When I first walked into my Monday morning 9:30am class, Community Advocacy & Inquiry: Dublin, my first thoughts were more about how I was going to find my way home after my last class at night instead of what was happening right then. At least that was what I was thinking until my teacher, Darren Kelly, decided to jump up on the table to demonstrate power roles. That certainly got me to pay attention!
In class so far this semester we’ve talked about a myriad of subjects like inside and outside communities, Travellers, power roles, and on and on. We have a lot of discussions about how a community and the services in that community can affect its residents and how those people in turn can affect the greater area as a whole.
To learn more about the communities that we discuss every week we each have a different placement in the Dublin area. My placement is an after school program called The Aisling (pronounced “ash-ling”) Project. This service is in place to prevent early leaving in school and to encourage further education. Aisling was put into place because many kids in the area were dropping out of school at a very young age. “Aisling,” in the Irish language actually means hope and vision; fitting since the Aisling Project works with kids from around age 8 to age 12. After this they move on to what is called the Aisling Initiative (where I work). When I learned that this would be my placement I was personally very excited. Back at home I work at the local YMCA with younger kids in a summer camp environment and an after school environment. Here in Dublin, Ballymun more specifically, I am working with an older group of kids so that is definitely a bit different from what I’m used to. I’m working with 14/15 year olds, or what’s known here as second and third years. The kids come in after school and get to sit down and talk about how school is going and get the chance to really interact with adults who take the time to pay attention to their lives. Mixed in with these talks is also a chance to do some homework in a more relaxed environment. Even with all of these things going on I’ve found that Aisling is less about working and more about empowering the kids to do things that they may not think they can do.
Ballymun itself has had a very mixed history. It is infamous for the “Ballymun Flats” which were hulking tower blocks full of apartments. There was very little in the area in the way of shops and areas for children to play so the space only degenerated further. Ballymun became a symbol in Ireland of poverty, drugs, and lack of communication between the community and the state.
Today the Ballymun Regeneration Project is striving to turn the community and its reputation around. Out of the seven original flats that were built only one is now standing. New homes are being built that actually feel like homes and look like homes. The area is now booming with resources; a new health center, and Axis center that promotes and creates the arts in the community, a Travelodge, a pool center, and even an IKEA not too far away. Recently there was also a movie called Ballymun Lullaby, which follows the story of the children of the town working to create a music CD that represents the forward thinking and progression towards a better view of Ballymun.
The people of Ballymun love where they live and want more people to see what they see when they walk around. The area is safe and people are always friendly and willing to help out. They have been brought together by less than fortunate circumstances and are now bound together by that history and what they can do to change that in the future.
I’m really excited to continue with my placement at Aisling, and I can’t wait to see what happens with Ballymun and its regeneration in the future. Hopefully other Champlain kids will get to see what I’ve seen and know that Ballymun and its community is worth the effort to get to know.
-Amanda Alley
Champlain Abroad Dublin, Spring 2013
Social Work Major, Champlain College, Class of 2014