Social Justice, Civil Rights, Sustainability – Bellevue & Olympic Program April-May 2019
We gave a big fáilte to our old (and new) friends from Bellevue College and Olympic College, Washington State. These two colleges have collaborated before on a Civil Rights/Social Justice program incorporating modules on Sustainability and on Radio Journalism. Our friends Professor Tim Jones and Steve Scher brought the Bellevue students, and the awesome Dr. Karen Bolton led the Olympic students.
We travelled to Bundoran via Lough Crew Cairns, and stopped by the wonderful Nelly’s Kitchen for some ‘witches broth’, and caught sunset at the Fairy Bridges. We spent Easter Sunday at Cavan Burren Park with the wonderful in the company of the legendary Seamus, followed by jumping around at Donegal Adventure Center. We also visited Donegal Castle, St. Patrick’s Well, & Aodh Ruadh GAA club Ballyshannon. Obviously, being in Bundoran, we surfed (thanks Donegal Adventure Centre) and we went horseback riding at the beach (thanks Donegal Equestrian Centre)!
A new addition to our itinerary is Campview Farm, where we were able to visit lambs, sheep, and take the cows home. Many thanks also to Sr. Assumpta for introducing the students to the Bundoran Community Garden, and the fantastic environmentally friendly policies they enact. Our Yeats Country visit was enhanced by Dr.Bolton’s reading of ‘The Stolen Child’ at Glencar Waterfall. This Yeats Poem, set here in Glencar, is also inscribed on the sculpture of the Four Spirits in Birmingham Alabama.
We had a moving visit to the beautiful city of Derry, and did our usual tour around the Bogside, the ‘Peoples’ Gallery’ Murals and the Museum of Free Derry and the Guild Hall and the city walls. Everywhere we went we saw tributes to Lyra, and everyone we spoke to in Derry said the same thing- ‘not in our name’.
Students had an assignment to conduct interviews with people they met along the way. Click here to listen in!
We finished up our trip in Dublin, with a wonderful tour of Dublin Castle, and then it was time to say goodbye again after a very memorable experience. Thank you Tim, Karen, Steve and a bunch of fantastic people from Bellevue and Olympic.
