VIM BELFAST PEACE PROJECT 2016: Friday, April 29: Ratlin Island, Karen Eyban on Local Community Peace Efforts

We woke to beautiful sunshine at Corrymeela. After a breakfast of porridge, while looking out at the North Sea & Rathlin Island, off we went. The same taxi had to make 3 trips to get us all to the ferry for Rathlin Island. There we met up with Paul Quinn our tour guide for the trip. Jack & I spent most of the time on the ferry talking to one of the ferry workers. He, his wife, and 2 children left Zimbabwe and now live on the island. They wanted to raise their family away from all the violence that was there.

After docking in the island at Church Bay we took a small bus up to the West Light House & bird sanctuary. Very beautiful, very, very windy!!! Looking out at the North Sea you could see the the Isle of Isla, which is part of Scotland. Looking with binoculars at the cliffs below we saw Puffins, Chough, Guillemots & Ravens. After a delicious lunch at the Watershed Cafe, we stopped and shopped a little at the Breakwater Art Gallery and bought a few things. We then took a walking tour with Paul. The water in the bay was turqoiuse because of the lime stone floor of the bay. We saw Harbor Seals sunning themselves & playing in the water. Dinner was back at Corrymeela, followed by a meeting with Karin Eyben about her work in the community. At 10:00 tonight we will attend a service at the Croi.

I will close with a poem that Rod Aldridge wrote while looking at the seals in the harbor.

Submitted by Debbie Whitehead

Gray Seals at the Shore

The plump yet sleek seals
are in the nook of the harbor
balanced on rocks
whose tops
are below and above the swelling tide.
Their coats are in different shades
of dryness
with the most sunned now spotted.
Dark glass eyes
wetly peer at me with interest
tempered by deep contentment.
They nearly all curl
from raised muzzled heads
through low, balanced,
and many pregnant bodies
to elevated flat black-skinned tails.
Every body is arced
forming a bob of smiles.

By Rod Aldrich