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Ulster Project
"Irish, Local Teens Ready for Meeting: Ulster Project Offers Peek at Other Cultures," Arlington Morning News, June 27, 1999, A1.
By WILL POTTER
Nearly 5,000 miles.
That's how far 16 Irish teens will travel to visit their American counterparts Monday.
Right now, it's difficult for the Irish and American teens to imagine the differences that distance creates.
But after they spend the next month of their life working, worshipping and socializing together, they will have a better understanding of their different lifestyles and cultures.
The teens are participants in the Ulster Project, a 25-year-old program that brings Protestant and Catholic teens from war-torn Northern Ireland to live with host families in the United States.
The teens will meet at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Monday evening.
At a meeting last week to discuss the coming adventure, the Arlington teens unanimously declared they are excited to meet their Irish friends.
"I'm excited because I get to hang out with someone from the other side of the world," said Miranda Davies, 15. "I've never had a sister before. I don't know what to expect, but I'm keeping an open mind."
A little nervous, Ben Thompson, 15, said he is counting the days until his future "brother" arrives.
"I can't wait until he gets here," he said. "Right now, my parents are using this as an excuse to make me do work around the house like paint the bathroom."
Although they have been communicating through letters and phone calls over the past month, the teens revealed they are still anxious Monday. Their main concern is understanding their new friends.
Dale Vaughn, 14, has e-mailed his future Irish brother, he said, because he had difficulty understanding his accent.
"I talked to him on the phone a little and couldn't understand him at all," Dale said. "It was just one stream of words that I couldn't understand. That makes me a little nervous."
The teens have already discovered subtle differences, such as school curricula and dress codes.
"I know we're different," said Danielle Landry, 15. "What if she things I'm weird? What if we have awkward silences? We'll be together constantly. What if she doesn't like me? I'm nervous but I can't wait."
From Monday through July, host families in all 25 national Ulster Project chapters will meet the Irish teens assigned to them. The Arlington chapter, now in its sixth year, is the only Texas chapter in the project.
The Northern Irish teens were selected for the program by their churches and schools because they show potential leadership ability.
"These teens are old enough to know what's going on, but not too old to be set in their ways," said R.J. Bessenhoffer, vice president of media relations for the Arlington group.
While in Arlington, away from the social pressures of home, the Northern Irish teens learn to separate a person from their religious beliefs, he said.
"These kids are literally from two different sides of the street," Mr. Bessenhoffer said. "But when they get here, they see nobody cares what religion they are. They're in awe of that."
After a summer in the States, the teens develop an altered perspective on the "troubles," in Northern Ireland, he said. When they return home, they use that knowledge in their everyday life.
"Sixteen teens may not change the world," Mr. Bessenhoffer said, "but they can influence others."
The success of the Ulster Project can be measured by the fact that no teens participating in the Ulster Project have later joined paramilitary groups, he said. Instead, they have become mayors, lawyers and even police officers, which he said is uncommon in Northern Ireland.
The Irish teens mature and change over the course of the trip, but they aren't the only ones who benefit.
Ronnie Craven's son participated in the Ulster Project last summer.
Being a host parents hooked her on the program, Mrs. Craven said, so she decided to become a counselor this year.
"It was the best thing we ever did, as a family, as parents and as individuals," she said. "I feel kind of guilty, though. We may have gotten more out of it than we put into it."
The teens will spend nearly every waking hour of the next month with each other.
By the end of the month, the Arlington teens will change too, Mr. Bessenhoffer said.
With almost 5,000 miles between them, many Arlington teens don't know much about the conflicts in Northern Ireland, but the Ulster Project changes that.
"This will be a time for discovery," Mr. Bessenhoffer said.
