This trip to Northern Ireland was an experiment. We set out to see if it was possible to line up and gather a series of stories that could get at the heart of how that place has navigated their history of sectarian violence. How they have moved toward healing. And the work that is left to do.

I was traveling with our three summer interns from Willamette University and on our first night we all shared some hopes and curiosities. When it was my turn I said, “If we accomplish half of what we’ve set out to do, I’ll consider this a success.”

Well. We did more.

In fact, I’m a little astounded by what we accomplished (and we are all a little bedraggled because of it.)

After almost three weeks in Northern Ireland, we’re returning home with 30 interviews. Artists, authors, politicians, activists, journalists. We interviewed people who actively negotiated the Good Friday Agreements that officially ended the Troubles. We talked with people who spent time in prison because of their activities with paramilitaries. We met two women who lived on opposite sides of the peace walls for decades and had only recently met and became friends despite their differences. We talked with recent immigrants, about the anti-immigrant riots in the country that you may have seen in the news. We interviewed leaders who started the first integrated schools in Northern Ireland where both Catholic and Protestant children could be educated together (still more than 90% of schools there are segregated by faith.)

We partnered with organizations and community groups that are doing the hard work of bringing people together. Of healing old (and not so old) wounds. People who are committed to staying at the table to find a path forward, because they have seen the alternative and they refuse to go back to it.

We led several days of studio sessions in small villages and in the divided neighborhoods of Belfast. We asked, “What gives you hope?” and “When have you bridged a divide?” Dozens of people participated.

And we led programming. I shared the stage at Queens University with professors Dominic Bryan and Maria-Adriana Deiana and TEDx Black Mountain organizer Jason Lear for a conversation about identity, conflict transformation, and change. I presented to a cross-cultural women’s group in borderland towns. And I spoke at Black Mountain Shared Space in Belfast, a community center that recently opened to bring people together on the site of a former peace wall that was built to keep people apart.

All of it was possible, because we took the time to build relationships, make connections, and find the right partners. It’s just not possible to come into a place from the outside and know who to talk to. The right questions to ask. The subtleties of the situation on the ground. 

Part of this experiment was figuring out if the process could work. Do the research. Make introductions via Zoom and email. Spend scouting time in the country to make face-to-face connections. And finally return for three weeks to actually do the work.

It worked. I’m pretty sure it’s repeatable. 

I knew that we would return home with a collection of powerful stories. Stories we could learn from. But in the States, there’s another reason we do this work. It’s maybe what’s most beautiful. The opportunity to also leave something behind. By partnering with local community groups trying to move the needle toward peace, we help them tell their story. We help amplify their voices. And we help build their capacity. I’ve seen it work in the States and I hoped it would translate across the ocean. And I can see it did, because already, we’ve been invited back.

I’m just starting to wrap my head around that.

It’s going to take a while to sort through this edit. We filled up a few terabyte hard drives along the way. Summer is full, so it might be this fall before we really start sharing out the podcast interviews. But it will be worth the wait (have I mentioned that waiting is not my gift?)

This was a first step and I’m encouraged. There’s interesting work ahead. And hope. I’ve seen hope in difficult places and it’s worth chasing.