European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Summer they break my heart says Cathy o Hare of new Rochelle . Bidding a tearful Farewell at Kennedy Airport to Lisa Cullen her Little Tomboy from Derry who played a great second base and Petite Marylou Cunningham an 11 year old from Belfast who could t do enough to help around the on the saturday after she returned Home Marylou boarded the prison Van for the weekly half hour visit with her father at the Long Kesh internment Camp where he has been an inmate since she was 1 year old. For some there was no getting away from the troubles even in America my dear Roisin i am sorry to Tell you we have no Home anymore 11 year old Roisin o Neill begin Reading a letter from her Molher that shattered her peaceful summer in the Livingston Home of insurance executive Ron Buswell. On the 10th of july we were put out of our Home the House is wrecked but we Are All right. We Are staying with Gretta an accompanying clipping from Belfast paper told How on the night of thursday july 10lh, the Corner House of Mother of three Lara o Neill which faces loyalist houses in Avo beg close was targeted by a mob of at least 40 the masked intruders the Story continued began smashing every window and pounded the front door Wilh hatchets while the terrified Mother ran upstairs to her daughters Lara 9, and Geraldine 7, and pulled a Duvet a comforter Over their Heads to protect them from flying Glass and fled Wilh them Barefoot from the House. This was the Start of Ulster s marching season from which project children tries to separate the youngsters by 2,500 Miles of Ocean and mountains of affection. On july 12, the Orange order paraded in memory of protestant William of Orange s Victory Over Catholic James ii at the Battle of the Boyne. On aug. 9, sinn fein the political Wing of the i.r.a., observed the 15th anniversary of internment when hundreds of terrorist suspects were lifted and imprisoned at Long Kesh without a jury trial. The protestants were out again on aug. 12, in rousing memory of the apprentice boys who slammed shut the gales of Derry on the jacobite forces in 1688, and on aug 15, the catholics celebrated the feast of the Assumption of Mary a time for piety and intense patriotism. This summer the most violent in a decade the Drums and bagpipes were accompanied by riots in Belfast Derry and Portadown that injured More than 200 civilians and police and destroyed dozens of Homes pubs factories and buses. We weren t allowed to watch the news from Ireland on the Telly said 15-year-old Gillian Mcdowell of Armagh who spent the summer in Baldwin . But we knew from the newspapers that terrible things were Halfway through the american experience the Young Irish visitors and their Host families gathered for a picnic on the grounds of the Salesman Seminary in Goshen . While the youngsters demonstrated their new found prowess at baseball most of them batting Cross handed the surrogate parents discussed their charges like London nannies pushing prams around Kensington Pond. Mine Are terrible eaters they could exist on Spaghetti and Trench Fries Irene Decamp described 13-year-old Simone and 10-year-old Tamara Keenan two Sisters form Newry in county Down who spent the summer in Stamford. Conn. The older one won t eat Chicken the younger one does t like Lamb and neither would eat my Irish soda bread. They Don t eat fruit. They can t stand Corn on the cob but they want awoke for then there was the language Barrier thai nasal Northern Ireland accent. Sherry Gaffney related an Early conversation when 10-year-old Eileen Hay arrived in new Rochelle ., from Belfast i m sorry Eileen but i Don t speak a word of neither do i mrs. Sherry laughed again at the memory of it my god she was speaking English. I soon Learned that when she had a pin in her foot it was a pain and when she asked to watch tips on to she meant cassette tapes. Yet in her first letter Home she told her Mother she had a Tough time understanding meanwhile out on the Mound in perfect imitation of oilman Boyd s languid Loose jointed Windup 10-year old Gerard Bellen from Belfast Strook out a Shourd straight Bah Der an 11-year-old girl from Strabane who had nicked him for a Home run last time up. A Priolo Mike Mullen. Who suffers from cerebral palsy it met at Belfast Airport by parents after six weeks in . This summer for the first time project children brought Over handicapped youngsters. Tom Buoye a credit supervisor with a new Jersey Utility who for the past six years has welcomed Ulster children to his West Orange Home asked this time for a child no one else would Over from Belfast came 11-year-old Mike Mullin a dynamic Little Guy confined All his life to a wheelchair Wilh cerebral palsy. In Mike s last week in America Tom had him examined by a children s disease specialist at a nearby Hospital. The diagnosis was thai since the boy could crawl there was a Chance he might walk if an operation were performed. Mike was willing and Tom got on the phone to his parents in Belfast. We did t ask what it would Cost Buoye shrugged off the unimportant questions. Mike will come Back in a few weeks and Well see How the operation goes. I did t want to get his Hopes up too Many Host families lavish More than hospitality and Gills on their summertime guests. Some bring them Back year after year pay their Way through College follow up with phone Calls Christmas presents even visits to their Homes in Ireland. Joe Barry a democratic councilman now running for mayor of Bloomfield n.j., has raised thousands of dollars for project children in addition to receiving protestant and Catholic youngsters into his family Circle in successive years. It was he who put the bite on Ronald Reagan of tipperary Stock to contribute to project children. The president twice sent his personal Bank of America Check in the amount of $500, the Cost of bringing Over a child. Don Henderson a primary school teacher in Derry s bog Side who helps select the children who will most Benefit from an escape to America notices a significant change in them when they come Home. They be never had such attention before All that affection and hugging. Irish parents Aren t very demonstrative. You can see it at the Airport. Nine times out of 10, they pick up the suitcase and not the child. These kids Are used to being ignored but now they re important to someone. Sometimes they come Back almost Cheeky but More confident of for seventh graders Henderson Points out the trip to America comes at a crucial time when they face the 11-plus exam which determines whether they will follow an academic course with a shot at going to College or be relegated to a technical school. Only 25 percent pass i used to be Able to predict those who would make it but now i m not always sure about those who be been to America maybe had their own room for the first time or got away from an alcoholic family and picked up the Reading Terry Phillips a Derry secondary school teacher wonders if coming Back from America in t sometimes too disillusioning. One kid not Only went to Disneyland but was taken on a cruise of the greek islands Only to come Back to the most miserable Hovel in the bog Side it must have been like the picture tube suddenly going dead on a Lovely to Malachy Donerly who teaches at a rare mixed primary school for catholics and protestants in Derry. Is optimistic about children coping Back Home. The important thing " he says is that they have had a vision of a belter life. They know there is something More than the squalor surrounding a photo Kevin and Cathy o Hare with children from Northern Ireland whom they hosted As part of project children. Sunday september 28,1986 the stars and stripes Page 17
