How It Works
The Ulster Project is based on a simple idea of sharing experiences. Catholic and Protestant teenagers are hosted by American families of the same religion and with a teenager of the same age and gender. In this manner, friendships are created immediately to provide a safe and trusting atmosphere. The teens meet daily in structured activities designed to foster trust between the different cultures represented in the project.
The various projects across the U.S. have different specific methods they use to teach the peace-building tools to the Irish, but central to all projects is a program called "Discovery", "Time of Discovery" or "Adventure Sharing". This weekly meeting involves discussions of the troubles facing the teens in their homes, schools and churches, and helps to teach new ways around the prejudices and stereotypes that contribute to the violence often found in Northern Ireland. A Discovery team of counselors,teachers and other facilitators organizes the activities and ensures participation from all the teens, both American and Irish, in order to teach the message of prejudice-reduction.
These sessions are confidential, giving the teens the opportunity to speak honestly with their peers and approach what are often painful subjects for the teens, e.g., the Twelfth, the "marching season", the Orange Order and the IRA.
Read more about this topic: Ulster Project
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“The mind, in short, works on the data it receives very much as a sculptor works on his block of stone. In a sense the statue stood there from eternity. But there were a thousand different ones beside it, and the sculptor alone is to thank for having extricated this one from the rest.”
—William James (1842–1910)