| The Americans, the Protestants and
the Catholics mixed easily and happily, although there was a
bit of a language barrier. A simple request for a Band-aid had
to be translated into a request for a "plaster." When
an American chaperone had trouble understanding an Irish boy,
another boy nudged him and said, "You've got to talk slowly,
she's a Yank."
While mornings were spent on the soccer field ("pitch,"
as they say) preparing for the Big Game at the end of the
week, afternoons were jam-packed with all kinds of activities.
The children climbed on the walls of an old Celtic fort built
high on a hill, and they toured a sprawling cave with dangling
stone formations thousands of years old. At a lake in Fermanagh
they went for a 'milkshake" ride in a speedboat that
whipped around in circles through its own wake. And one beautiful
summer evening the children played on a deserted beach in
Donegal and watched the sun go down.
At the end of the week, when all the touring was done, all
the kids were focused on the Big Game. The two Project Children
teams were playing two teams from a local school. They were
playing them in the Brandywell Stadium, Derry's equivalent
to RFK. It was raining that day when the children woke up,
but it didn't slow anyone down. In fact, no one even mentioned
it. Everyone just suited up and headed for the bus.
There was a lot of excitement at Brandywell. The BBC was
there and Denis Mulcahy, too. And families of the Irish children
had come out in buses to cheer on the kids.
One special moment came when coach John Davison asked the
Project Children A-team whom they had chosen as captain. Two
boys stepped forward, one American and one Irish saving, "Were
the co-captains."
Once the games had started it was clear that the children
worked well together. Both the A team and the B team were
victorious. Though they tried to be gracious in winning, they
couldn't resist a victory lap around the field or wild cheers
when they were handed The Denis Mulcahy Friendship Cup.
After a big banquet that night at St. Columb's, it was time
to say goodbye to the Irish children. There were tears and
promises to write.
It was truly a grand week. Talking about the Irish children
from Belfast, coordinator Monica Culbert said, "When
the children got back they were bubbling with delight. They
had so much fun mixing with Americans and country children.
They blended so well it didn't matter what religion you were.
In fact, some of them didn't have a clue who was who."
A few days after the camp, one of the shyest campers, a boy
from Belfast, went to Monica's home with flowers and a thank-you
card in his hand.
|
