Hey avid blog followers! We are both rising juniors at Duke University. While we are studying a wide range of subjects that vary from public policy to genomics, we share a DE placement at the Centre for Health and Wellbeing. CHWB is a community organization that aims to promote positive mental health throughout Belfast. Although the Centre uses various methods to deliver services to the community, the main area addressed is alternative therapies for victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland. In the last 5 years, CHWB has expanded and taken on a larger role by offering personal development classes to improve the quality of life of community members, while increasing health and wellbeing awareness. Our goal this summer is to help the centre manager, Kate Laverty, with day-to-day administration as well as customer satisfaction and policy research which will be presented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in July.
Going on our third week of work, we are starting to feel much more comfortable around the Centre and are getting into the swing of things. Kate has been a terrific boss and mentor so far, not only by utilizing our skills in the office, but also wanting us to experience Northern Ireland outside of work. This past Monday she took us on a day trip to Newcastle, a small beach town an hour outside Belfast. She knew the area well as her family used to vacation there so she took us to a local café for lunch and a sweets shop. Although the day was overcast, we walked on the rocky beach and admired the seaside town. On the drive back to Farset, Kate stopped at a butterfly house where we strolled about the garden. With a little extra time to spare in the “work” day, Kate offered us a quick tour of West Belfast. It was nice to gain a slightly more complete picture of where we call home for 2 months.
Travel has been a fun part of the experience for the group. This past weekend, we went to the Ulster American Folk Park, which is a living history museum that shows the way people emigrated from Ireland to the United States. We even got a little taste of home from the Bull Durham tobacco poster hanging in the American general store. We also visited Omagh, and see the memorial to 30 people killed in a bombing on their High Streeet in 1998. The memorial included a set of mirrors that would reflect light through a heart at the top of a pillar, which rests at the exact location of the car bomb’s detonation. It also had a reflective pool of water, and an impressive garden, with 30 trees to represent the victims.
On Friday of this week, we attended a quiz about the TV show Friends at a local bar. It was a charity event for a local glee club, and we even got to see some of the kids perform. They also brought in a dance group of younger kids, who did an impressive routine to James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing.” Then an older group danced to “Partition” by Beyonce. Although we only scored fourth (which just goes to show you how popular the sitcom Friends is here), we all had a wonderful time supporting a local group that will help many young people explore the arts.
Alex Bennett & Patricia Spears
Trinity ‘16