
Cambodians laughing at me. The moto seems to be the preferred/affordable family
wagon. In the mornings I would often see grandfathers driving grandchildren to
school, the littlest one in front of him at the handlebars, the middle
sandwiched between him and grandma, and the oldest holding onto grandma’s waist
from behind. A five person transport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Compact bathroom.</b> I have a lot of
appreciation for my little bathroom at the Golden Gate hotel. I ate
everything/everywhere I was invited to eat – from people’s kitchens to street
vendors to restaurants – and my stomach did just fine but for one long, painful
night. On that night it was incredibly helpful to be able to reach the bathtub
with the upper half of my body while the lower half remained firmly rooted to
the toilet. I will spare you any pictures. Thank you, compactly designed
bathroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b>5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Make your own barbque.</b> Even though it
may have been the cause of my difficult night…I loved our last night in Phnom
Penh at the make-your-own barbque place. The food was delicious and fun to
make, and it was so good to see Bopha get to be with her husband and Sok Heng (Bopha’s
boss) be with his wife. After days of serious work and me wondering what rest
looked like for them, it was lovely to watch them let their hair down, laugh
hard and be silly. Being motivational speakers to literally hundreds of
thousands of Cambodian youth comes at a bit of a price. Part of the price is
paid in long hours and time away from family (Bopha and her husband only spend
one day a week together these days). Another price is a loss of anonymity, and
what at times looked to me like a rigidly maintained performance of “success.”
So often under public scrutiny, they work to embody what they see as success in
their speech, dress, and overall appearance. On this night, for at least a
couple hours, there was no need to impress anyone, earn credibility, or gain
legitimacy. Just time for some-low key married-people dirty jokes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bopha, Sok Heng and Olivia.</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Girl time.</b> I loved every moment of
unstructured pall-around with Mealia, Bopha, and Olivia. It was such an
enormous gift to travel with and care for one another, to talk and share and challenge one another as
women, to ask hard questions and stretch to understand across contexts and
languages. Our conversations were rich and honest and painful and ridiculous,
covering the politics of skin bleaching
to raising girls who know their strength to the best fruits to relieve
constipation and/or firm up stool (depending on the needs of the day). And it
was a privilege to be asked to type up their family histories as they begin to
document their life stories. It is difficult for me to remember exact
historical names and dates; these stories I will never forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Olivia</div>
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Bopha</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mealea</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Olivia.</b> I have loved Olivia for some
time from a distance, but this was our first time really being together. Olivia
works in Missoula as co-Director of Montana Women Vote, and was the fellowship
partner to Mealea. Most of our days were spent apart, but we united on the
rooftop of our hotel at sunset to recount our days. As a verbal processor, our
time together helped me make more sense of what we were seeing and experiencing
and learning. And she brought me electrolytes and crackers when I was sick. I
love you now for real.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 8.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Community dance class.</b> There isn’t a
lot of greenspace in Phnom Penh, but there are these wide paved boulevards
that fill up in the mornings and evenings with people recreating. Public dance
classes are all the rage. Most of the teachers are young men, and they bring a
little amp and speakers and a Cambodian techno mix and lead a class…very
jazzercizey. Olivia and I went to an evening class with Mealea and her husband.
There were at least a dozen classes happening
throughout the boulevard; the one we attended appeared to be a local favorite with
some 60 people all ages and abilities participating. Three teachers rotated in
to teach different sections, and took turns playing DJ. As it grew dark, one
guy held a shop-light rigged to a tall pole to illuminate the equipment and
instructor. I started out very strong but
quickly tired in the heat. After what felt like hours I asked Mealea how much
longer…apparently the instructors stay from 5-9, and people just come and go as
they want and make a contribution equivalent to fifty cents. Amazing and funny
and a fun way to be in community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Why am I the only person bouncing around?!</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b> 9.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Angkor Wat temple complex</b>. These
temples are truly stunning and awesome, and an incredible testament to human
ingenuity, strength, persistence, and inspiration. I was especially struck by the connection
between the earth and the animal creatures and the human creatures and the
spirit. All are represented in the intricate carvings: beautiful trees and
birds and monkeys and lions and elephants and humans and gods and Buddha. It
took all of those things to build the temples
- the mountains to produce the sandstone for carving and lava rock for
building; the elephants to haul the stones over 60 km; humans to set and carve
the thousands of stones; and spirit to inspire the creation of such glorious
places of ceremony and worship of all that is, was, and will be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b>10.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Hello, Elephant.</b> And, while visiting
the complex I got to say hello to an elephant. They still have some wild
elephants in Cambodia, but this was a working girl who carries people up a
mountain to visit a temple. She was available for a hello as we were walking
by, and it was a thrill for me to get to have a little visit. She was beautiful
and curious and, it appeared to me, very kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Agent 47, over and out. </span></div>
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According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'ai_chi_ch'uan">Wikipedia</a>,
Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art…”<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">characterized by the use of leverage through the
joints based on coordination and relaxation, rather than muscular tension, in
order to neutralize, yield, or initiate attacks.<span class="apple-converted-space">”</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-13836010473333987372013-01-15T15:07:00.000-08:002013-01-18T03:42:40.297-08:00January 15, 11:45 P.M.<br />
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January 15, 11:45 P.M.</div>
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I have led two presentations during my time in Cambodia, one
last week at the Sihanouk Buddhist University in Phnom Penh, and the second Monday
at Pannashastra University in Siem Reap. The focus of both sessions was
conflict transformation, and I worked from the NCBI assumption that the
students are experts in defining the causes and consequences of violence in
their community, and already know critical prevention strategies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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NCBI Training at the Sihanouk Buddhist University </div>
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In both sessions, students identified both individual and
structural types of violence at play in Cambodia – sexual harassment,
illiteracy, poverty, gangs. They were quick to share conditions in which they
feel pulled to behave in ways that harm others, and also quick to identify
strategies to self-regulate – meditation, singing, playing, laughing. We talked
about the feelings that fuel violence – frustration, vulnerability, shame,
pain, isolation – and I asked the students what strategies can we use when we
see people who are feeling things things…what can we do to prevent this pain
from turning into violence? At the Buddhist University one young woman said, “I
think these people need us the most.” We talked about how challenging it is to
move toward people who are manifesting pain, and in the end the Director of the
University reiterated the importance of this point – move toward pain to
transform it; greet anger with love.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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After this week’s session, Sopheap, who works at the
University in Siem Reap, offered to tour us around. We rented bicycles and rode
a half hour out of the city to visit his village (the word here is commune – a
few hundred families). Along the way we stopped at an amazing little music
school, called <a href="http://mescambodia.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">“Music for Everyone.”</a> The instructor has received funding from a
Korean NGO to offer free music education to anyone under 24. The students were bright
and determined; they played for me, and I taught them the spiritual, “we will
stand the storm” (thank you, Amy Martin).<o:p></o:p></div>
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We continued on to Sopheap’s home. He is 26, and an only
son. He assisted his mother to cook an incredible lunch for us –lemongrass,
chicken and young bamboo soup; stir-fried chicken and cauliflower - all food
from his farm. We learned that he is a rising leader in Cambodia, one of four
youth representing the youth voice in debates with the three leading political
parties (remember – 70% of Cambodia’s populous is under 35, and they have
almost no representation in government). </div>
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After lunch he toured us around their land,
proudly showing the abundance of fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken and cows. He
showed us how they make their fertilizer and animal feed, and how his commune
works together to care for each other and their agricultural projects. He hopes
to grow their farm to provide more jobs and economic opportunity for his
commune, and at the same time be a motivational speaker to other Cambodian
youth. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the OPRECY course last week, the trainer said, “Happiness
is having what you want. Joy is wanting what you have.” Sopheap was the most
joyful person I have met in a long time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Later that evening Bopha and I walked around the city of
Siem Reap, every few minutes encountering people asking for help: landmine
victims, mothers with infants, and many very young children. Begging is a hard
way to make a life. Thinking about Sopheap’s community, where there is ample
food and an established web of support, I asked Bopha why people come to the cities at all – why leave that
community behind? She said Sopheap’s community is unique, that after the civil
war people stopped trusting one another, stopped looking to one another for
help. After years of Cambodians killing Cambodians, survival became dependent
on looking out for oneself. Last night the President of Pannashastra University,
a determined 33 year old, took us to dinner.
I asked him the same question, and his answer was the same. “The Kmer
Rouge cut almost all ties between Kmer people. That’s what Bopha and I are
doing, what our generation of leaders are doing, trying to reconnect people to
each other and rise up our country.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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To an outsider the work that remains to be done is daunting.
Yet over and over in this short time I have been awed by the clarity of purpose
of those I have met: From Mealea engaging women in democratic participation, to
Bopha inspiring youth to dream for their future; from the Director of the
Buddhist University providing free college education, to the young music
teacher offering free music training; from Sunee, working through U.S.A.I.D to end human trafficking throughout the
country, to Sopheap working through his commune to offer a model of sustainable
local agricultural development. These
young leaders have an incredible vision for the country they want to live in,
and I cannot help but believe they will make it so. <o:p></o:p></div>
Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-61226063459327494232013-01-12T19:55:00.000-08:002013-01-18T03:43:25.464-08:00January 13, 2013 10:51 A.M.<br />
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January 13, 2013 10:51 A.M.</div>
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The last few days got away from me. I spent four days in an OPRECY training, the
premier training offered through Bopha’s organization. Bopha was excited that I
was able to attend this particular session, as it was led in English (I'm only up to about 5 words in Khmer) by
Cristopher Lee, the founder of the Human-Earth Development Center (HEDC). Cristopher is in his late 60’s, an Australian
citizen of Indonesian and Chinese heritage, who has lived and worked in
Cambodia for much of the last 16 years. He spent 34 years working on the
technical side of community development in developing countries. His specialty
is in fisheries, and trained rice farmers, who he said all over the world are poor
farmers, to add value to their farms by
also raising fish. However, after years providing technical training he found
that most people did not change their behaviors. He came to the conclusion that "it is wrong to assume if you teach people to <b>know</b>, they will <b>do</b> what
they know." He started HEDC in 1999 to build
leadership capacity through personal empowerment. His vision is global, but his
approach is individual. HEDC works to awaken the individual’s sense of purpose
and meaning, their fundamental love of life, in order to help free them from the
self-limiting thinking that holds so many people back from achieving their
goals, or even setting goals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christopher talked about the way that the scarcity and
danger become an operating system for so many people – their every decision is
filtered through the belief that inevitably the world is not safe and there
will not be enough. And while the message he delivers is that all people were
born to succeed – the truth remains that for many people in Cambodia, and all
over the world, resources <b>are</b>
limited and conditions <b>are</b> unsafe.
People are picked up every day here for being perceived as a threat to the
government. Three times in two days Olivia’s driver was forced to pay bribes to law enforcement. Children attend schools where teachers are paid $30 a month – ½
the salary of a garment worker, who make poverty wages – and the way many teachers
survive is to charge a “fee” for grades. The hundreds of begging amputees I
have seen in this short time are testament to the landmines that still litter
the country side. Every Cambodian is born to succeed- but if they do not, it is
not simply because they did not believe in themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And, of course, I absolutely agree with the OPRECY model –
change is not possible unless we first believe it is possible. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I was struck by many things over the four days, but perhaps
most significant was an overwhelming awareness of the privilege of growing up positioned
in a social location where my safety was assured in my home, my neighborhood,
my state and my country . Where there was never a question that my basic needs
be met. Where a sense of agency – of my ability to dream and achieve - was
instilled early and reinforced often. And
this experience sharpens <b>my </b>purpose,
to continue to build communities in my own country where this is increasingly
true for all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Mudhita, Bopha's youngest, playing with a stem.</div>
Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-88776633458419834892013-01-07T08:43:00.000-08:002013-01-18T03:44:28.032-08:00January 7, 11:42 P.M.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">January 7, 11:42 P.M.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
days are here are full. On all fronts. Seeing things I do not often see, surrounded
by a language I do not know, smelling and tasting and feeling things that are
new to me, and are sometimes welcome, sometimes less so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Yesterday
I attended a full-day training through Bopha’s organization, attended by 381
people. The topic was goal setting, and the participants were rapt through the
8 hours, hungry for any information about how they might transform their lives.
I was asked to share a testimonial to the group about how I have set and
achieved the goal of starting NCBI, and the context-gap felt hard to bridge.
Talking about starting an organization to people who would like to not be
hungry. I did my best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Bopha’s
boss wanted to take Olivia and I out that evening, and he drove us past the
most developed parts of Phnom Penh – with sky-scraper casinos and five-star
hotels. We passed a Kentucky Fried Chicken, closed for the day, the street
lights illuminating a group of children eating out of the trash bags. We went
to a Cambodian disco, an amazing muti-generational gathering who danced the
waltz, traditional Cambodian dances, tango, and Gengham Style. It was quite a
night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Today
is January 7, the day the ruling party celebrates victory over the Khmer Rouge.
Olivia, Mealia, Bopha and I commemorated the day at the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Choeung Ek</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Genocide Museum, one of the many places – called Killing
Fields - where Cambodians were taken by the hundreds to be executed under the
Khmer Rouge regime. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mealia had never visited this place before. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Over three years and eight months, one in four Cambodians
were killed, mostly by poor young farmers threatened into service. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Choeung Ek is
the site of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">129 mass graves</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, where </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">17,000 men, women and children </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">were executed. The
deaths were horrendously brutal. Not wanting to waste money on bullets, the executioners
used farming tools: hatchets, hoes, machetes, and for the youngest ones, the
solid trunk of this tree.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Such inhumanity is unfathomable. And in such a place, moments of humanity persevered.
We heard audio from one survivor about an older inmate who advocated on his
behalf, pleading that he be released because he was just a child. The man did
not know the boy, and the survivor does not know the man’s name. The old man
was killed for speaking out, but, somehow, the boy survived.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">The four of us cried, and prayed, and then traveled down the road a ¼ mile
to the home of Bopha’s sister, Navy. Her husband Vanrith cut coconuts from
their tree for us to drink. Her children Madeline and Michael gathered papaya
and pear to eat. We sat in the shady breeze of their yard with chickens
underfoot and I was awed by the tender humanness of it all. The potential
within us to be awful and kind, to be violent and compassionate, to be disconnected
and to be in relationship with all that is, was, and will be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-90585825976388552232013-01-05T09:30:00.001-08:002013-01-18T03:45:09.964-08:0012:29 AM Sunday, January 6<br />
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12:29 AM Sunday, January 6</div>
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We spent last night in Sihanoukville, a beach community with
a beautiful natural setting that has been (oddly) developed by Russian
immigrants over the years. This morning Bopha took me to breakfast with her
student and friend, a 40 year old woman who has achieved great success. She
came from a poor family and attended school through 6<sup>th</sup> grade. She
worked various jobs as a young woman, eventually selling tickets at the bus
station. Over time she rose in the ranks, and then eventually bought the bus
company. She added an internet/phone service, then a hotel, and finally a
restaurant. Her business was so popular, she decided to add more locations in
her town – and started four more branches, each co-owned by one of her sisters.
She hopes to be a role model in her country and inspire others to imagine a
better future for themselves. Having met
so many training organizations here that provide “soft skills” – leadership
development, conflict management, and empowerment, I have been thinking a lot
about the role of empowerment. Given the
institutionalized inequality and persistent corruption, dreams alone cannot
change a life or lift a country. None the less dreams are a requisite step toward
mobilizing people to action. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At Bopha's friend's business.</div>
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Bopha had to leave town early to get back to Phnom Penh,
and so we were four: Mealia, Olivia, myself, and our driver, Bpoo. We went to
the sea to swim (Bpoo took pictures and laughed at us), and Olivia and I tried
to teach Mealia to float on her back…she said, “I feel like I am flying!”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mealia</div>
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On the drive back I pulled out my computer and typed as
Mealia repeated much of the life history she had told us yesterday. She shared
some new stories, and didn’t want me to type others. I will send it to her
tonight to review and think about what is right to share now, and what will
have to wait for another time. At the end she reflected that her Buddhist
beliefs have been a big part of what carried her through her life. As she
talked about some of the ways these teachings had helped her, I asked if there
was a book she would recommend for me. “Well, there are 110 books of Buddha’s
teaching, but I think some might be not the right place for you to start. I can
boil it down to three sentences: don’t do the bad things. Do the good things.
Have a pure heart.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were travelling by van – a 12 person passenger van – and
at that moment I noticed people on the side of the road looking for a ride and
said, “I think the good thing would be to pick up these people.” Mealia said
yes, and told Bpoo to stop if there were
people. He responded that he would have stopped sooner if he knew it was ok
with us. We picked up a person or two every several miles, some men returning
home from their work building roads, others women coming home from garment
factories, and lastly a young woman and her baby, travelling with her mother.
The baby had fallen from 3 meters the day before, and was having seizures, and
they wanted to go to the free children’s hospital in the capitol city. The
passengers all thought they were getting in a taxi, and asked, “how much?” when
they boarded (we have learned in Cambodia the price is often good if you
negotiate before the transaction – and not so good if you wait). Mealia
explained there was no cost, it was just a free ride. The grandmother was very
relieved – she had just come in from harvesting rice, and did not have time to
borrow money or pack food before her daughter thought they needed to leave to
get the baby to the hospital. We stopped taking in passengers at that point,
and delivered the 10 in tow to their stops, finally dropping off the baby,
mama, and grandmother at the hospital, and giving them a little money for food
and transportation back home. They thought they would be waiting in line at
least overnight to be seen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When Bpoo dropped us off at the hotel, he said to us
(through Mealia) “so, you got to see a little bit of Cambodian life. You did a
good thing today.” We replied that we ALL did a good thing today and he answered,
“yes, you gave her some money. I did not have money to give, but I had my hands
and feet to drive them here.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The challenges here, like everywhere, can be daunting. We
can start with what is in front of us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-54242316220373502222013-01-04T09:09:00.002-08:002013-01-18T03:45:53.004-08:0012:09 A.M. January 5, 201212:09 A.M. January 5, 2012<br />
<br />
Yesterday we toured the Royal Palace, home of Cambodia’s
King. Cambodia has long been a monarchy, and though they are moving toward a
democratic system of governance, the people have a great deal of pride and
allegiance to their royalty. I was struck by the beauty of the place – the
incredible architecture and impressive riches: solid gold and emerald Buddha’s,
silver tiled floors, enormous jewels.<br />
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And I was also struck by the fact that the Royal
Palace sits just blocks away from the children’s hospital, where families with
sick children wrap around the block waiting – sometimes for days- to receive
medical care for their babes. As in my own country, the gulf between the
wealthy and the poor is staggering.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After my first few days marveling at the
beauty of the Cambodian people and the rich variety of their skin tones, body sizes,
and facial features, I could not help but notice that the frescoes inside the Royal Palace depict masses of Cambodian people as tall, pale skinned, and with Anglicized
features. Since we have arrived I have been heartbroken by the prevalence of white women used in Cambodian advertising, to learn of our Cambodian friends use of skin-bleaching creams, and to hear one colleague remark of her
beautiful baby girl, “I don’t know what happened, she was not so dark when she
was born.” Oh, how the pervasiveness of white dominance continues to rob all women of a full sense of their inherent worth, value, and beauty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yesterday we also visited the U.S. Embassy and met with two
representatives from U.S.A.I.D., who shared their perspectives on the biggest strengths and challenges facing the country today,
and the role of the U.S.A.I.D in meeting those challenges. </div>
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(they don't let you take pictures in the embassy...they do make you check your belongings. And look, friends, what number my coat check was?!)</div>
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U.S.A.I.D are funding
NGO’s working to support food security and economic development, to encourage
transparency in the electoral process, to foster human rights and improve
access to justice, to protect vulnerable populations from trafficking, and to
promote public health, among other things. They had much to say about the
challenges (entrenched economic disparities, cultural norms that subjugate
women, pervasive corruption), and were a little slim on strengths. Bopha
reminded them, “You know 70% of our country is youth (under 35), and they are
our greatest resource. Many in our generation are passionate about their
future, and they are not just waiting for employment - they are creating their
own employment.” Framing her comments in the context of the 2015 move to Asian
integration, she challenged U.S.A.I.D. to develop a strategy to prepare the
country’s youth to not just be workers for the region, but to be managers and directors as well, so that Cambodians can have the opportunity to
take the lead in industry and governance of their country's future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today Mealia, Bopha, Olivia and I drove four hours southeast
of Phnom Penh through the province. Our Cambodian sisters wanted to take us to
the mountains, where it is rumored you can touch the clouds, and also to swim in the sea. </div>
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The view from the mountains<br />
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After two days in the city, I am soaking up the sights and sounds of rural
life: H<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ouses built on stilts to plan for the seasonal
flooding, which double by offering a shady area for people and animals in the
hottest times of the day. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Plump water buffalo, tiny cart-pulling horses,
and agile cows who work the fields and later feed families. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Everything imaginable being hauled by motorbike,
including a half-dozen butchered pigs, a semi-trailer full of plastic
containers, and a father bringing four children home from school.</span><br />
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Mealia and Olivia at our roadside feast. </span></div>
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Along the way Mealia, age 33, shared something of her life
story, the first ten years of which were spent in the refugee camps after the
Pol Pot regime. I asked her to consider having me record her story for her to
keep, and perhaps for me to share. More on that to come. Now, sleep.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-63646519622383943572013-01-02T08:29:00.001-08:002013-01-18T03:46:47.092-08:0011:28 P.M. January 211:28 P.M. January 2<br />
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Our first full day in Cambodia, and what a day. I felt like I was working backwards a bit all day, learning about organizations' initiatives to empower their people before I really understood what they were being empowered from. I came here knowing basically nothing. Here's what I am gathering:<br />
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Cambodia has an incredibly long, rich, complex history, and is the proud home of the temple complex at Siem Reap - one of the seven wonders of the world (I'll be there at the end of this visit, where I'll learn more). Many other countries have tried to control Cambodia over the years, including their Thai and Vietnamese neighbors, but it was the French that claimed Cambodia as a colony from the 1864 - 1953. During the escalating conflict in Vietnam and Laos in the 1960's, Cambodia's King Sihanouk tried unsuccessfully to keep Cambodia neutral. The North Vietnamese army used Cambodian land for bases, and in 1969 the U.S. and South Vietnamese invaded Cambodia. According to my Lonely Planet guide, the US dropped more bombs on Cambodia than were used by all sides in WWII, killing some 250,000 Cambodians. Weakened by years of war, Cambodia was overtaken by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, a brutal regime that in under 4 years slaughtered between 2-3 million people, targeting the educated and professional class first. In 1979 the Vietnamese toppled the Khmer Rouge and installed a new government, and for the next fourteen years the country struggled with famine, another outside leader, and the legacy of war and genocide- which include the destruction of infrastructure (government, education, health care, industry),deep ruptures of social and civil society, and the damage caused to the human spirit. It was not until 1993 that the country had their first partially democratic election and they are still working towards putting democratic principles fully into practice in their country. It is amazing, given all this, how much work has been done. And how much is left to do.<br />
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Here's a snapshot of my day.<br />
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9:00 Breakfast in the hotel, followed by a brisk walk to start to get my bearings on Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capitol city, and home to 2 million.<br />
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11:00 Visit VBNK - Cambodia's premier leadership development training organization, which works to inspire people to articulate a vision for their future and to take risks in advancing that vision - things which a generation ago were unthinkable and dangerous. They work in concert with technical trainings, like teaching agricultural workers to use new technology to improve their yields, and microlending, to provide capital to access new technology. VBNK recognizes that sometimes people's fears hold them back, even when the technical training and economic resource is available.<br />
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12:00 Lunch. Delicious Khmer buffet.<br />
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2:30 Visit Women's Media Centre of Cambodia - a women run tv and radio station that works to advance women's rights by process and product. They train and employ women and have news content that educates the country about issues critical to women's issues and status. The news director told me about visiting the concentration camp at Dachau, the pain of learning such a thing had also happened outside his country, and the bewilderment that it could happen at all.<br />
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4:00 Visit The Cooperation Committee of Cambodia, a coalition of over 155 NGO's working to promote a civil society in Cambodia that is just, transparent and effective. Their Director described Camodia today as stable, dependent and unbalanced. Stable in that there is an absence of war, dependent in that the government - and the people - don't stand on their own feet, and rely on aid, direction, and vision from others. And imbalanced in that much of the economic development that is happening is deepening the divides between the rich and the poor.<br />
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6:00 Welcome dinner. Another delicious Khmer feast, complete with morning glory, sour soup and sticky rice, and inspirational message of hope from Khim Sok Heng, training director of H.E.D.C. International (Bopha's organization). He said, "What we are doing is helping people to fall in love with life." And then we worked on falling in love with each other, which is not so hard to do.<br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-91528039836561605542013-01-01T09:45:00.001-08:002013-01-01T09:45:39.798-08:0012:40 A.M. Jan 2 12:40 A.M. Jan 2<br />
Arrived! Many thanks to Bopha and Mealea for the lovely, gracious welcome!<br />
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Tomorrow, the on the ground adventure begins. Now, sleep.Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-87047707063159562162012-12-31T20:04:00.000-08:002012-12-31T20:04:04.768-08:00January 1, noon in Seoul.January 1, noon in Seoul.<br />
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First off, Korean Air rocks the house. Bibimbap (with directions) for dinner, steaming hot washcloths in the morning, and incredible attention to detail every moment in between (for instance, they gave the parents of little ones little bassinets and blankies).<br />
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We arrived in Seoul at 6 AM to 22 degrees and snow, not that we will be going outside. <br />
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If you have to be in an airport for 12 hours (after a 12 hour flight) Seoul is the place to be. I am travelling to Cambodia with three other Missoula women: Olivia the activist, Tammy the educator, and Gwen the attorney. Here are our favorite things about the Seoul experience so far.<br />
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Gwen: "The classy stewardesses on Korean Air who looked fantastic in their pale blue and cream silk uniforms the entire 13 hours as we sank into the depths of grunginess."<br />
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Tammy: "The musical lilt of the language over the intercom - it's beautiful. And the gentle kindness of all the women."<br />
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Olivia: "The airport shower (it's free). The ability to take a shower and feel like you can be a whole person over a layover."<br />
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And me: "Love the live flowers in the airport bathrooms. And that there are places you can lie down and rest, and lounges where you can eat and drink and work without having to be a member of some exclusive skyclub."<br />
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Half a day more here, then one final 6 hour flight to Cambodia.Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-20822645350510184612012-12-30T09:08:00.000-08:002012-12-30T09:08:42.085-08:0012/30/12 Cambodia calls...December 30, 2012<br />
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In about an hour, I'm starting a two day journey to Cambodia. If all goes as scheduled, I'll be celebrating the new year in flight and arrive in Phnom Penh Tuesday evening for two weeks visiting community development programs in Cambodia.<br />
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In June, I received an invitation to serve as a fellowship partner to a Cambodian woman coming to Missoula for a 5 week <a href="http://www.umt.edu/mansfield/WomensEmpowermentProject/default.aspx" target="_blank">fellowship</a> through the U.S. Department of State. <a href="http://www.umt.edu/mansfield/WomensEmpowermentProject/Participants/CohortTwo_Bio.aspx" target="_blank">Pen Bopha</a> spent much of October with our crew at NCBI, and it was an incredible honor to have her with us.<br />
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Bopha's first day with NCBI.</div>
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Bopha is currently a training manager for H.E.D.C. International, whose mission is "to transform Cambodia into a peaceful and prosperous nation by empowering and building the capacity of people at all levels of society to effectively lead and efficiently manage their local and national development." Bopha was selected to be a fellow through a highly competitive process that identified emerging women leaders in S.E. Asia. The fellowship program aims to equip participants with concrete tools to advance development efforts in their own community, as well as to strengthen ties between people and countries.<br />
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It was a gift to see my work, community and country through Bopha's eyes. I appreciated her astute observations about political and social interactions in the U.S., and was moved every day by her absolute joy in discovering so many new things - from pine trees (Amie! It's a Christmas tree!) to carving pumpkins to her first snow. </div>
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It is now my honor to be hosted by Bopha in her country, in what will be my fist visit to S.E. Asia, and my first time in a country where I speak nothing of the local language. I am excited about many aspects of this adventure, but most of all looking forward to seeing my friend again!</div>
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Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-68555872415153556932012-07-20T13:14:00.004-07:002012-07-20T13:14:57.423-07:00Travel Tips from the Varney Girls<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3:05 P.M. July 2012 - in the Minneapolis Airport (for 7 more hours)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Note: This is for those you planning to travel in Ireland! The girls had intended to blog about the various places we stayed...and ended up doing it all at once. Abigail's comments are, unsurprisingly, in purple, and Ella's are in blue.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dublin: O'Shea's Merchant
Bar/B&B<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">At first, when you
hear you are staying in a bar, your expectations drop a bit, but the room was
not bad at all, offering a nice view over the town, giving an ideal place for a
little people watching while sipping tea. The food is nice, the setting perfect
for easy access all over town! Over all, not bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I have to agree with
Abby on the staying in the bar, it’s a little on the creepy side, but the room
was nice, small with three beds that took up most of the space, and a nice
view. Besides when you are so tired you could sleep in a dumpster in an
alleyway in Manhattan NY, do you really care about what your room looks like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Laragh, County Wicklow: Tudor Lodge
B&B<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although the main
building is a B&B, we stayed in a serene little cottage. It was small;
there was the main room, which was dining room/ living room/ bedroom. This was
where my parents slept. By the groans and constant complaints of long term back
injuries, I am not sure it was the most comfortable situation, but me and Ella
were housed in a little loft. I managed not to hit my head but Ella was
constantly having short notice meetings with the first aid bag. The village was
small but cute, nice food. We went on a nice hike, accompanied by these things
that are like mosquitoes, they are called midges and they pee on you - really
nice. There was a great bar that served you free chicken wings at half time for
the soccer game!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Overall it was a
tranquil place to stay and very beautiful setting with good service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wow did I hate the
ceiling of that loft, Abby’s right I managed to hit my head on the low ceiling
every time I went to bed. We spent most of time exploring the town; it was cute
and sleepy with a nice restaurant where we celebrated my parent’s anniversary.
Seven years of love, how sweet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Belturbet, County Cavan: Staghall
Old School <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Very good service……and
cookies! The room was great; the town was a short walk away. Good movie
selection, we watched King Arthur - I did not pick it out! Beds were very
comfortable, the breakfast was delicious, and they had some horses and a foal
which was super cute! Overall extremely nice place with great service! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I enjoyed staying at
this house, even if it was only for one night. The room was very sweet with a
homey feel to it. The bathroom was a very important part of this room, it was
actually bigger than the main part of the room with the beds! It was every
girls dream with a basket with everything ranging from tampons to lavender hair
spray! The breakfast was good made up of mostly meat. The sausages were a
little soggy, not my favorite but good, and the service was great!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rathmelton, County Donegal:Donegal
Shore B&B<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This was my favorite
place! They had extremely good service, great rooms, beautiful gardens and good
breakfast! They were very nice folks, welcoming, and I cherished the four days
I spent there! Nice walk to town, fun town, only one restaurant though! While
we were there the Lennon Festival (named after the river, not John Lennon, as
we suspected) was happening. We got to watch the raft races, people built rafts
and would race, or float at a leisurely pace down the river and back,
hilarious! This place is highly recommended and has my vote!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I enjoyed this house;
it was comfortable with a conservatory and a beautiful garden and in it a small
pond. In the pond were two fish, Josephine and Tommy, we grew quite close in
the four days we stayed there.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The first morning at
breakfast two men who were also staying at the house and were sitting next told
us stories about England and their childhood. That night my parents went out to
the pub. We were asleep by the time they got back so we did not find out about
their night. The next morning as we were exploring the town and two men looked
up and started asking my dad and mom if they had headaches from there hangovers
or if they were feeling okay after last night. It gets you wondering what
happens in pubs come nighttime!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Derry: Pump House Apartments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Nice place, fun. Great
setting for easy access to the city. We went on a nice tour while we were
there, got caught up on the city’s history, this tour is highly recommended,
called Derry city tours! Place was big, comfortable, you have to go up like 100
flights of stairs though (only three) to get to the apartment we stayed in,
very physically draining. Nice view of the white building next door, you could
really see the intricate design of bricks covered by white wash, nice really! </span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Overall, good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I liked this apartment
it was well furnished and nice, but no real highlight of the trip. It was a
relaxing place and I liked Derry a lot. We went on a tour of the walls, it
rained the whole time and my rain jacket is more like a rain failure! The
actual tour was very informative and enjoyable! As Abby said we had a wonderful
view; the lovely building complete with broken pipes and overhanging weeds on
top of whitewashed walls was the best
part of Derry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cushendall: Garron View B&B<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Very nice place! Nice rooms!
Best breakfast we have had at a B&B! There was this cow there, really
nice! Would come up to you and lick your
clothes and shoes! We named it Roshin! There was also this baby cow that was
born when we were there, cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very big mom, I don’t know what
they fed that thing! Great places to visit, waterfall hikes, we opted to take
the scenic route, more like death wish route, it was super long and we were
once again visited by the midges, I don’t know what they drink that makes them
pee constantly! Nice hike though!!!!!!!! We also went to an orange order
parade, weird! My mom probably had a bit more to say on that thing! Overall,
great!!!!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I never knew you could
fall in love with a cow! Roshin was a cow who acted like a dog. Seriously. She
would lick you and let you hug her and pet her. The food at this bed and
breakfast was great the warm rolls and homemade breads were exceptional!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Belfast: Premier Inn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not bad, they offered
you a lot of different benefits that never really worked out. Interesting
place, service was good, comfortable space! Belfast was a very interesting
town! Fun!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I loved Belfast, like
Dublin it was bright and colorful with performers in the street and booths
selling gifts and home-made foods and candies. We visited the titanic museum which
was so interesting and so informative! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Skerries, County Dublin: Jantol
House B&B</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Nice place! Cute
little town! Good access to the beach, which was beautiful. We went to a cute
museum, the house was nice, the service okay, weird breakfast ordeal! Overall, nice place and great little town!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I enjoyed this place immensely,
the walks on the beach and the thrill of the cars flying through the corners during
the rally. The place we stayed in was a big B&B with a nice atmosphere. The
town was cute and quaint, pretty much the same as the rest of the country towns
in Ireland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Athlone: Arch House Apts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc00cc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Nice, big space! The
town was kinda depressing, but not that bad! Spent a very relaxing time there!
The house was nice and comfortable, although the utensils were kinda dirty! Over all, great place, not a very fun
town!!!!!!! But was close to other places such as Galway, which are nice
towns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We stayed in the arch
houses, and as Abby mentioned it’s a big space. We visited Galway on Wednesday.
Galway has been my favorite place to go, with performers on the streets and
celebration in the air, the atmosphere is warm and makes you happy. The people
are friendly and helpful. It is a big tourist city, though small, and people
line the streets; laughing and talking, selling and buying toys and treats in
the gift shops that line the sidewalks. Our own town is small and sleepy, rainy
and quaint.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-17128229716098777702012-07-18T10:33:00.001-07:002012-07-18T13:01:55.071-07:006:21 P.M. July 18, 2012: Top 106:21 P.M. July 18, 2012<br />
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Tomorrow we head back to Dublin for our last night in Ireland. <span style="background-color: white;">It’s hard to pick favorites from five weeks of travel. The
flow was great. A week in study, a week
travelling with a girl-friend, three weeks adventuring with the family. As a
student and practitioner of peace and reconciliation, the time exceeded my
expectations. This blog was dedicated predominantly to those experiences, as
a way of sharing with folks back home something of what I am learning, and selfishly,
helping me record my learnings. But as we wind down out time here, here’s my top
10 favorite things about this trip (at least the ten that come to
mind at the moment), </span><i style="background-color: white;">unrelated to peace and conflict.</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>1. Being called “love.”</b> There’s something so
endearing about a fellow that will approach someone standing a little lost on a
street corner, map in hand, and ask, “You all right there, love?” </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> It happened often enough, and </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">I always instantly felt better.</span></div>
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<b>2. Dancing in Derry.</b> I mean, yes, the countryside
and coastline and fields of sheep are all incredibly beautiful, but when you
live in Montana, everything is sort of beautiful all the time. The Derry “club
scene” was incredible in its own right. Perhaps because the island is mostly
rural, folks go all out in the cities. Think giant hair, copious makeup, los of
skin, excessive sparkle. I was sure half the women were drag queens; I was
wrong. I found a woman from my program, Sarah, who - in addition to being a
rock star anti-racist/queer/feminist educator in Sydney - loves to dance as
much as I do. We had a blast rocking to an eclectic pulsing dance mix that
spanned Gaga to Paul Simon, and somehow worked. The men in Ireland aren’t known
for their skills on the dance floor, but one boy from Belfast more than made up
for that. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b> 3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Tea everywhere.</b> It’s such a sweet ritual,
really. And I learned that it’s always tea time: when you wake
up, arrive somewhere, meet a friend, return home, need a pick-me-up, are
gearing to go out at night, before bed...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b> 4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Jared and the calf.</b> I had heard from Josie, our
B&B host in Cushundall, that they had a calf the night before. I had yet to
meet her husband, Jared, but when I saw him drive in as we were heading out I went
to ask him about the calf, hoping the girls and I would be able to visit. As it
turned out he was just returning from saving the calf from the river, and
though we were meeting for the first time his eyes filled with tears while he
described the harrowing rescue of the newborn, punctuating (as I learned was
his way) every few words with my name. “I’ll tell you Amie, the wee calf was
down in the river, Amie, and I didn’t think I could get there Amie. The water, it was
rushing all around me, Amie, and I was sure that calf was going to die in the water and rocks, Amie,
but, Amie, I got to it, and, Amie, it’s just grand.” I too was crying by the
end of the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b> 5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Wee.</b> In the North, everything is wee. It often
appears several times in the same sentence, as in, “you’ll just take the wee
road to the right, and you’ll see a wee caravan park with a wee sign for your
B&B…” It’s also used to describe things of giant proportion, like the
largest meanest scariest mama cow I have ever seen who was described by farmer Jared as “a wee bit cross.” Every time I heard it, it made me giggle on the inside,
even while trying to avoid eye contact with the mean scary mama cow. <o:p></o:p><br />
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A wee poster.</div>
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<b> 6. The Singing Bar.</b> We arrived in County Donegal,
in the wee village of Rathmelton, just in time for there annual festival, which
included, among other things, a “singing bar” competition. We didn’t know what
that meant until we found ourselves in one. Apparently it’s a competition among
pubs – a different pub in town has a different night of the week to impress the
judges with the size of their crowds, the vibe of the evening, and the quality
of the local talent. “Local talent” was anyone who could/would sing. A little
band accompanied each performer, and before I understood what was happening I
was put on a list and before long they called out “Amie from Montana” and our
new friend from Great Falls yelled out “Brokeback!” and there was no turning back. I survived! (Indecently,
this was the second time someone felt compelled to yell the reference to
Brokeback Mountain as I was approaching a critical moment. The first was at the
closing ceremony for my course in Derry, just as I was receiving my certificate
from Nobel Peace Prize winner and key architect of the Good Friday Peace
Agreement, John Hume. Thanks, Barry.)<o:p></o:p><br />
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Meeting John Hume. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Being taken home by Maria</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">. This is really a
placeholder for the amazing generosity of everyone we’ve met. I was walking
along a coastal path, set to meet my family in a couple hours, and came upon
Maria and Zhi-Zhi, her sweet greyhound cross. We walked for an hour, Maria
telling me about growing up in Ireland and the troubles and her politics and
then she took me to her little house - in process of renovation after a
mudslide flooded the place - served me wine and we looked at paint chips and
talked about Mexico, and about being women travelers. What a gift! And everyday
had someone like Maria.</span></div>
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<b> 8. <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Jersey Shore</b>. This is a placeholder for all the
cooky pub experiences that might have been gross/weird/scary had I not gotten
to share them with Jenae...and because I DID get to share them with her, they
were hilarious. Jersey Shore was the name
we gave to a young man in Portrush who was very excited to meet two Americans –
especially one from New York. He said, “You know Jersey Shore? I love that
show!” while he started sort of swaggering and pelvic thrusting and grabbing
his boy parts and trying to put them on the table (someone will have to tell me
if this has something to do with the reality TV show). It went on and on…“You
know Snooky? I’m going to <i>do</i> her…” He
was easily confused, thinking I was married to a much older man sitting near
us, then relieved that I wasn’t, and then taking me aside and in a serious tone
and asking, “why did you do that to your hair?” He thought I had streaked it grey
(there are no grey haired women in Ireland, and I think just three colors of dye:
platinum, red, and black). He was just one of the characters that particular
night in that particular pub, and there were many characters (a rowdy crew of
aging lesbians; an old man who only said “fuck off”, and said it often; a
raucous hen party; etc.) – it is so special to experience these characters with a
close friend!<o:p></o:p><br />
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Jenae on the bus. </div>
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<b> 9. <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Roisin.</b> I have written elsewhere about the
affectionate cow. The girls and I sort of fell in love with her, named her
Roisin (Row-Sheen), and visited her several times a day for the few days we
were staying near her pasture. She would lick our shoes, thrust her neck
forward into our faces and roll her eyes back when we scratched behind her
ears, rub her head up and down the entire length of our bodies. I am certain
now that my Rottweilers are part bovine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b> 10. <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Sean’s Bar in Athlone.</b> It’s apparently the
oldest pub in all of Ireland, dating back to 991 A.D. For real. It’s long and narrow, with various
rooms, creating several different pub experiences in the same locale. The night Lauren and
I were in, the front of the house had an “open set” going. Folks wander in with
instruments, join a circle of musicians, and take turns leading songs. Everyone
- from young punked out vocalists to old traditional flutists - accompanies one
another, and we heard original tunes, old Irish folk songs, Poison, Delta
Blues, James Taylor…It was my idea of heaven. In the back of the house was a 20
piece brass band, median age about 80, playing swing. Also incredible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Throughout it all, the most significant experience for me
personally was the gift of unstructured time. Particularly these last three weeks with my
daughters, my husband, and myself. I have built a very full, rich life, a life
which I am so incredibly grateful for. And, I rarely have significant stretches
of unstructured time. What an amazing thing to settle into such a different schedule:
to take whatever detour we wanted, to get lost, to walk without destination, to
stay in bed on rainy mornings and read, to fall into conversations with
strangers and take them to their natural conclusion, to patiently wait for sheep to cross the road. I am so thankful for all that made this
possible, particularly the board and staff at NCBI.
The trip has been inspiring and restorative, and I am ready to come home!<o:p></o:p><br />
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Sheep crossing. </div>
<br /></div>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-42556192191384582652012-07-15T04:03:00.001-07:002012-07-18T00:52:50.863-07:0011:07 Sunday July 15, 201211:07 Sunday July 15, 2012<br />
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The last peace-building organization I visited in the North was <a href="http://www.corrymeela.org/about-us.aspx">the Corrymeela Community</a>, set on a hill overlooking the stunning coast of Northern Ireland. It was established in 1965 by Reverend Ray Davey. Davey had been a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany. He envisioned an ecumenical spiritual community where people live, work, and pray together as an alternative to the violence he witnessed in the world. When the troubles broke out, Corrymeela grew into a place of refuge - people who were burned out of their homes found temporary housing there - and reconciliation. Corrymeela became known for facilitating dialogue between diverse groups, teaching mediation and conflict resolution skills, and fostering positive relationships across group lines. Their physical location and space was central to their mission. They are physically removed from areas of conflict, and offer a residential setting where groups can come and stay together.<br />
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Though NCBI doesn't offer the residential experience - outside of our High School Training of Trainers - their practice, methodology, and values are very similar to our own. The setting is stunning, and even to me, a mostly secular Jew, the place felt deeply spiritual. It was easy to imagine people having transformative experiences in such a place.<br />
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But it was hard to imagine the folks from Rasharkin there, the Catholic hurlers and the Orange men and the police officers. Even if they were willing to engage in some sort of a community-building process, the community does not have resources to pay for a program at Corrymeela, and Corrymeela doesn't have the resources to orchestrate such a gathering, as they have lost much of their funding since Northern Ireland moved further into the "post-Conflict" years.<br />
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Corrymeela continues to do excellent work, leading summer programs that bring together Christian, Jewish and Muslim <span style="background-color: white;">youth from around the world, for example. Reflecting on the range of organizations I have visited, it seems they each fill a niche, and meet a need, and that though the needs are changing they have not gone away.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Over the last month I have visited folks from a dozen peace-building programs, I have toured a handful of museums and communities in conflict, and in pubs and cabs and on beaches and mountain trails I have had probably over a hundred informal conversations with people about their experience of the troubles. My heart and mind are full of the images, stories, and songs of this place. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">We'll be in the Republic of Ireland for this last week here, and though I will continue to have informal conversations about peace and conflict, my formal investigation - so far as I know - is complete. Next on the agenda is attending a stage rally (cars driving fast down windy roads)...you can guess whose idea that was!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The girls this morning, on the beach in Skerries.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-631688270823124972012-07-13T01:29:00.000-07:002012-07-15T03:48:02.201-07:006:09 A.M July 13, 20126:09 A.M July 13, 2012<br />
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Though I've stumbled upon a handful of Orange Order marches since I've been here, with all the tension and conflict associated with the 12th of July, I felt ambivalent about attending any on the big day. A new friend (owner of <a href="http://danielgillan.com/">The Tower Bar</a> in Ballymoney) reminded me that's sort of why I'm here.<br />
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There were hundreds of marches yesterday, most of them completely uneventful. A couple made the news, with the most trouble in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18823292">North Belfast</a>. Lauren, the girls and I went to the little village of Rasharkin, population 800 or so, not far from where we are staying.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">There are hundreds of different "lodges" of the Orange Order throughout Northern Ireland and beyond; each choose different locations to march. It seemed like a dozen or so came to Rasharkin for the 12th.</span>The march is really three waves of marches. First, over the course of several hours, each lodge marches through town to assemble. Some lodges are quite small - twenty or so people. About mid day, the full group marches back through town, heading the opposite direction. In Rasharkin I'd guess there were a couple hundred marchers in total. There they assemble again, have tea, snacks, and maybe a couple pints. Then, early evening, the full group marches through town a third time. Unlike U.S. parades that stick to main streets, Orange Order marches like to travel through neighborhoods as well. Things are more likely to get hot when the Order marches through Catholic neighborhoods, especially during the third trip through town, when marchers and neighbors may be a little sauced and some Catholic neighbors have had it with the "we won, you lost" feel of the day. <br />
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Rasharkin was one of the contested marches this year, as residents of a predominantly Catholic cul-de-sac had petitioned to keep the Orange Order from taking their traditional path through their neighborhood. The parade commission granted this request, and the Order had responded that this failure to allow them to march their traditional route was a breach of their civil rights. A resident group requested permission to protest (you have to do that here, as a result of the history of riots in Northern Ireland), and were allowed 50 people.<br />
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We rolled into town around 11:30. It really isn't much of a town - you could drive through it trying to find the city center. None the less it was decked out for the 12th, as all Protestant towns are here, with union jacks flying from every light pole.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We talked to a few Orange Order folks gathered at one end of town, </span><span style="background-color: white;">learned the main march started at 1:00, and where to park so we could get out later. Though the streets were strangely empty, p</span><span style="background-color: white;">olice were everywhere - about 8 per block for 10 blocks or so. We found the protesters gathered under a single tricolor - the flag of Ireland - in the parking lot of the grocery store. It was a group of 15-20 men. They were in their own sort of uniforms - all wearing athletic jerseys and carrying hurling sticks. </span><br />
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The first guy we talked to told us they weren't really protesting, since the parade commission had swore to uphold the approved route. They were mostly just watching to document any abuse from the marchers. Watching with hurling sticks, Lauren asked? This is where we play, he responded. Any day you drive through town we'll be here, hitting the ball against the side of the store. As we waited for the marching to begin, they told us how the police didn't want peace, and to just watch how they egged people on. They told us that marching isn't the problem - each side should be able to celebrate their holidays - but that it doesn't have to be so "in your face." They shouldn't march through Catholic neighborhoods, and they don't need to put flags on every light pole. "We only put flags up every other one during our parades."<br />
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I talked with a number of police officers. The first guy I met was born and raised in Colorado (of course- just the way this small world works). He said we should make sure to come back to see the town on another day - "it's a really lovely village." Another officer and I chatted about why I was in town. When I said I lead peace-building work in the U.S., he said, "good - that's what we need- help breaking the circle..." and then got very philosophical about the state of the world.<br />
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A half hour before the march was set to begin the group of protesters began to swell a bit, some women joining in. <span style="background-color: white;">Police formed a loose line in front of them, nearly matching them 1:1. A scuffle broke out in front of a pub down the street - the protesters said it was the cops bent on arresting them and having a reason to shut them out; the police said it was a domestic disturbance. </span><span style="background-color: white;">A man walked by with his son in a stroller, and I overheard the woman he was with say, "at least having him here," implying the toddler, "will keep you safe," nodding to the police. </span><br />
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When the march finally got underway, the police formed a solid line between the marchers and the group. Things started to get hot when an officer began to tell the residents they needed to stand behind, rather than on, the sidewalk. Officers opted to just block and surround the group.<br />
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I'm used to U.S. style parades, where people line the streets and cheer, and paraders wave and throw candy. This march was a bit more somber. The Orange Order is a formal crowd. There are mostly men, though there are some women and children, all dressed in black. Men where bowler hats, white gloves, and orange sashes. <span style="background-color: white;"> Each lodge seemed to have a band - which looks and sounds like a </span><span style="background-color: white;">military</span><span style="background-color: white;"> marching band - and a group of people walking with banners illustrating the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James for control of Great Britain in 1690.</span><br />
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Here's a short <a href="https://vimeo.com/45688698">clip</a> to give you a feel.<br />
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We saw a few families out to watch the festivities, a few little ones dressed up in their red, white and blue (so strangely familiar), but not many. I'm guessing that many of the Protestant residents were IN the march, leaving few people left to watch. I'm also guessing the threat of protest kept some from coming out. I'm told there are plently of bigger towns, with fewer Catholics, where the marches feel quite festive. This one seemed rather like something that had to be endured, by the marchers, the Catholic not-protesters, and the police officers. If felt more about making a statement than a celebration. And the statements that were intended to be communicated may be different that the ones that were received. Perhaps the Order is making a statement about Protestant pride; it can look and feel like a statement of power and supremacy. Perhaps the Catholic residents are making a statement of resistance, it can look and feel like bullying and hooliganism. I think the police were trying to represent order and safety; to the Catholic residents out yesterday they represented a threat.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I'll be thinking more about what this little experience in a rural community might mean for me and my work, what it might teach me about the nature of conflict, memory, and transformation...but for now I just wanted to record it. </span><br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-34503624692646912552012-07-10T15:21:00.001-07:002012-07-10T15:21:38.015-07:0011:21 P.M. July 10, 2012<br />
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We packed a lot in the last couple days. I felt like I had only scratched the surface during my first week in Derry, and had a few things on my agenda to explore- namely the Protestant perspective. But first, the family took an amazing <a href="http://derrycitytours.com/">guided tour</a> of the city put on by Martin McCrossan - I highly recommend it. He somehow condensed over 400 years of history into an easy to follow form, bringing us up through the most recent events, including the Queen's recent and first visit to Northern Ireland. Derry is a city with remarkable historical landmarks, and the tour brought these landmarks to life- whether we were talking about the building of the <a href="http://www.derryswalls.com/intro-origins.html">Derry walls</a> in 1614, or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Derry">1689 siege</a> on the city, or <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10283900">Bloody Sunday</a> in 1972.<br />
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The girls and I later went to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprentice_Boys_of_Derry">Apprentice Boys Hall</a>, which serves as a museum and meeting hall for a Protestant group commemorating the protection of Derry city during the 108 day siege. We heard about some of the same events and landmarks Martin described on the tour, but the "facts" were completely different. As we were walking out, Abigail asked, "so whose history should I believe?" Great question. Nowhere has the subjective nature of history been more apparent to me than here. <br />
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Lauren and I also spent some time in the Fountain, a small Protestant enclave within the Catholic dominated part of Derry. We visited a youth center, which is celebrating 40 years of service this year, and met an amazing woman who, alongside her husband until his passing a few years ago, founded and directs the center. In the rioting, bombing and burning that occurred following Bloody Sunday, their family had to flee her home in Derry. They returned <span style="background-color: white;">to provide youth an alternative to involvement in paramilitary groups. "You just can't let vigilantes control your town, you just can't," she explained. Their programs have shifted over the years, but they provide a safe place for young people to hang out and opportunities for youth empowerment and development. Many of their programs are inter-generational in nature - youth engaging their elders to collect and record histories, for example. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The biggest challenges she sees today stem from the economic hardships people are under. There are 108 children who use the Center - she knows every single one, each of their parents, and most of their parents' parents. She knows their stories. Many are struggling.</span><br />
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When I asked her what she considered her greatest success, she reflected, "changing attitudes." This was a theme Martin, our tour guide, hammered home as well. Yes, Derry has been through a lot, and there are still disagreements, but it will absolutely, in his estimation, not go back to the way it was. He had many powerful stories to demonstrate the shifts in attitudes that have happened over the years. Toward the end of the tour, we came to a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-13386542">Presbyterian Church</a> that had sat empty for a number of years. Most of it's members had moved out of the Catholic dominated neighborhood where the church stood, and the building had fallen into disrepair. But a number of Catholic leaders came together as allies to help find funding to repair and reopen <span style="background-color: white;">the church. At the opening ceremony, the Reverend specifically thanked his friend Martin - Martin McGuinness, leader of Sinn Fein - for calling every other week to encourage the reopening of the church and help support the project. This is just one example of the hundreds of cross-community projects that have happened throughout Northern Ireland, and that rarely make news. This week, when there is sure to be plenty in the media about sectarian tension and acts of violence, it's critical to also hold on the picture of how much healing has taken place, and how committed so many are in finding new ways forward together. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We are now back in the country, in the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushendall">Cushendall</a> where we have made friends with a very affectionate cow.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-35163210206145467242012-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:002012-07-08T12:04:05.602-07:007:37 P.M. July 8, 20127:37 P.M. July 8, 2012<br />
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I'm back in Derry, and we can definitely feel it. <a href="http://www.inyourpocket.com/northern-ireland/belfast/The-Twelfth-and-the-Orange-Order_55971f">July 12th</a> is the big anniversary event for the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Order"> Orange Order</a> (and a national holiday). The ramp up to the 12th happens over several weeks, and just after we settled into our apartment they paraded through town, accompanied by strong police presence. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around...by American standards, any group should have the right to freely assemble, so, that part is not a stretch for me. I wish the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church">Westboro Baptist Church</a> did not have that right, but I get why they do.<br />
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But to have a Protestant sectarian/supremacist group have a national holiday, and to allow them to parade through Catholic neighborhoods, and in some areas to have the government prohibit any form of protest...that's the hard part to understand.<br />
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None the less I'm glad to be back here, because this is <u>why</u> I'm here - to try and understand. Tomorrow, among other things, I plan to visit the Prostesant neighborhood of Derry, and learn a bit of their perspective. I think that will help.<br />
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The week in Donegal was lovely. We were there intentionally to honor Lauren's mother's life, and mark the 1 year anniversary of her death, as that's the County Lauren has heard her line came from. The Republic of Ireland is suffering economically, and it shows in a certain weariness in the people. There is a dearth of people our age...many have left to find work elsewhere, largely in Australia and Canada, apparently.<br />
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None the less, the people we met were the kindest I've ever known. Every day, some strangers took us under their wing, talking to us about their town, buying us a drink, giving us a CD of their band, recommending places to visit. Most striking is the time people take; every day we've met people who have easily spent an hour or more just visiting with us.<br />
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And, even under tough times, there are certain luxuries the businesses provide as well. Ireland on the whole is not known for service - they don't rely on tips the way U.S. servers do. But in several outdoor cafes we have found blankets across the back of each chair; one pub in a tiny town provided free chicken wings at the half time of a soccer match; and another provided free Bailey's at the end of the meal. So sweet.<br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-59071466824851482902012-07-06T02:51:00.000-07:002012-07-07T02:30:25.151-07:0010:18 A.M. July 6, 201210:18 A.M. July 6, 2012<br />
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So Lauren and I walk into the local pub last night, and the first person we meet spent the last three years in Great Falls. Small world. He's from Belfast, the second man I met from Belfast yesterday that left the city because of The Troubles.<br />
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The first was Tom, who was staying at our B&B. His father was a Protestant of the Orange Order until he met Tom's mother, a Catholic. It's what they call "reduction by seduction" over here. According to Tom, that refers not only to a reduction in numbers of Protestants, but also to a reduction in some artificial pure Protestant blood line. Tom came of age during The Troubles, and left Belfast because he didn't think he could stay any longer without "getting involved," and he didn't want to do that to his parents. "Everyone I grew up with either died fighting or left...when I go home the only people to visit are in graveyards." Tom left Belfast for West Africa, and after three years ended up in London, where he settled. Along the way he met his partner, David, an Englishman who spent some time in his youth in the states, and was drafted to fight in Vietnam. So, I learned a bit of U.S. history as well, that men visiting the U.S. on Green Cards were drafted into service - amazing.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">County Donegal is stunning and varied. Windswept, barren, lush, wild. </span><br />
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Glenveagh National Park</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Glenveagh Castle and Gardens</span></div>
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Glenveagh National Park
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<span style="background-color: white;">Today we are touring the northern coast, hoping to find a traditional music festival that is rumored to be taking place in the village of Dunfanaghy...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-89366805716765035002012-07-04T12:37:00.000-07:002012-07-04T12:37:16.259-07:008:09 P.M. July 4, 2012<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I must admit, there is
something lovely about being out of country on the 4th. Today we made our way
North to County Donegal, where Lauren's maternal line is rumored to be from.
We're outside the little town of Ramelton (population ~1000), and tonight was
the annual "float race" down the river Liemmon - a race with the
most ridiculous 4 person crafts possible...very Missoula, very
fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Though parts of County
Donegal are farther North than Northern Ireland, Donegal was not included in
Northern Ireland because it is overwhelmingly Catholic, and Britain did not
want a Catholic majority in Northern Ireland. It feels a bit like being in a
border town…there are strong feelings just below the surface, but unlike Derry
or Belfast, people aren’t declaring their politics with flags or murals so it’s
a bit harder to know which way a conversation might go. Last night Lauren and I
found ourselves in a pub with some locals, talking about the recent historic handshake
(see June 27<sup>th</sup> post) between the Queen and McGuinness…while the three
folks I was talking to argued about who did or did not see that coming, and
whether things were or were not significantly improved, a woman told Lauren
with tears in her eyes that “they are still strip searching and beating
Republicans in the jail down the road.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">For the next few nights
we are staying at a B&B owned by a lovely couple, Mervyn and Claire. He’s English
and she’s Belgian...we have yet to talk about what has drawn me here, and I’ll
be interested to hear their perspective. In the meantime, we are taking in lots
of castles, mystical places, sheep, and –finally- sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-59313868781653264072012-07-01T10:53:00.001-07:002012-07-18T10:33:46.972-07:006:27 P.M. July 1, 20126:27 P.M. July 1, 2012<br />
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What timing - first we were in Belfast with the Queen; yesterday we were in Dublin for Pride. Here's a sampling:<br />
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I said goodbye to Jenae, and welcomed my family for the remaining three weeks. Today we visited the <a href="http://www.glencree.ie/">Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation</a>. The actual physical location has quite a history. It has been a barracks, a children's reformatory (with a brutal past), a hostel, and now a peace centre. For many years they brought Northern Ireland families from Protestant and Catholic backgrounds to holiday at the centre at no charge, contingent only that they interact. They have held and facilitated workshops for former combatants and victim's families, providing a neutral space for people to come together. Since the Good Friday Peace Agreement the work in Ireland has dwindled, and they are doing more work internationally. This is the case for a number of organizations; apparently there grew quite a "peace industry" in Ireland, North and South, that has proved unsustainable. Though it was clear from my first two weeks in the North that much work remains, the urgency is gone. Raises many of the questions we in the non-profit sector grapple with at home: <i>How do we sustain our work? How do we keep our work relevant - especially when things appear to be getting better?</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">As I am now travelling by car I am getting to experience the Irish countryside. It is stunning. </span>Lauren has quickly adapted to left side of the road driving, on ridiculously narrow roads that appear at times to be more like paved paths. No stripes, no signs, just tar. <span style="background-color: white;">So far, people in these rural towns seem very far removed from the North. I've talked with a handful of folks who have lived their whole lives here, traveled abroad, and never visited Northern Ireland (less than 3 hours away), "because of the troubles." </span></div>
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My family has walked down the road to a little pub to watch the Italy-Spain match...time to join them!</div>
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-25974662558252408342012-06-29T03:36:00.000-07:002012-06-29T03:39:08.082-07:0010:18 A.M. June 29, 201210:18 A.M. June 29, 2012<br />
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It's a rainy morning in Clones, my first day in the Republic of Ireland. Sometime soon Lauren and the girls will be making their way to the airport, and by this time tomorrow I'll meet them in Dublin.<br />
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The first two weeks here have been emotionally packed. Though the trip has been well-paced, every interaction leaves much to process. Yesterday Jenae and I took a cab to visit <a href="http://www.peacewall.org/home.htm">Interaction Belfast</a>, an organization working along the West Belfast interface we had walked the day before. Our cab driver, a man younger than me, grew up in St. James, a rough neighborhood down the road from where the flag had been placed on the mountain. His family's claim to fame was having a photo of their neighborhood in the paper under the heading, "worst housing in the UK." He was witness to eleven murders by the time he was 15, which he described to us in some detail on our ten minute drive.<br />
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Moments later we were served tea and biscuits by a lovely man a bit younger than my parents who had been a loyalist combatant in the troubles. The tattoos on his arms told the story of his life: from those he gave himself as a young man; to those he received in prison serving a life sentence for murders, attempted murders, armed robberies, and other crimes; to those he got after release. He was released as part of the Good Friday agreement in 1989, and has been working in peace-building programs ever since. "The thing you have to know," he told us, "is it's not as if those people fighting were sociopaths...they didn't wake up one morning wanting to kill people." They were mostly children killing children, he explained, the children on his side recruited by their priests and M.P.'s (Member of Parliament) to defend their community. He was 40 years old before he set foot in a Catholic neighborhood, literally across the street.<br />
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They call any place where Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods brush up against one another an 'interface'. Sometimes they are separated by a wall, sometimes a road, sometimes a stretch of bare ground. The interfaces have historically been volatile, with violence on both sides. Roison McGlone, one of my colleagues from INCORE and a self described non-violent combatant, came to Interaction Belfast as the Director twelve years ago. At the time, m<span style="background-color: white;">ost people were sick of the violence in their neighborhoods, and blamed the other side for starting trouble. She sold them on the</span><span style="background-color: white;"> mobile phone network as a peacekeeping strategy. Key community leaders who lived </span><span style="background-color: white;">on either side </span><span style="background-color: white;">of the interface were given mobile phones. In the beginning, when there was trouble they would try and move people along, and call in to the staff, who would alert the other side, or if needed, the police. Later Interaction Belfast provided phone lists to the phone holders so they could call the other side directly - but the distrust was so high the list simply had phone numbers and the letters "U" for unionist (those who favor a union between Ireland and Britain) and "N" for Nationalist (those who favor a united Irish Nation). After years, Roisin was able to bring the phone holders together for weekly meetings. They were rough at the start, with members of each side blaming the other for the violence. Over time, they came to see that they all wanted the same thing - to have safety for their communities. The greatest gains came when they were able to bring the phone holders together away from their community to engage in strategic planning, and really see how similar they were. In this way, peacekeeping was peace-building. </span><br />
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Roisin, Amie and Noel at Interaction </div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">While Roisin sees that individuals have moved greatly in the peace process, she contends that at any moment, a single event could take her community two steps back. The current challenge, as she sees it, is getting beyond the</span><span style="background-color: white;"> "politics of containment" - </span><span style="background-color: white;">there is a lack of political will to tackle some of the most contentious issues that continue to polarize communities. From Roisin's perspective, the parades of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Order">Orange Order</a> are at the heart of this. There are over 3500 parades in Northern Ireland each year. While most are peaceful, some march directly through Catholic neighborhoods - equivalent to anti-Indian groups marching through Montana reservations. While there have been negotiations about many things - building shared spaces along the interfaces, and integrating the police force, for example - the parades and the Orange Order (who currently have 2 recognized 'bank holidays' observed by the country) continue to be "off the table" for negotiation.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">It will be good to have a few days outside of Northern Ireland to sift through all the stories I have heard these past two weeks, to try and make sense of what it means in this context, and how these learnings might inform our work back home. </span><br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-52020318517457425532012-06-27T15:13:00.001-07:002012-06-27T15:13:10.580-07:0011:12 P.M. Wednesday, June 27, 201211:12 P.M. Wednesday June 27, 2012<br />
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Today the Queen of England came to Northern Ireland and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9359523/Queen-and-Martin-McGuinness-share-handshake-on-road-to-peace.html">shook the hand</a> of Martin McGuinness, the leader of Sinn Fein and a former IRA combatant. The significance of this can not be overstated: it is one of the most potent symbols of the peace process in the last decade. At the same time, the Queen's visit was not uncontested. Yesterday, a 40 foot Irish flag appeared on Black Mountain, accompanied by the old word for Ireland, Eriu. The message was clear: Ireland is our queen.<br />
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The flag was placed and guarded by Republicans, and last night a group of loyalists tried to remove the flag. A fight broke out, with several injuries. Catholic youths retaliated, throwing bricks through the windows of Protestant shops in a neighboring community. The flag is still on the mountain today, and we could just make out the shapes of a mass of people standing guard.<br />
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We walked through this West Belfast neighborhood to visit Jessica, a colleague from INCORE who works with <a href="http://www.bcrc.eu/">Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium</a> (BCRC). For years, republic and loyalist groups would not talk directly with one another without intermediaries. BCRC formed after the disarming of the paramilitary organizations, bringing together two of the largest loyalist groups with two of the largest republican groups to work together to keep peace and strengthen their communities. Ironically, their main office is located in a Catholic neighborhood, and the loyalist staff members do not feel comfortable or safe coming to work. The staff remains segregated on opposite sides of the many walls that divide this city (not only are their walls above ground, there are walls below. When the Catholic cemetery was forced to open space for Protestants to be buried, the priest required a subterranean wall to be built separating the two communities).<br />
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BCRC's work is both peace keeping and peace building: on nights like last, community delegates on each side work to deescalate conflict, and send word to one another and the police about what is going on. BCRC also facilitates community development projects, bringing people together around common ground concerns like economic development.<br />
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We ended the day with Barry, another colleague from INCORE who works with <a href="http://www.cooperationireland.org/"> Cooperation Ireland</a>. Cooperation Ireland works on the macro level - organizing today's historic meeting between the Queen and McGuinness, as well as on the community level. <span style="background-color: white;"> Barry is Catholic; his office is based in a heavily Protestant neighborhood. </span><span style="background-color: white;">His latest project involves outreach to British military families stationed in Belfast while their loved ones are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. </span><br />
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Perhaps unsurprisingly (as it happens in the U.S. as well), there is a fair amount of competition among the peace-building organizations around who is doing the "real work." From an outside perspective, all the work appears incredibly valuable and needed. These two organizations, for example, have different spheres of influence. They are able to affect different types of change. Both are incredibly relevant to the history that has been made today.<br />
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One of the sweetest moments of the day was stumbling upon Ned Reynolds, a muralist from the Republic who now lives in Belfast. He is just completing a community mural project as part of a revitalization project of South Belfast's Sandy Row. The neighborhood identified images of people from their community to recognize - from the opera singing butcher to sports heroes. Their faces now line the block. As we were visiting with Ned, an old timer came by to talk about the people he remembered and learn about the people he didn't know. One of the many small, significant projects to shift the stories this community tells about itself.<br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-22114015749546286622012-06-26T12:18:00.001-07:002012-06-28T02:05:16.649-07:007:28 P.M. June 26, 20127:28 P.M. June 26, 2012<br />
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Belfast is full of beauty and culture and history and sadness. We were drawn into the Ulster Museum by the Da Vinci drawings, but captivated by the exhibit, "From Plantation to Power Sharing," charting the relationship between England and Ireland from the 1500's. It's been a long conflict.<br />
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Belfast is roughly divided into five communities. Central Belfast is home to two college campuses and is very international; there are people from at least seven countries in our hostel. The rest of the city is divided north, south, east, and west. We took a Black Cab Tour of West Belfast, where a 40" Peace Wall runs between Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. There are four gates that lock each night at 10 P.M., keeping cars and pedestrians from passing into one another's territory.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aUZstk7QAdo/T-oCp6N-_iI/AAAAAAAAADY/6OeWSEk6JSk/s1600/1826820552_BELFAST_WALLSx-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aUZstk7QAdo/T-oCp6N-_iI/AAAAAAAAADY/6OeWSEk6JSk/s320/1826820552_BELFAST_WALLSx-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A map of Belfast's walls. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXClfFHPTKs/T-oDMId0T8I/AAAAAAAAADs/Slx9jyFWVvM/s1600/PortrushBelfast+034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXClfFHPTKs/T-oDMId0T8I/AAAAAAAAADs/Slx9jyFWVvM/s320/PortrushBelfast+034.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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A view of a West Belfast wall, from the Protestant side</div>
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The West Belfast wall separates poor communities from poor communities, each who have been promised economic advancement by their respective political parties (as in decent housing and schools) that, by the look of things, has never been delivered.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2lk2D7igbY/T-oGfOyIeDI/AAAAAAAAAEA/LY5xE1u3KKA/s1600/IMG-20120626-00181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2lk2D7igbY/T-oGfOyIeDI/AAAAAAAAAEA/LY5xE1u3KKA/s320/IMG-20120626-00181.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Protestant's are preparing for the annual July 11 bonfire, which, according to wikipedia and Walter, our tour guide, commemorates "the <span style="line-height: 19px;">victory of Protestant king </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="William III of England">William of Orange</a><span style="line-height: 19px;"> over </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Roman Catholicism">Catholic</a><span style="line-height: 19px;"> King </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="James II of England">James II</a><span style="line-height: 19px;"> at the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Boyne" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Battle of the Boyne">Battle of the Boyne</a><span style="line-height: 19px;"> (1690)." This pallet bonfire will rise above the top of the wall, sending a message to the entire city. After a week thinking about discourse analysis, I wonder: what is the intended message? for whom is it intended? </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RDnfdbn_Y5s/T-oIDTwkNVI/AAAAAAAAAEI/o4_ogKtkhEs/s1600/PortrushBelfast+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RDnfdbn_Y5s/T-oIDTwkNVI/AAAAAAAAAEI/o4_ogKtkhEs/s320/PortrushBelfast+018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">As in Derry, murals tell a powerful story as each side of the wall memorializes their fallen and their </span><span style="background-color: white;">heroes</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Once again, I am struck by the ways violence is memorialized, ritualized, glorified and normalized in Northern Ireland. As an artist, I wonder how art making helps people to make sense of their lived experience and integrate their loss, trauma, and grief. As a peace-practitioner, I wonder how art serves as a powerful propaganda perpetuating mistrust, disgust, and violence. </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kbmJbD4LZbQ/T-oIH6VVK7I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/89xVW7RCxOU/s1600/PortrushBelfast+029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kbmJbD4LZbQ/T-oIH6VVK7I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/89xVW7RCxOU/s320/PortrushBelfast+029.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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Protestant mural</div>
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Catholic mural</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Burrito mural.</span></div>
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-26983011695504932452012-06-25T18:02:00.000-07:002012-06-26T11:28:19.646-07:001:20 A.M. June 26, 2012<br />
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We spent two days in Portrush, on the Northern coast. Everyone wants to know where we are from, and why we are here, and when I tell them I'm studying peace and conflict, everyone has something to say. The first night we met a bunch of women at a "hen party" (the equivalent of a bachelorette party) who, in the midst of their revelry, wanted to tell me lots about their perspective of the situation in Northern Ireland. Their sense is that things are fine now, that the vast majority of people have no issues with one another, and that the only real issues are with radical fringe groups. "It's all in how you are raised," one women from Belfast explained, going on to say that she had learned from her parents it was unacceptable to make disparaging remarks about Catholics, and that the younger generation sees no barrier at all. <span style="background-color: white;">I asked about intermarriage, and she said it was becoming more common, and that if anyone had a problem with it, it was the Catholics. I asked about the "peace walls," the walls </span><span style="background-color: white;">separating</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Catholic and Protestant communities throughout Belfast, and she said they are mostly down. </span><span style="background-color: white;">She shared that her father was in the Orange Order, a Protestant brotherhood that formed in </span><span style="background-color: white;">part to suppress Catholicism.She was pulled back into the party before I could ask her more about how she reconciled these apparent </span><span style="background-color: white;">contradictions.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Yesterday, we hiked the Giant's Causeway, 8 miles of beaches and cliffs and the magical manifestations of igneous rock. We returned to our B&B in time to see the Orange Order parade through town, a frequent </span><span style="background-color: white;">occurring</span><span style="background-color: white;"> during the summer parade season. </span></div>
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Coast of Northern Ireland</div>
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Last night we met two men, old friends who grew up a few miles outside of Portrush. They too asked why I was here, and then shared their experiences as Catholics growing up in Northern Ireland. They talked about the Orange Order, which at one time included 1 in 5 protestant men in the North. Members could not date or marry Catholics, they could not attend a wedding in a catholic church, nor could they attend a funeral. Rules have loosened some, but they were very clear that the roots of this order were to keep Catholicism and unification efforts from taking hold in the North.</div>
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It was clear, in these two days, how differently people here see the same situation. Now we are in Belfast, where over 90 "peace walls" remain; tomorrow Jenae and I will tour the walls and deepen out understanding of Belfast's history.</div>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-55140118669232145592012-06-23T09:07:00.004-07:002012-06-23T09:07:43.786-07:004:52 P.M. Saturday, June 23<br />
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It was bittersweet to leave Derry today. Yesterday we
finished out the program with presentations from some of our colleagues. The expertise
in the room covered the globe: Fatima presented on her work with UNESCO in
Haiti; Csabas on the history of conflict between Hungary and Serbia, Romania
and Slovenia; Waqo on his efforts to curb sectarian hate speech in Kenya.
Perhaps most compelling for me was hearing from the folks leading community-based
(as opposed to government sponsored) work here in Ireland. Carole works at an
adult education center in Belfast using the arts to bring people together to
envision a shared future. Barry works at Cooperation Ireland, and has led city
wide youth projects in Belfast exploring the impacts of the past on their lives
today. Thankfully, I’ll be visiting the Belfast crew next week, and seeing some
of their work firsthand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, what have I learned this first week? As the histories of
conquest, colonization, and resistance in our own country defy easy
explanation, so to do the histories here. In 1921, 26 counties in Ireland won
their independence from Britain; the six counties that remained part of England
are what we know as Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland “Troubles” are often
simplified for the world audience as two competing narratives: One the one hand
are the Catholic Republicans who see Britain (and those loyal to the queen) as
an external oppressor who continues to economically and socially suppress the
Irish, and misuse government and police power. On the other hand are the
Protestant Loyalists who see the Republicans as terrorists who threaten the
safety, security, and livelihood of all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The violent conflict peaked here in the 1960’s-1980; there
were many hundreds of lives lost and many thousands of lives disrupted. The Good
Friday Peace Agreement was signed in 1998, and a sort of political truce took
told. If we imagine a continuum with peacekeeping at one end (ensuring basic
safety and security, stopping violence) and peace building at the other
(building relationships across group lines, increasing empathy and
understanding, setting and acting on common goals), Northern Ireland is still
somewhere in the middle. </div>
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There is significantly less violence, but there still
is violence. There have been three killings in the last couple years, and
several recent bombings. Sectarian divisions
remain deeply entrenched. In Derry, Catholics and Protestants are separated geographically,
with Catholics almost exclusively west of the River Foyle and Protestants to
the east. I stumbled across 1 integrated school on a run outside of Derry; 95%
of children attend segregated schools. This basic division is further complicated;
I have lost count of the number of groups and subgroups on each side which
claim distinctions from one another with regard to how they frame the problem, understand
solutions, and seek interventions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And then of course there are all the other divisions in
society that also show up here; prejudice based on ethnicity (in Derry there is
a group they call Gypsies, or Traveler’s – apparently unrelated to the Roma
people – who are warily regarded), gender, sexual orientation, ability, age and
class. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And everything is intensified by the current economy. There
is 50% unemployment among Derry youth (~ages 14-25) today. It’s nearly
impossible to find a job, and even if you had the money, quite difficult to
even get a meal after 7 P.M. Many restaurants and businesses have closed down;
the pubs are always packed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most of the time it has felt like England may have won the
war to keep Northern Ireland, but Derry won the battle for this city. But last
night the sectarianism, recession, and divisions all seemed to collide. I left
the Metro bar at 2 A.M. (more cultural research) with a group from Derry and
Belfast to discover “Rovies” (Police land rovers) out in force, and officers
positioned on corners with machine guns crossed against their chests. In this -
the site of Bloody Sunday - police presence is always suspect, and the Derry
women were quick to point out that their presence simply incites distrust,
frustration, and anger. “It’s not good,” one woman explained, “there’s no
reason for them to be here, and the boys roll out of the bar and see this; they’re
just asking for problems.” Around the corner a church group was handing out
free coffee and tea, their attempt to deescalate tensions between those leaving
the pubs and the police. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I loved this week. I loved the people I met, the stories I
heard, the music I experienced (including the traditional along with the very
unique Derry clubbing experience), and the poetic/artistic/creative spirit that
is so alive in this place. And today, I feel a little heavyhearted about it
all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I took the train to Portrush, where I have met Jenae. It’s
beautiful here, and clearly loyalist territory...which feels a bit off coming out of Derry. Union Jacks fly from every
lamppost. Time for more pub research…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I83PCgFujtc/T-Xo9eVvrHI/AAAAAAAAAC0/Fjirqn6eOc0/s1600/jenae+and+amie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I83PCgFujtc/T-Xo9eVvrHI/AAAAAAAAAC0/Fjirqn6eOc0/s1600/jenae+and+amie.jpg" /></a></div>
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<o:p> Amie and Jenae in Portrush.</o:p></div>
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<o:p>Union Jacks.</o:p></div>Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588361196160607411.post-26418043974009981202012-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:002012-06-22T19:45:40.479-07:002:23 A.M. Thursday, June 222:23 A.M. Thursday, June 22<br />
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Today was the longest day of the year - and we packed a lot in. It was another day filled with theory and practice. We heard a case study on the transmission of violence in Sri Lanka, which experienced 30 years of war, and another on the impact of living inside the Northern Ireland conflict. We also had a fascinating presentation on the relationship between Memory, Trauma and Language...which got me thinking about all kinds of things that are too big to put on paper here. <span style="background-color: white;">I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of this course. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">About 1/3 of the students are from Ireland, and I will be meeting with many of them 1-on-1 in the coming weeks. The others are from all over the planet, and while I knew I would be here to learn from the Irish experience, it has been an unexpected gift to connect with amazing people doing peacebuilding work around the world. Katherine Hoomlong (a peace educator from Nigeria) and I became buddies the first day, and it has been incredible to learn about her life negotiating present day armed conflict (there was a suicide bomb in her town this week) while at the same time teaching college students in a peace and conflict studies program. </span><br />
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A fair amount of learning continues to happen outside of class as well (ok, at the pub) where I learn the less- academic version of what's happening in this part of the world. Barry and Jon, a Belfast boy and Englishman, respectively, have been especially instructive, and fun.<br />
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<br />Amie Thurberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10157341596117692549noreply@blogger.com0