15 - 20 Jul 2024
Corrymeela Ballycastle

Nurturing Hope Learning Journey Update (July 15 – 20)

Seventy people gathered in Ballycastle to participate in the 2024 Learning Journey. They ranged in ages from 18 to 76, and traveled from 17 countries. Our numbers included: 

·        13 Corrymeela member volunteers, including the Nurturing Hope team

·        2023/2024 Seeds of Hope young adults

·        Students and faculty from colleges in San Antonio, Texas who are developing a local Nurturing Hope programme for their campuses and city

·        Rotary club members from The Hague and San Antonio

·        Members of Corrymeela’s International Seed Group who met face to face for the first time

·        South East Asia university partners from Korea and Japan

·        Academics from NI, Korea, Japan, The Netherlands, and the USA

·        US policy makers and funders

·        Former Corrymeela volunteers

·        Current Corrymeela volunteers and programme staff

Our intergenerational and trans–local group met each day to explore our stories and questions using Corrymeela’s Nurturing Hope framework. But it was not all work.  There was free time every afternoon, and a growing number of participants joined the “Wee Eejits” for the early morning sea swim. In the evenings we got to know  each other through the arts.  David Stewart and members of Simbe lead us in a singing workshop, where we found and raised our voices together. Mary Magennis was the host mistress for our Cèilidh where she had us dancing, and enjoying local talented musicians, dancers, a poet, and a well–known puppeteer! On another evening there were workshops in storytelling, drumming, and the visual arts. And of course, there was time to explore Ballycastle’s night life—and ice cream.  Woven into the week were times for silence, learning, reflecting, and building relationships that spanned age and distance. 

In the final reflection, one participant summed up the experience of the week:

“After a week here at Corrymeela, I am clearer that love is part of transformative relationships but must include forgiveness, constant reflective practice, and a hope that is not controlling or anxious.”

Many, many thanks to the community members, staff, and volunteers who attended, shared from their experiences, and helped to create a culture of welcome and hospitality for all.  They were essential to making this a truly trans–local learning opportunity by sharing their stories of Northern Ireland with the group.

Participation in the Learning Journey was supported financially by the San Antonio and Hague Rotary Clubs, the Luce Foundation, and Humanity United.

What’s next?  There is a Rene Girard Study Weekend 8–10 November. The 2025 Learning Journey from July 15 – 20, 2025. We would again like to invite participation by community members, so let us know if you are interested.  Preference is for people who can attend for the whole time. The introductory module of the Nurturing Hope materials are an open source resource and available to members upon request.

Background on terms: For those new to the term, a learning journey is a process and practice for exploration and discovery through immersive experiences designed to surface, test, and shift key assumptions.  It is about getting people out of their comfort zones and normal environments to re–perceive possibilities and trigger breakthrough insights at the personal, organisational, and societal levels. A learning journey maximizes “return on learning” by building in time to synthesize and harvest insights while they are still fresh. The process helps participants make sense of what they saw and heard through a shared framework that serves to link the insights and experience to the strategic issues participants are facing.

Trans–local learning between people in conflict–affected societies features mutual capacity building and solidarity for peace and reconciliation, which leads to self–determination and confidence in action.  With our fellow learners from other contexts, there is the security in our differences to share and learn without being scapegoated.