Our first correspondent today is Andrew Damm:
“Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today around noon our group left Queen’s Elms and took cabs to the Avoniel Leisure Centre in the Lower Castlereagh community. The Loyalist community in the Lower Castlereagh area of Belfast wants is making an effort to transform the celebration of the 12th of July into a more community-centered, positive event. When we arrived at the festival it had many of the features of a typical American 4th of July celebration. They had a food trailer serving free burgers and chips (steak fries); which most of us had for lunch. We noticed when we arrived that they had a lot of different inflatable rides, or “Bouncy Castles,” for the kids to play on. They had one that rolled you down a hill in a big hamster ball. They also had one where you attached a bungee cord to yourself and raced a partner for a flag on the opposite end. Another popular one was where you stood on a small unbalanced platform and threw a punching bag hanging on a string at each other to make your opponents fall off. Bethie was happy to discover that they even had a Harry Potter inflatable to celebrate the upcoming movie release. There were even celebrities from video games walking around Mario from Nintendo and SpongeBob SquarePants costumes. Later Stephen Sigmier got to dress up as Mario and Kevin Gibbons got to dress up in the SpongeBob outfit and they passed out candy to all the little kids. They even got a couple hugs from the thankful little ones.
We were asked to put together an American food booth. Ms. Madden and Mr. Bizga had gone on a shopping adventure to get us the supplies and bought out the scarce amount of marshmallows available in Northern Ireland. We students were given the task of preparing chocolate chip cookies and Rice Krispies treats and we did slave the previous night making them. I walked around with Laurie offering home-made American chocolate chip cookies to the people at the festival. Some people took them trying to be polite and gladly discovered how tasty the cookies truly were. Yet, I received some uncertain “No thank-yous” from people, who eyed the cookies oddly. We also had chocolate chip Rice Krispies treats, which went over well with the people.
After passing out treats and passing out candy masquerading as video game characters, we all went on the many different inflatable rides with the neighborhood kids. We got some great camera shots of people diving through the air and being pulled back by the bungee cord while trying to get the flag on the racing inflatable. Some of the group then took turns battling it out with the punching bag. Overall it was a fun experience for all. The festival could have been anywhere else in the world and you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong, except for the bonfire that towered over the whole scene.
After a few hours at the festival Sam, a Loyalist and ex-U.D.A. prisoner, offered to take us around in a van and show us a few other local bonfires in East Belfast. Most of us accepted the offer and piled into the van with Mr. Bradesca. Sam first took us to the biggest bonfire in Northern Ireland. It looked like a sky-scraper it was so enormous. This one only had Ulster flags and the Union Jack. There appeared to be no signs of hate except for the pile of wood itself and its enormous size. I felt out of place at this bonfire, but not hated. We drove to another one in a nearby neighborhood. It was nowhere near as big, but it was still pretty intimidating, for another reason. It was made of pallets and rubber tires. On it were cardboard signs that read: KAT (Kill all Taigs) and FTIRA (F the IRA). Taigs is a derogatory name for Catholics. They had defaced posters of Sinn Féin politicians on the bonfire along with the tri-color flag of the Republic of Ireland. They had effigies of nationalist politicians they disliked as well. One of the locals who saw us taking pictures came to us smiling to talk about the bonfire. It was obvious he was very proud of it. They even had a kid’s bonfire which had an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI on top. This made me feel horrible, because they are teaching the kids to hate something without even exposing them to the good in it. All of us left feeling a little scared and a little sick inside. Sam dropped us off at Queen’s Elms and we went about doing our own tasks.
In the evening you could see plumes of smoke rising in the evening sky and smell the wood being burned. The whole experience felt very eerie and disturbing. It seems that every day I observe and experience more of the conflict and issues here, I become more lost as I look for the truth. We have truly discovered a world that many of us never knew existed. We have all been blessed to have this opportunity and to have God keeping us safe during our stay here in Belfast. God Bless.
Our other correspondent today is Justin Hamlin:
Maya Angelou said, “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” I chose this quote by Maya Angelou because I think it relates well to what we did today. We took part in a cultural festival for Catholics and Protestants that tries to promote friendship between the two sides.
Today we took part in a cultural festival hosted by Loyalists in East Belfast. As many other days have been this week, today was a very relaxed morning. Wake up time was not until eleven o’clock because we had quite a late night. Last night we baked American sweets for the festival today. In one kitchen people made Rice Krispies treats, while in the kitchen I was in we made chocolate chip cookies. Stephen, Laurie, Brenna, Clark, Brian, and I baked from around eleven o’clock until one in the morning. We feared we would have to redo the cookies this morning, but they turned out just fine. I enjoyed getting to spend some time with people I have not talked to very much during this trip. We used great teamwork to make some great cookies that we passed out to people today.
After breakfast we headed to Avoniel Leisure Center for the festival. The Loyalist organizer of the event, Sam White, invited us to help try to promote peace and friendship among the people of the two sides. Our Irish Studies group had its own table to set out the sweets on. After we set down the food, everyone ran over to get free cheeseburgers and chips out of a portable cooking trailer. The cheeseburger and chips were some of the tastiest things I have ever eaten. The festival consisted of a huge bonfire made of pallets, and several blow-up play activities for children. We thought there were going to be more activities and food stands, but besides the burger stand and our American-made deserts, there was nothing else! Some of the local youths were dressed up in costumes and were handing out candy to the little children. When they saw this, Stephen and Kevin volunteered to dress up as Mario and Sponge Bob SquarePants for the children and pass out candy. After walking around for a bit our entire group came to a blow up arena that had a giant pendulum in the middle and four stools that people stood on. The point of the game was to knock the other people off their stools with the pendulum and win. Later we also played a game where you were strapped to a wall by a Velcro belt and a cable. The objective of the game was to outrace your opponent and grab the disk ten yards ahead. I really enjoyed the festival today, but I could not get over my uncomfortable feeling of being in a heavily Loyalist neighborhood.
As we drove home I saw bonfires with signs that read “Kill all Catholics” and pictures of Catholic political leaders were hanging on the wood piles waiting to be burned. This made me feel uneasy. Most of the group went with Sam and saw some fires being built, but Stephen, Kevin, and I went back to Queens with most of the teachers.
Mr. Bizga took the three of us on a secret adventure to Milltown Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery, which is a place that this year’s group, besides us three, did not get a chance to visit. Milltown Cemetery is located on the West side of Belfast, and it is where some very prominent Catholic figures are buried. While walking through the gigantic cemetery we came upon the memorial for those who lost their lives fighting for Irish independence. At the memorial I saw the grave of Bobby Sands and other people who died during the hunger strikes. Raymond Lennon pointed out that the spot we were in was where Michael Stone threw grenades at people during one of the funeral services for these men. His actions killed three civilians. Stone devised the idea for the Milltown attack after an IRA bomb killed eleven people attending a Remembrance Sunday service in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in 1987.
On the way back to Queens we rode with Raymond through Loyalist districts. We had to stop by Raymond’s house to get something and on the way we passed several bonfires. We saw smoke rising from the fires in the distance. Northern Ireland is a place where sectarianism is visibly present as you drive through the city. Today was an uncomfortable day for me because I am a Catholic and we were among Loyalists, some of which are very anti-Catholic.
However, today’s festival was evidence that people like Sam White are trying to emphasize to people of both sides that we all cry, laugh, eat, worry, and do many of the same things. Having hatred towards people who are actually just like you is no way to live. Peace should prevail in Northern Ireland, and it is well on its way. We are very safe where we are staying at Queens. We are far away from the bonfires and the sectarianism.
Miss my family and Johnny,
Justin Hamlin
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