From July 15-20th, seven LCC students participating in an INTERNATIONAL SEEDS peacebuilding project joined the NURTURING HOPE conference in Northern Ireland. Our LCC students in the yearlong project with Corrymeela Reconciliation Center are from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan & Lithuania.   Corrymeela is a peacebuilding partner of the Center for Dialogue and Conflict Transformation.  A Conflict transformation & peacebuilding LCC instructor, Giedre Norman shares her experience in joining the July trip our students were part of.

Corrymeela community at the very northern tip of Northern Ireland seems so close to Klaipeda on the map, but so far when it comes to traveling by buses, trains and connecting flights! Especially, when airline software malfunctions and green activist protests in European airports happen. Past all the challenges, it was exciting to finally reach the destination… only to be reminded at the end of the Nurturing Hope: A Learning Journey program, that peacebuilding really is a continuous journey, and that real Corrymeela begins when we all go back into our home communities.

We, about 80 participants, came from various backgrounds, and engaged in the translocal approach to peacebuilding: we heard the Northern Irish and South Korean stories of conflict and peace, pondered the similar and the dissimilar traits in them, and reflected on our own experiences: Ukraine, South Korea, Scottland, South Africa, Lithuania, Texas/USA, Middle East. We became more conscious of where we are coming from, and more able to transcend our own localities. We learned, connected, changed and developed a stronger hope for developing more peaceful relationships and structures. We left with questions that do not generalize the complex outside world, but place the “I” at the center of change. How do I begin to listen to you? How do I move beyond the first encounter?  How do I aid others while respecting their own timing of change? – these were some of the questions the diverse participants asked.

The role of Corrymeela continues to be significant in processing conflict experiences from all over the world and in seeking change. It offers a valuable neutral gathering space in stunning scenery, where people can rest from their familiar complex sociopolitical geographies, mimetic rivalries and limiting urban settings. Learning about the latter in the city of Belfast was a crucial part of learning.  30 years after the Peace Agreements, the walls and roads continue to boldly dissect the city into Republican and Loyalist sections, with few integrated spaces. The peace walls that I have been teaching in my classes appeared three-fold higher than anticipated. The heavy metal gates between communities open during the day but close for the night and remain closed during more tense events. Barbed wire sits at the top of a tall fence by a kindergarten. Illegal paramilitary flags fly in broad daylight on one street. The abundance of identity-claiming and polarizing flags and graffiti witness the story of not just the divided past – but the fragile present peace and a need for economic certainty (a week later, anti-migration riots occurred). Violent conflicts end, but their legacies may linger on in the physical city spaces and collective minds. Coming from Lithuania which has been breathing 30 years of independence and continuously working on de-sovietization, I do understand how social and mental change can be restricted by the enduring urban structures, contentious public space names and monuments, and conflicting collective narratives. Walks in Belfast made me think about the trap of group allegiance, mimetic rivalries, and the double-sided effects of collective memories. How do we remember holistically and truthfully, and integrate the painful past into a peaceful social order with the Other? 

How do I remember holistically and truthfully, and keep the gates open for different relationships?