In 2001, Catholic and Protestant volunteers from Northern Ireland participated in a Women Build in Denver, Colo., building houses and unity.

Building Bridges in Northern Ireland

Gillian* grew up in the Catholic neighborhood of Ligoniel in North Belfast and has witnessed her share of sectarian violence. "I have seen the way families are left traumatized by the loss of a loved one," she says. "Ligoniel is a small village and through the 'Troubles,' it lost a great number of its people, including children."

Despite those memories, Gillian decided to join a cross-community group from Belfast on a Global Village trip to Romania in June 2002. It was the second such group, the first having gone to Denver, Colo., in 2001. Gillian had a desire to help people in need and an interest in working with members of the Protestant community. "I wanted to see how people from the other side of the community felt about the Troubles. I thought going on this trip would give me an opportunity to build bridges."

Gillian joined others from both Catholic Ligoniel and nearby Protestant Ballysillan to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. The group included men and women, ages 18 to 61, eager to make a difference in Romania. They took a small but significant step toward reconciling their Belfast communities.

They were building upon a foundation laid during the past several years by Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland. Since 1994, HFHNI has built 27 houses, and has plans to build eight in Ligoniel and eight in Ballysillan as a precursor to building "Common Ground," an integrated community between the two. It's a lofty goal.

Ligoniel and Ballysillan both share high deprivation ratings, yet an even more telling indicator of the depth of the lingering mistrust and suspicion is that these communities have suffered the highest level of conflict-related violence in the region since 1969. Although the physical distance between the communities is relatively short, the divisions could not be deeper. A recent survey describes the current relationship between the two sides as "frozen."

"The poverty that we face in Northern Ireland is not just physical, but spiritual," says Peter Farquharson, HFHNI executive director. "We seek to be a catalyst for reconciliation of our divided society by breaking down walls of separation, and restoring and revitalizing communities most at risk."

The experience of working together in a new context to achieve a shared goal gave the groups a safe environment to develop relationships. Since their return, most have joined the local HFHNI groups, with some taking active leadership roles and volunteers from both communities working together on site--some 800 volunteers have donated more than 5,000 hours of their time. There is a persistent willingness for these volunteers to continue the relationships forged on the Habitat work site, despite the difficulties around them.

Doreen Tarr is a Protestant from Ballysillan who volunteers on site every day with neighbors from both sides of the communities. She was part of the GV team to Romania, and is currently fund-raising to go on her third cross-community trip to Uganda this summer. "The fact that Habitat is building in this neighborhood is great," she says. "That they are bringing communities together is even better."

Literally and figuratively, the teams and volunteers have been an embodiment of HFHNI's mission to bring people from all socio-economic backgrounds together across the sectarian divide in a spirit of community.

--Claire Moss

*Name has been changed.