Portsmouth Rotary - Tiarna

One afternoon we attended Portsmouth Rotary meeting for lunch. The rotary is a club of people who fund different programmes and volunteer in their community. The people of the rotary were so welcoming and seemed to be very interested in our lives. 

Samantha and I paired up to sit at a table together at the rotary and ate lunch –which was delicious- with members of the rotary who seemed to be very interested in our background and where we came from. They asked a lot of questions about our culture and the conflict in the North of Ireland and we, in turn, asked them questions about their lives in America. 

We then played a really fun game which was in the style of a game show quiz hosted by Neill, the president of Friends Forever, where we were asked to answer different questions about ourselves.

After everyone had eaten, Eimear, Chelsea and I, gave speeches to the rotary about what our lives had been like growing up in Northern Ireland and how we felt about the conflict. Having to write a speech and then deliver it to a room full of adults wasn’t the easiest thing to do but it was something which helped me to gain a new perspective on the segregation in The North of Ireland, the idea of explaining things as simple as the division between Catholics and Protestants was at first a strange concept to me as it was something I had grew up with. It did however force me to think more about the society I had grown up in and helped me realise the impact it had on my life. 

Overall, going to the Portsmouth rotary turned out to be a really good experience, we were welcomed by all the members and all of our speeches were received very well. It gave us the chance to talk about our lives at home and also learn a bit about American culture.

Tiarna (:

Portsmouth Rotary Club- Chelsea

On Thursday 3rd of November the Belfast YMCA Friends Forever group visited hampton rotary club. When we got there we were warmly welcomed by every member that taken part in making Friends Forever what it has become today after 25years of hard work.

We had some lunch and a lovely chat with a good few members which opened our minds to what really happens in our lives for example- as teenagers dont need to fight over religion as everybody is the same but with different opions in life.

Me (Chelsea), Tiarna Adams and Eimear Downey then gave a speech to the Rotary about our perspective of living in Northern Ireland and the way that we live as a Protestant or Catholic. It was a lovely day as everyone listened to what we had to say and they also asked questions about what they thought of Northern Ireland and the sectarianism that is still visible. I want to say a great big thanks to Portsmouth rotary for inviting us over to join them and taking their time to help Friends Forever enjoy their 2week stay. Thanks again.

Chelsea Spence