Oh what a week it has been! The 8 of us moved in to our accommodations at Stranmillis College University on Sunday afternoon. We each have our own bathroom, shower and room! It is great. Monday met my supervisor James Knox at the city center which is about a 30 minute walk, and then we walked down to the AWARE office which all together is a 45 minute walk from where we are staying. The first day I met fellow co-workers, read, and caught up on what the organization is working on. They are having a depression awareness week towards the end of April which unfortunately I will not be able to go to for we will be doing our week trip to Dublin! :( But I will be there for the launch event the week before! Most of my time at Aware within the following weeks will consist of researching and writing 2 policy papers in regards to education and employment rights and opportunities for those struggling with depression. Then I will have the opportunity to meet some MLA's (Members of the Legislative Assembly) and talk to them about these issues!
On Wednesday the whole group (including those placed in Ballycastle and Derry) met up in Belfast. From there we traveled to an organization called WAVE trauma center. They work with victims and survivors of the troubles and a lot of individuals who work there have also been affected by the conflict in some way or another. We talked with a man who had his wife and father in law killed in the early 90's from a bombing. He has now dedicated his life to helping those heal. In the afternoon we traveled to Northern Ireland Alternatives where Abby is working. They are located in East Belfast which is predominantly a loyalist/protestant area but has many interfaces, or peace walls where a lot of conflict, and violence still exists today, especially with youth. We went on a walking tour and saw more of the loyalist murals, and then went to a community center to talk with someone who has been in jail for his membership and actions in the Ulster Volunteer Force.
Thursday and Friday I spent my time in Derry with Andrea who does training programs, and presentations for youth, adults, individuals suffering from depression, etc. We were at St. Columb's College which is an all male catholic school and the program was called "Mood Matters." I shadowed over the first couple sessions on Thursday and then on Friday I talked a little bit during her presentation. It was very interactive with 14 and 15 year olds. Got them to talk about the stigma associated with mental health, depression and suicide. It was fun to see some of the programing that aware does firsthand!
Friday night we discovered a restaurant called Boojum which is very similar to Chipotle. We then bounced around the Queen's University area, and went down to a place called Aunt Annie's. We didn't stay there for long cause we were heading over to the Parlour Bar. We talked with some students from Queens, and danced! Yesterday we went to the farmer's market in St. George's pavilion (or something). It was filled with a lot of kiosks of different types of food, arts, jewelry, clothing, it was great! Then Abby and I walked around by Victoria square and shopped around a little bit. By the time we got groceries and other necessities we were both pretty exhausted so we headed home! Last night was low key and we all went to bed early which was much needed. Tomorrow we'll be heading back to Derry for one of our weekly seminars with the rest of the group. Should be fun! :D
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