United by Diversity, Not Divided by Faith

By Nick Michalski

The Ulster Project Greater Milwaukee was born in 1980 when a group of volunteers from the Milwaukee area invited a contingent of Northern Irish teenagers to visit in the summer. That first year was such a rousing success that the program never looked back. It’s now a bridge towards intercultural understanding and empathy in 28 American cities. Named after a region in the northeast of Ireland, including much of Northern Ireland, the Ulster Project is a four-week visit of Northern Irish teens to private homes in the United States. The Project is organized and executed by members of both Protestant and Catholic churches. 

The Ulster Project facilitates peaceful communication and education across the divide of being identified as "Catholic" or "Protestant." Patrick Minster, 44, became involved in the Ulster Project in 1980, before the first group of young people arrived in Milwaukee. He answered an ad in the paper from a group looking for someone to work with teens from Northern Ireland. At the time, he thought it sounded interesting and would be fun for the summer. His life has never been the same.

Minster, who works as a radiological technologist (X-ray tech), became a counselor for the Ulster Project, and spent several summers working with kids from Belfast and Milwaukee. Quickly receiving a more in-depth education about the conflict in Northern Ireland, he led group discussions about "the differences and similarities in people, religions and races," he said. 

Minster canoed with the teens and took them to the Great America theme park. They participated in trust-building exercises and community service projects. The first groups of teenagers he worked with were from some of the worst areas of Belfast, relating openly their stories of everyday horrors in their native land. The brother of one Ulster Project participant Minster worked with was killed while he was visiting Milwaukee through the Project. While Minster’s experiences with the Project began on a whim, he quickly found personal connections to the conflict and came to know many people who had to endure the violence on a daily basis.

According to Minster, those first few years were "one of the most rewarding times of my life." It was true; he would soon meet his future wife, Bridget, who was a host teen in 1982. They met through the Project and became good friends, and as Minster said, "The rest is history." They’ve gone on to have five children: Nora, 15, Meagan, 14, Sean, 12, Molly, 11, and Rosie, 9. Both Patrick and Bridget come from Irish backgrounds and each has an interest in contributing to a lasting peace in Ireland. 

The Minsters have a desire to see a brighter future for Ireland and its people. The couple has been Irish dancers for over 20 years, and all of their children dance with the Glencastle Irish Dancers. Bridget Minster, 39, works in the office of the Irish dance school. Patrick’s grandfather, Pat Meylor, helped found the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin in 1960, a club in which both Patrick and Bridget are members. The Minsters, who live in Menomonee Falls, have passed down their own involvement in facilitating change and healing between Catholics and Protestants to their children.

Their daughter, Nora, was a host teen in 2004 to Rachel Bergin of Belfast. Nora was the first second-generation Project teen in Milwaukee, being the daughter of a former host teen. That experience was a bit of a change for Patrick and Bridget, who had been primarily involved with logistical concerns in the past, but then found themselves in the "different but equally important" role of host family. 

As Patrick put it, they are now "the support staff." According to Nora Minster, the Project was an "amazing experience." She found her peers very willing to disclose their view points and experiences, and related that trust-building exercises like going on a ropes course were very rewarding. Her Ulster Project summer was very memorable, she said, particularly because "everyone was so supportive and open to new ideas."

Ulster Project participants are selected by clergy and teachers in Northern Ireland, who consider 14-to-16-year-old young people whom they feel would benefit from the experience of staying in an American city for a month and learning about how differences are tolerated and sometimes celebrated in the United States. An equal number of girls and boys are selected, an equal number Protestants and Catholics. 

The teens are matched to American host teens with similar interests. In addition, the Project maintains that the Northern Irish teens will be matched with American counterparts with the same religious denominations. They then spend the month of July in American homes.

"We pick up, drop off, feed and care for a child who is to become another member of our family," said Minster. He explained that over the years, the family has accepted many visitors who’ve stayed with them. The kids of the family think it’s normal to have friends or friends of friends come by and stay for a week. The hospitable receptions that these kids receive from the Minsters are nothing out of the ordinary for this family. 

"Our concern at the beginning was not how Rachel would be accepted into the family, but would she be overwhelmed by our five kids," Minster said. Apparently it was nothing to worry about, since Rachel began "trading jabs and jibes" and "slipped seamlessly into the fray." It was just one more child in an already large family. Nevertheless, Minster related how great an impact Rachel had on the family. "It’s amazing how attached you can become to someone in just four short weeks," he said. 

For a host family, much of the summer belongs to Ulster Project activities. For Patrick and Bridget, longtime Project collaborators, these activities are a vital part of the Project. Planned summer activities are designed to bring Catholics and Protestants together through common participation in learning experiences. According to Minster, the visiting Rachel had no problem adjusting to activities involving both Catholics and Protestants. She is involved with religious groups of both faiths back home in Belfast. 

The host Minsters might not have had much "quality" family time aside from Project activities during the summer of 2004, what with shopping at outlet malls, hiking at Devil’s Lake State Park, Fourth of July fireworks and parades and hanging out at home, but when it was time for Rachel to leave, they all found it very difficult to say "goodbye."

"She was a daughter to us, a sister to all of the children and we all cried to see her leave," Minster said. The family has stayed in touch with its young friend through phone and e-mail contact since she left Milwaukee.

As evidenced by the Minsters’ experiences with the Ulster Project, the bonds forged with the visiting teens never quite break apart. Bridget Minster was a host teen to Mary O’Rawe in 1982, and has since strengthened that relationship. O’Rawe is the godmother of young Nora, and since her time in Milwaukee as a teen, she has returned many times and stayed with the Minsters. 

O’Rawe has brought along friends, her husband, and eventually, her children as well. The Minsters have also been hosts for O’Rawe’s brother and his wife. In addition, the Minsters take the show on the road occasionally, spending many holidays with friends in Ireland. They just returned recently from a trip to Ireland, which was the first trip to the Emerald Isle for their three youngest children. Daughters Nora and Meagan had visited in 1997 for Mary O’Rawe’s wedding. 

On the 2005 trip, the family visited Mary, who now lives in Dublin, went sightseeing around the country and, of course, visited Belfast. In Belfast, Rachel Bergin’s family became the hosts for the Minsters. "Her family in Belfast is very much like our own," Minster said, relating that it was no surprise how easily Rachel assimilated herself into the family’s home in Milwaukee. 

While in Belfast, the Minsters were able to meet most of the teens who will be involved in the 2005 Ulster Project, as well as their parents. They did their best to answer questions and settle concerns and fears about the forthcoming trips to America their kids will take. "I think it takes a lot of faith and courage to send your child to strangers 3,000 miles away," Minster said. Along with other reconciliation and peace efforts inside of Northern Ireland, the Ulster Project is a part of the ongoing peace process. 

A small step, often with intangible benefits, but one hoped to bring about a new generation of young people with experiences of friendship and communication across the old barriers. The Ulster Project now has a common mission statement adopted by all Project groups and holds national conferences every other year to discuss ideas and experiences. 

But the activities during the summer, aided by the host families, are perhaps the greatest agents of change and education. The activities give Northern Irish and American teens the chance to get to know each other, and a chance to find similarities in between different faiths, a forum not always possible in other circumstances. Prejudices and stereotypes are discussed, and the teens are given opportunities to speak their minds about these and other issues, according to the Project’s promotional materials.

The Northern Irish teen and the host family also agree to attend Sunday services at both Protestant and Catholic churches, along with other prayer services. Through experiencing and observing services on both sides of the ancient divide, the teens are expected to gain an understanding of differing faiths, and also how much the two groups share in the Christian faith. 

For the Minsters, the Project is not about helping someone else’s child. They consider the teens to be an extension of their own family. Speaking of Rachel Bergin, Minster said that "she is our daughter who just happens to live in Belfast." Daughter Meagan will be a host teen in 2005 and, while in Ireland, the family met the young people Meagan will be hanging out with for the summer.

For Minster, the Ulster Project is an experience that will "change the lives of the children and families from both countries." The Project’s long-term goals are ones that can’t often be seen by the naked eye; they take shape over the course of years or decades. Ideally, the experience fosters better communication on both sides of the Atlantic, both within Protestant and Catholic communities and in between them. 

Subsequently, reconciling old hatreds and misunderstandings through the process of getting to know the other side on an individual level produces subtle yet forceful effects. Hopefully, both Protestants and Catholics involved in the Project realize that they are really not that far apart in terms of common human experiences. The Ulster Project provides the opportunity to learn from one another and to better facilitate a future where each side is more understanding of life in the other’s shoes. 

Each teen who participates strengthens the numbers of those who have experienced the other side of the divide and can discount some of the old stereotypes and walls that have been put up between them. While recognizing their differences, they can better appreciate their common ground. Hundreds of Northern Irish teens have participated in the Ulster Project over the years, and it shows no signs of slowing down. However, since it is a wholly volunteer-run program, the Project relies on donations and grants from individuals and organizations to stay afloat and pay for expenses. 

One thing clearly seen due to the Project’s impact is that a meeting place constitutes a new horizon, the United States, which is home to both Protestants and Catholics and can illustrate the potential for the two groups to live in lasting peace. "It is quietly making changes that can bring peace and tolerance to a corner of the world that has known violence for centuries. To be a part of this process is a wonderful thing," Patrick Minster said. 

It is indeed.
 
 

More information can be found at www.ulsterproject.org or in Wisconsin, contact: Ulster Project Greater Milwaukee, P.O. Box 716, Elm Grove, WI 53122.