Where in the world is Barb?

Hello friends and strangers!  I am living in Strabane, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. Strabane sits at the confluence of two rivers right on the border with the Republic of Ireland, equidistant between Derry/Londonderry and Omagh. This is my last semester of graduate school and I’m doing my final field placement here with a non-profit agency called the Koram Centre. The cast of characters are:    Barb  {Masters of Science in Social Work student on her final placement};   Jeff {Director at the Koram Centre, the supervisor whom I’m working immediately under};   Marina {Contracted Clinical Director of the Koram Centre, my clinical supervisor}; and    Mary Anne {Long-term volunteer at Corrymeela, my American social work supervisor} –    Yes, that means I am juggling three supervisors…!     Read about the work I’m doing.

graduation approaches

This will be my last week in Strabane. I am busy doing multiple self-evaluations and feedback forms, which are so tedious and

more sights from Belfast

So many pictures and stories and too little time… Here is a fingerfull from Belfast —>

A trip to the capitol, Belfast

I recently made a trip to Belfast to see the city and visit my classmate, Tej, who is doing his placement there with an organization called TIDES. I stayed with his host family during the visit, and they were great. On Friday we went to a rugby match — Ulster against Connaught. It was a great time, despite the fact that the first hour or more we stood in a constant downpour of rain and sleet and we got drenched to the bone. There we met a friend of Tej’s, who is a Belfast native. He explained what was happening in the game and taught us about the plays and strategies, in relation to it’s differences and similarities to American football.

the Central

The first gay bar to open outside any major city in Ireland just opened in Strabane two weeks ago. Certainly a sign of progress. This link will take you to a photo (from someone else’s flickr site) and a story from the Strabane Chronicle newspaper about the town’s reactions.

Click here to read the story and see the picture

new mammals

This past Tuesday morning I saw something magical –  I saw a lamb -of the Scottish Highland Blackface breed- being born. I was visiting a residential peace and reconciliation centre near the Antrim coast. The houses that make up the centre are set on a hill next to a multiple sheep pastures.

This is the time of year when the babies are born, but I was very fortunate to see a birth this morning, right in front of my window.

Today I saw (not poetry)

Today I saw the Foyle river open up into the inlet then the horizon disappeared.
Today I saw a bridge, and on it cars travelled into a cloud
I saw tiny lighthouses along the rivershore
field grass peaked in frosty white
the sun as a white disk in the sky on a haunted morn
a signet swan sitting in the bog
blue dew and then the sea!
from a train that made my pen jump everytime we hit the 12th rail.

gravity

I spent a couple hours talking with Jim McLaughlin this afternoon. Jim is the person managing the CPR (Consolidating Positive Relationships) Project, part of the European Union-funded Peace Initiative Programming. He works in an office next door, which is a building the Koram Centre is renting, but has intentions to buy and expand into. I always love the conversations with Jim. He is always teaching me another piece of little-known Irish history. He’s incredibly politically minded and aware. But, when he talks about this stuff, it’s not from a deep emotional place, like when Jeff talks about the subjects. 

Strabane-Lifford Women’s Centre

Today, I gave the introductory sessions for the courses I will teach/ facilitate at the Women’s Centre. I am teaching “Listening Ear” and Basic Counselling Skills, and it’s going to be challenging and enjoyable. These courses are really about personal development and don’t result in certification of any sort. Therefore, I don’t have to worry about not being a certified instructor (tutor – as they call all teachers here). These introductory sessions were simply to introduce myself, let the students know what is expected of them and what to expect. Patricia, the director at the Strabane & Lifford Women’s Centre, was worried because some of the students are coming with their own unresolved issues and she worried about those people in terms of confidentiality and inappropriate self-disclosure. 

nearby violence

Last night a Strabane boy was executed about five miles from here, right across the border. The car involved was found burned out near Derry, which is typical paramilitary M.O. It was a tragic and shocking thing to hear about, and people involved in the peace process are shaking their heads and feeling dismayed. The Real IRA are claiming no responsibility but there are those who keep trying to pull this country backwards toward conflict.