Our group arrived in Belfast day before yesterday (Saturday) and settled into out hostel. The city is quite dirty... mostly because the city council has much more important things to pay attention to and put their money into: conflict resolution. We attended a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning that was working towards a better relationship with near-by Catholic parishes. They prayed throughout their service for peace and talked of youth programs that invited both Catholic youth and protestant youth. I was so impressed by the steps this church was taking towards helping their youth grow into a new society: one without boundaries. Our group was fortunate enough in the afternoon to get a guided walk from a Presbyterian peace volunteer through some of they very segregated neighborhoods. A large portion of Belfast lives in areas where 90-100% of the residents around them are part of the same social political party. There may be virtually no killing anymore, but there is still very very deep roots of division. The man who lead our group actually went to college at UW in Seattle and he did the deputation program that UPC provided and ended up going to Northern Ireland... and now he's still here! He hosts about 8 young adults a year to work in childrens after-school programs and promote peace.
This afternoon our group will be splitting up into small group to work with after-school programs around Belfast. I will be leading an after school program for an hour and a half with my friends Jordan, Ashley, Elizabeth and Allison. It should be a great experience. We'll be playing lots of camp games I know and doing a couple skits, it should be a blast. I will definitely write more about the experience later.
This entire week we will be meeting important figures in Belfast who are working towards peace in the area, and this morning we will be meeting some members of city council, which should be very interesting.
More soon... miss you all, love, Giselle
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About Me
- Giselle Stone
- Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Giselle began pursuing painting and drawing during her undergraduate years at Whitworth University, in Spokane, WA. Will graduate from Whitworth in May 2010 with a B.A. in Studio Art- 2-D Painting. She plans to live in Alaska while pursuing her Masters in Art Education at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Giselle's work focuses on the female figure, both from live models and her own photography. Her work explores the beauty of the form (been more recently working with live nude models) and she enjoys exploring color and light with obvious brushstrokes, and subtractive methods (involving liquin and rags). In the future she would like to exhibit more of her work, create more large-scale portraits (working in the same series as "Clairen" and "Kelsey,") and refine her wheelworking skills. Note: I have recently been working more with conceptual photography, which evolved into my Senior Exhibition at Whitworth University. The project focused on today's "bride" and the wedding gown. Special thanks to Taylor Zajicek who photographed me for the wedding shoot.
2 comments:
Teva! What's the name of the guy you met in Belfast from UPC???
Also, are you going to go up to Londonderry??? That place is filled to the brim with history, too, so I thought you may end up there. (and if you go, go to Cafe Calm! That's where Chaco and I spent her birthday morning two years ago!)
I love you and love the way you write. I'm praying for your trip all the time.
<3
Leche
Hi there. Glad yuo're having an interesting time here! I'm a Presbyterian minister, and delighted to hear of one of our churches doing good stuff. Which one was it?
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