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Joyce

"What it Means to be a Witness"

This group personal observation report by Joyce, Kayla, Nicki, Leidy, and Sarah is about our personal experiences in Northern Ireland. We explored the question “What does it mean to be a witness?” The group used personal turning points to examine the question using our thoughts and our feelings to support our stories. By telling our personal stories we were able to gain some insight into ourselves and begin to question our role as a witness.

"Gender Roles in Northern Ireland" by Joyce, Alissa, and Kayla

Our group noticed murals and other evidence of what expectations of male and female roles are in Northern Ireland. This video shows the evidence and asks the question, What does it mean to be male, female or other here?

Lighting the Way

The second digital story created by Sarah, Robbie, Nicki, and Lisa addressed some general ideas about youth work across practices, cities, and countries. That the number one importance of a youth worker is to always stand as an open invitation for young people to be part of something safe and non-exclusive. Even though the issues that come along with the work can seem insurmountable at times, that no matter how big or small the steps you take as a youth worker, they are in fact in the right direction; the direction toward possibilities.

Relationships in Rhythm

This video diary was created by Sarah, Lisa, Robbie, and Nicki with a special focus on relationships. These human connections shape the way we live our everyday lives and the space we live them in.

Staying at Corrymeela the first week of our trip taught us the importance in the notion of elastic community; a space that people can be different together through the community principles of Equity, Diversity and Interdependence. These principles work to ensure that through our relationships the focus is shifted from the self, to the other. This shift in focus works to enable endless possibilities which, in the context of Northern Ireland includes a shared future of peace and reconciliation.

"Rituals of Space" by Alissa, Kayla and Joyce

Our group noticed the impact of space and rituals on adults and children. In the contest of Northern Ireland, it explains to a degree why children can't be friends with children from the opposing side. There needs to be mutual safe space for opposing groups to share in new rituals. This space can be the corridor or hall to crossing boundaries and creating friendships based in similarities.

Digital Stories

During our course, our small groups created various digital stories exploring various themes in our learning. We would like to share those stories with you all. In the next week, our group will be posting these stories.