VIM BELFAST PEACE PROJECT 2016: Tuesday April 26: Helping in Skainos Kitchens, working at Forthspring, meeting with youth group

Today was a busy day for the VIM team. The morning started with Jack leading a discussion of the verse from John where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. His feeling was this represents serving others and we talked about how we are serving others and building relationships here in Northern Ireland. Billy picked us up and brought us to Skainos giving us a tour of some murals on the way. He took us to his neighborhood showing us where a militant mural was replaced with a wonderful mural dedicated to CS Lewis and another one with a poem written by the grandchildren of the leader of each side - they worked together, designing and implementing a mural of peace while others fought against it. The mural has been there for 3 or 4 years now.

At Skainos we worked with a group of homeless/close to homeless people from the area who come each week to a Basic Cooking Course and other activities. We each chose what group to work with. Some helped cook the lunch meal, some helped with a crochet class which changed into a project making God's Eye's led by Pat, and some helped with planting seeds for the garden. The small groups gave us an opportunity to really chat and enjoy the company of the participants of the group. We stopped in the middle for a cooking lesson for bread pudding which I plan on making for Fellowship when I get home. Very yummy! We lunched together on lamb stew and pudding. We closed out the visit by giving a prayer blanket to Billy who has been so wonderful picking us up, driving us around, and sharing with us during this week.

From there we went to Forthspring where the guys worked on moving a gate and the rest of us weeded the grounds. We stopped for tea with Sister Bridgette and Sister Jillian, who live next door to Forthspring through a garden gate on the Protestant side. Johnston Price then gave us a walking tour of the Falls Road and Shankilll communities with wonderful information and history of the area shared. 2 1/2 miles later, we arrived back at Forthspring and relaxed until we gathered for supper with staff of Forthspring, the youth, Jillian, Bridget and Ed Peterson from Clonard. Youth from Forthspring talked about what their time there has meant to them. Helen and Abby shared a slide show and talked about their experiences helping others. All did a wonderful job! Two boys then led us in a game with three teams competing on answering questions. A good time was had by all.

We closed out the night and came back to Farset for some cards and fellowship, looking forward to another active day tomorrow.

Prepared by Deb Aldrich