Storytelling as a means of Transformation

Derry/Londonderry - UK City of Culture 2013

From November 2012 to the start of the new yew year I took part in a training course for facilitating storytelling and positive encounter dialogue with Towards Understanding and Healing. The ethos behind this process promotes the restoration of dignity to victims and offers a process of diverse storytelling as a catalyst for forgiveness and transformation. The potentials have been realised for a number of those in Northern Ireland affected by the Troubles, where people whose paths had crossed in a negative way in the past had an opportunity to change the narrative for their future. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to take part.

One particular session that had great inspiration for me was the Beads Workshop, where we made a bracelet to signify our life story, where each bead carried significant elements of our lives, which we then shared in small groups. The power of creative tools to draw upon memories, in all of their positive and negative forms, and the value of feeling heard in empathy is great. There aren't many opportunities in this life to speak to reflect on what has been and to express that to others. There was something unique about the intimacy of discussion, where we all shared in one anther's stories and felt the ups and downs of others just as we would our own. Empathy and human relatedness was harnessed throughout these sessions in a way that made me a true believer in this process.

This weekend a friend from my training group and myself travelled to Derry to meet with Teya Sepunik the founder and artistic director of Theater of Witness and take part in a workshop to explore the meaning of sanctuary (http://www.tovatheaterofwitness.org/). The Theater of Witness in Northern Ireland has transformed stories of pain and loss into meaningful works of art, where those who were victims and/or perpetrators of terrible circumstances become actors who bring their own narratives to life on the stage for others to experience. Our discussion of sanctuary was focused on creating ideas for a new production underway for this Autumn by the same name. The potential for strangers to spend two hours together and engage in storytelling to create value and art from dire circumstances is proof that there is hope for transformation in Northern Ireland as in other parts of the world. 

This process of human interaction is very intense and because it is highly organised it can feel somewhat unnatural. However, in its core, storytelling is an organic act we all take part in each and everyday. Truly sharing, listening, valuing and empathising with oneself and others does not happen nearly enough in this world, but it's very clear to me that it can happen and when it does, the potentials are great.

Reconciliation Monument - Derry/Londonderry

Where War Ends

Today i was walking past New Lodge in North Belfast and I noticed an abrupt end in peaceline fencing between two houses. It made me wonder - who decided where the war ends?

‘If there is no hope – create some!’: The 15th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

Iconic image of Northern Ireland's peace

There have been a number of events and talks over the past weeks to mark the 15^th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

On 28 March (Good Friday by the Pascal calendar), President Obama released a statement:

As Easter approaches, we mark the 15^th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.  The people of Northern Ireland and their leaders have traveled a great distance over the past fifteen years.  Step by step, they have traded bullets for ballots, destruction and division for dialogue and institutions, and pointed the way toward a shared future for all.  There is urgent work still to be done – and there will be more tests to come.  There are still those few who prefer to look backward rather than forward – who prefer to inspire hate rather than hope.  The many who have brought Northern Ireland this far must keep rejecting their call.  From building cross-community trust to bringing opportunity to hard-to-reach communities in Belfast and beyond, every citizen and every political party needs to work together in service of true and lasting peace and prosperity.   And at every step of the way, the United States will be there as a friend and partner.  That is the message I will carry with me when I visit Northern Ireland and attend the G-8 Summit in June.  

On behalf of the American people, I salute the people and leaders of Northern Ireland and the model they have given to others struggling toward peace and reconciliation around the world.  I pledge our continued support for their efforts to build a strong society, a vibrant economy, and an enduring peace. - President Barack Obama

Trans-Atlantic Connections

As an American working with peacebuilding efforts in Northern Ireland, this message speaks to my core cultural understanding of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the hope it lends to other conflicts around the world. As a global citizen, I was even more inspired by the presentation delivered today at the University of Ulster rooted in the ethos of Daisaku Ikeda and Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist philosophy of peace-building which reaches across the globe and into the hearts of millions of individuals and peace practitioners. 

The seminar, ‘Building Peace Locally, Making Peace Globally,’ was comprised of messages from keynote speaker, Dr Olivier Urbain, Director of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research in Tokyo and respondent, Dr Duncan Morrow, from the Institute for Research in Social Sciences at the University of Ulster and former Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council for Northern Ireland. The event began with a message from Daisaku Ikeda himself who spoke of his memories of 9 April 1998 when he was sitting with South Africa’s Mbeki and discussing hopes that Northern Ireland would meet its deadline for developing a peace accord. In the end of his letter he gave his respect to the people of Northern Ireland for refusing to give up hope and he gave his support to the seminar marking this special occasion today. 

From SGI’s philosophy, Olivier explained the meaning of Soka, or value creation, which in conflict work is the effort to infuse value into a mindless act or period of violence. Art was a suggested method for transforming intense suffering into something of value. I have seen storytelling act as a tool for restoring dignity and creating value out of a situation of destruction, whereby victims and perpetrators alike can be strengthened through the process. Ikeda explained an example from the US where over one million students joined a campaign of victory over violence after the school shooting in Columbine. Similar experiences can be seen across the globe whereby light comes from darkness.

 

He described to us the transition from Individual Peace to World Peace – marking the journey from

·         Inner Transformation - courage, wisdom, compassion,  

·         Dialogue - making an effort to bring out the best in yourself and others, and

·         Global Citizenship – universal connections  and interdependence

This ethos of the peace within, rooted in Eastern spirituality, was a central principle to the World Peace Festival in Berlin I attended in 2011. The focus on meditation and self-reflection as a necessary component to peacebuilding is a compelling thought. One to which Duncan spoke directly when he identified the need for Northern Ireland to develop an ethical meaning for peace – one that surpasses the secession of violence and speaks to the need for compassion whereby people choose not to collect their pound of flesh, even though they can. He spoke of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as a ‘work of wisdom’ because of its ‘radical’ allowances for nationality and identity. He reminded us that the political leadership and citizens alike committed to finding democratic means for promoting change and working towards a shared future for Northern Ireland. Duncan suggested that while we celebrate a decade of centenaries for events where violence and division dominated the stage, it’s time now to celebrate the difficult choice Northern Ireland made for peace. 

I appreciated this discussion of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the introduction to Daisaku Ikeda’s inspiration in the world. Importantly, I was reminded of my dichotomous roles here in Northern Ireland as both an outsider and a global citizen. While Olivier explained himself as a citizen of Northern Ireland for this week because of his geography, Duncan identified both the difficulty for outsiders to appreciate Northern Ireland’s dilemma with choosing peace and the necessity for international values for peace and solidarity, as embodied by SGI, to enter the Northern Ireland discourse. It is between these two identities of outsider and global citizen that I find myself oscillating in understanding my role in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland. While my motivations for moving to Northern Ireland and much of my inspiration for seeking international comparisons and cross-community cooperation is driven by my sense of global citizenship, it’s important for me to acknowledge as well my role as a young American, who was 10 at the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and who has taken dialogue and human relatedness to be the norm, whereas in actuality peace is a choice individuals and society must  make.

'Peace can only be achieved by understanding.'

The question posed, ‘What would you like to see 10 April 2018?’ is an important consideration we all must make. The spiritual framework Daisaku Ikeda proposes hinges on a tenant that we must respect dignity for life for all people whereby we share in the joys and sorrows of one another, have faith in limitless possibilities, and defend and celebrate diversity. These are the tenants on which I have been raised and educated and I appreciate this opportunity to reflect upon their potentials for making value from the suffering of conflict, as in the case of Northern Ireland.  

In the words of Ikeda, ‘If there is no hope – create some’. Just as Northern Ireland has done this for the world in the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the following 15 years of peace-building, so too can each of us.

Mending the Divide

Today a piece of fencing from the peacewall beside our office was undergoing repair, a literal mending of the divide. Now that I've physically seen how Belfast's walls go up (or stay up in this case), I'm wondering more and more about how they come down.

My Immigration Story

Five years ago I visited Belfast for the first time and I fell in love. The history, the humour, and yes even the weather had a sharpness and character that inspired me. The next year I moved here for graduate studies at Queen's University and within a few months I fell in love again, this time with a local man. After graduation I was able to live and work here for two more years with a post-study work visa, affording me the opportunity to keep exploring every inch of the city while pursuing my career in conflict work, which has since consisted of a number of voluntary placements supported by flexible jobs in the service industry. Despite the long hours and at times challenging lifestyle, I feel certain when I'm old and grey I'll look back on these as some of the best years of my life – travelling around this beautiful island, enjoying the vibrant and dynamic cultural scene of Belfast, and building a family and home.


Today is the last day my visa to live in the UK is valid, so as this could be one of my last days in Belfast for some time I feel the need to reflect. My partner and I have been waiting for 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days for a decision on my application to remain in the UK. Every day I enter our home with eyes half closed feeling both anxious and excited to find a large envelop containing our passports, letters from family and friends, photographs and official documents used to prove our residency, employment and legitimacy of our 'durable relationship akin to marriage'. When mail that falsely fits the bill arrives we stand in the doorway, eyes locked while sharing the weight of the envelop in our shaky hands, only to then curse the random company who unknowingly interrupted our day. Intimate moments have become a treasure and a curse – made both preciously delicate and heartbreakingly tragic by the uncertainty of our fate. 

As an American citizen I am required to have a visa to live in Northern Ireland to study, work, volunteer and live for longer than a few months. In assessing our options we found limitations in the lack of necessity for my type of work, high financial requirements and confusion around newly imposed legislation changing the criterion for different visa types. Saving the specific difficulties and technicalities of this process for another time, I'd like to share a different thought today.

I have seen the pain forced emigration and deportation have on families and couples; I have sat beside asylum seekers waiting to find if their status has been accepted or rejected; I have watched close friends fight for their right to live as an equal member of society after a decade of living with unstable immigration status; and I have spoken with so called 'illegals' about their struggles to find new opportunities in a foreign place. I do not claim that these stories are mine any more than I claim that my own story is unique. I do, however, feel there is something shared in this human experience of immigration that can be and must be central to the debate on border legislation, which ultimately has great power over the course of people's lives and indeed over the course of my own life. 

Today just like many days I will wake up with my partner, volunteer in the day, work into the night, and then go out into this beautiful and buzzing city to celebrate my love and my life in Belfast. As for tomorrow... I'll have to get back to you on that.

East, East, East Belfast

Living in East Belfast for the past few years has meant living through the Titanic Centennary just as it has meant living through the Covenant Centenary; enjoying events of the first annual East Belfast Arts Festival and over two months of riots and protests over the removal of the union flag from City Hall; getting leaflets through the door to 'Smash Alliance' and 'Keep Immigrants Out'; alongside free magazines, community newspapers, charity appeals, and invitations to community functions. 

While many places have this broad range of potentiality, there is something particularly dichotomous about the nature of East Belfast.

The tensions that have erupted during the flag protests do not lie too deeply under the surface, but they do remain hidden enough for Belfast to be named the second safesty city in the world for tourists, the top 10 places to see in 2013 by National Georgraphic, and the home to MTV Music Awards, Cultural Olympiad events and a year long festival of Our Time Our Place.

The past two months of protests and riots have led to a great deal of embarassment, anger and confusion throughout the city, which is gradually returning to apathy as road closures are more rare and the general public's lives are less affected.  I myself grew somewhat immune to taking alternative routes, passing through crowds of young people standing around beside recently burnt out cars, and going to sleep to the hum of helicopters overhead.

I have noticed that while the protests are growing smaller and the bus journeys are becoming more regular, an important element of these protests have been under-considered, and that is the social environment that lay the backdrop for the scenes of protest the past many weeks. Waiting for the bus I noticed a new Union flag flying above a derelict building. On the wall there was grafitti 'child snatchers out' and a public announcement about domestic violence. Just as I was starting to lose sight of these important issues, somewhat hidden behind the bright colours of red, white and blue, the words of Kahlil Gibran's spoke wisdom.

''Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.'' - Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet

The society of Northern Ireland is only as secure and sustainable as its most contentious and deprived communities. As for the world, it is only as prepared for peace as its most conflicted regions. We are all inter-related and inter-connected and because of this we cannot stand by and ignore experiences of discontent as arising from a group of few, for in the few are the many and in essence the 'anti-social' elements of this society is a reflection on our society as a whole.

On the 40th Day of Protest

                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making an Olympic Truce

 

Olympic Rings at Belfast City Hall and Tower Bridge, London 2012

We're sitting here watching event after event on the dozens of free channels BBC added for the Olympics. Belfast has been abuzz since the torch passed through town nearly 2 months ago. On the odd sunny day the lawn in front of the City Hall is covered with spectators and sunbathers watching the games on the big screen. The games have been so exciting and it's particularly enjoyable to watch live in the right time-zone.

 

There have been a few larger scale events with spectacular light shows and fire works, such as the Land of Giant's at the Titanic slipways at the end of June, which featured acrobatics to tell stories from Belfast. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and added nicely to the series of free events taking place across Northern Ireland for 2012 'Our Time Our Place.'

What has been particularly interesting during the London 2012 Festival has been the dedication to the 'Olympic Truce,' a tradition revived from ancient Greece by the International Olympic Committee in 1992 and ratified by the UN in 1993. The integral spirit of friendship and peace during Olympic times has been actualised this year in a number of projects, a few of which I was able to take part in. 

On 21 July at Trafalger Square a series of musicians from Europe played a concert as part of the BT River of Music. Amira from Sarajevo and the 10 man band of musicians from different countries across the Balkans called REKA reflected this idea of the Olympic Truce through the musical mixing of individual musicians and styles from different parts of a deeply divided region. Amira spoke herself about the importance of this band, but it wasn’t until they started to play that I was able to understand how truly beautiful a moment it was. 

 

It was the second time REKA had played together, and it was an absolute delight to experience. The songs were extremely emotive love ballads ranging from joyous wedding tunes to lamentations of loss. It was the universality of these emotions that brought their styles and traditions together across the region and indeed among all those listening to the concert from different parts of the world. It was a concert of transcendence, beyond language and beyond conflict.

On a similar trend, back in Belfast an art installation called 'Ambulatorio' opened at a contentious interface barrier in North Belfast. Colombian artist, Oscar Muñoz, internationalised a local issue of segregation and division by designing a piece of work to highlight 'the commonality of loss and remembrance.' This art piece is part of the larger 'Drawing Down the Walls' project where community groups and artists work together to 'imagine a city without barriers.' 

The exhibit was made up of a jumbled aerial view of North Belfast, laid out under cracked glass and another strong layer of glass for visitors to walk over. This location just off the Crumlin Road was an area which experienced high levels of violence in the 70s and 80s beside the Flax Street Mills, which led to the construction of secured gates and high fences in 1994. 

For over 3 weeks these gates were opened each day for 4 hours to allow residents and visitors to walk through the exhibit. This piece of art transformed a buffer zone of wasted space into a safe and shared cultural space, which connected the experiences from Belfast to other conflicts around the world including the drug-related violence of Colombia that inspired Muñoz's first ever 'Ambulatorio' exhibit. People travelled from different parts of the city to experience this piece of art, drawing attention to the reality of interface division in Belfast for many people who have turned a blind eye to the legacy of segregation in Belfast and to others who are very familiar with interfaces across the city and who are happy to see one more positive story receiving international attention.

The concert at Trafalger Square and the 'Ambulatorio' art exhibit were great successes in the name of the Olympic Truce in that they made real efforts to bring people together in peaceful and constructive ways. In addition to the great competitions, the cultural events, and the general excitement of the 2012 Olympic Games, these special events are a testament to the ongoing efforts to promote change and internationalise important issues of conflict.

 

Keep 'er lit

'Architectural Feat'

Just back in from watching the bonfires burning brightly across the city from a high look out point in East Belfast. When we first arrived the sky was a beautiful blue and pink colour. The first thing we noticed were the fireworks, which seemed to be coming from South Belfast. This year we arrived in the perfect time to watch the bonfires light, one after the other, glowing as far as the eye could see, with. huge cheers of 'YEOOOO' with each new flame. The fires lit one by one until the light blue of the sky was blacked out by smoke and smog.The sky smelled so wonderful, as comforting as a fresh fire in the chimney on a crisp wintry day. 

Some of the other spectators were very impressed by the structural engineering and colour coordinated design of the pallets, ohhing and ahhing that 'tha people tha built this shud be architects!' I'm not sure I'm as dedicated a believer, but  the atmosphere was intoxicating in a way.


I was so excited each time a new bonfire was lit that I almost forgot what was burning and why.

In tradition the bonfires were lit to help guide the Williamite troops into battle. A battle which in today's memory was fought between the Catholics under King James II and the Protestants under King William III, or more endearingly, King Billy. The 12th is the celebration of the Protestant victory. Oftentimes bonfires are placed in contentious areas as a marking of territory and an affirmation of Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist (PUL) presence.

Just as the historical details of these battles have become simplified and re-created to support the important stories and myths perpetuated by both communities, it is very possible to transform the significance of a holiday or memory. While many bonfires are exclusive and can be somewhat intimidating, there are cross-community bonfires where they play Irish music side by side with the familiar flute tunes and all are welcome.

 It's very easy for me to imagine a time when these celebrations will be for everyone. Each event that becomes less politically charged and passes by with less difficulty is a small victory for all people of Northern Ireland.

As we drove back we passed some of the fires, still burning brightly, I couldn't help but think to myself that over time this idea of 'Orangefest' may actual be possible...

View of bonfires burning across East Belfast, 11 July 2012 close to midnight

Happy Orangefest

The bonfires are all neatly stacked and now it's just a waiting game for the sun to go down!

Olympic Rings adorning City Hall and the Orangefest Banner 'Open for shopping and celebration'! 2012 NI Our Time Our Place. 10 July 2012.

 'Sectarianism It hasn't gone away' electoral posters ready to burn on the Cluan Place bonfire in East Belfast. 11 July 2012.

 Titanic Yardmen and the Pitt Park bonfire, Lower Newtownards Road. 5 July 2012.