At home in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 11-year-old Miriam Rodgers, a Protestant, has few Catholic friends because of religious tensions there.

Irish youth program cultivates tolerance

Miriam was part of a group of preteens visiting South Carolina to learn tolerance of people from different faiths, hopefully before they develop strong prejudices, said John DeBerry, a program leader from the American Legion Post 40 in Socastee.

In Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics live in separate neighborhoods and attend separate churches and schools. That's why the American Legion post treated 33 students from Belfast to several activities in the Myrtle Beach area. The children visited The Carolina Opry, Ripley's Aquarium and a water park.

For 19 years, the post has hosted groups of the, 9-, 10-, and 11-year-olds who spend six weeks in Columbia for the annual Irish Children's Summer Program.

That program matches students with host families of the same or different faiths to teach them to respect each other, regardless of faith.

"We're trying to get these kids to learn to be friends for life," said DeBerry, program chairman. And perhaps gain some insight to different points of view.

"This gets you ready for real life, because it lets you know there's nothing wrong with different religions," said 10-year-old Eamonn McCabe, a Catholic.

Dan Wagner of Columbia said his family has hosted children in the program for six years.

This year is the first that his Catholic family hosted a Protestant child. "There's no difference," he said. "We just go to more church services — Catholic and Protestant." He said the host families in the Columbia area keep children in the program involved with daily activities.

"In Belfast, they would rarely have a chance to meet and become friends with each other," he said. "For many of them, this is their first time to know someone of the other faith."

The Irish Children's Summer Program is one of several similar programs that seem to help promote tolerance, said Gary Ballentine, a program chaperone from Belfast. "This is a small step, but they all help."

Wagner said some students who participate in the programs continue their friendships when they return home through a program called the Mutual Association for the Development of a Children's Action Programme.

Fiona McCloskey, 18, is one of the students who returned to the United States to assist with younger groups. She lived with a South Carolina family when she was 10.

"I think it's changed me as a person completely," she said. "The program taught me to respect people for their different opinions and to be open minded."

By Kenneth A. Gaillard
24 July 2003

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