11/04/2016
An enjoyable lunch with Sr Alice at her home. We joined by two other sisters from Incarnate Word Sr Rita and Sr Adriana and by Sr Finbar from the Presentation sisters. Alice, Rita and Finbar are lively 80+ year olds with Rita and Finbar coming from Ireland over fifty years ago. We had a great discussion about peace, justice, politics, religion and right relationships.
12/04/2016
Went to the Botanic Gardens to retake photographs that had disappeared after our last visit. Should be able to show these at the Ballycastle Gardening Club.
In the evening met up with Mary Lynn and AJ at the Casa Maria in St Mary’s University. Very much like the Tuesday teas we used to go to in the Presbyterian Centre (QUB) in the 70s.
13/04/2016
Went to dinner at the home of Teri Molden who will be accompanying St Mary’s students to Corrymeela in about four weeks time.
14/04/2016
Day packing both in the apartment and at St Philip’s College. Yvonne met up with Marie Thurston (85 years old) who wrote the story of St Philip’s and who wanted to sign the copy that we had been given. In the afternoon Yvonne went to a meeting of the international students at the College. This was a reminder of the Friendship Club in Belfast which the organisers of the group were very interested in hearing about.
15/06/2016 Friday – our last day
We went to our final staff meeting which was really a party. Lots of food. People kept on giving us presents. It was a very warm send off. Thank you St Philip’s College and, particularly, a big thanks to Andy Hill who set our visit and Scholarship in train way back in the autumn of 2014!
However we did not feel the anticlimax too much as we went off to the Community Garden close by the College which volunteers were getting ready for spring and summer planting. They installed four new raised beds and provided barbecue food with produced from the garden. This was followed by a late afternoon appointment with the SOS group in Robert E Lee High School. We helped them cover shoe boxes which the students (mainly 14-15 years) then filled with toiletries for the homeless. This was all part of a student run service project. Great job.
We finished off the day with dinner at the Cove Restaurant listening to music from a family band the Lavens. The father in the band is the Principal of AJ’s school. Great food and great music.
