" i2i " is an international group which started around August 2006 in Northern Ireland. There are people from three countries in " i2i " -Northern Irish, Lithuanian and Polish who live in N. Ireland. As a people from different cultures and backgrounds we came from different christian churches but we created that group mainly for integration between us. We decided not to concentrate on differences but focus on similarities. Our group stays in close contact with Kingdom Life City Church (Formerly known as Kingdom Life Faith Centre) which is the church in Lisburn, 8 miles from Belfast. They support us with many projects which are focused on breaking the barriers mainly between the Poles and the Irish. We meet every week at the church who let us use their facilities. We aslo cooperate with other organizations. Every Thursday we meet in Lisnagarvey High School in Lisburn where we have our Youth Club. Among the participants there are around 40% of teenagers who came from unpriviledged families, rough backgrounds, or are neglected by their parents. We have been working on developing their social skills, and increasing their self esteem, as well as teaching them what it means to respect each other and cooperate with those who seem to be different. This was achieved through discussions, games, sports, competitions, local trips, arts etc. The members of our group are mostly between 13 - 20 but there are also younger and older people. The members of the club are both from catholic and protestant backgrounds. We see a huge need for making projects like Youth in Action, for bringing different cultures togheter and for learning how to tolerate other nations. In 2006 we made connection with group I.C.E. in Poland through our Polish members and in 2007 we spent 10 days in Krakow learning more about tolerance and acceptance. This was a huge step forward and an eyes opener for many who were the part of the project. Now, three years later, we decided we would like to take it to the next level and participate in a project that will involve more countries. For this purpose we asked an organization called European Christian Mission to help us with the logistics of the project. ECM is an international mission organization. ECM's aim is not only to develpop people socialy but point to Christianity as a source of moral conduct and a blueprint for living and making key decisions in life, regarldess of the denomination people belong to.
We believe participating in the programme will be a perfect tool to increase the unity in the group, help facilitate the tolerance towards each other and expand the numbers of the young people who benefit from it. We will be able to offer an exciting time abroad to kids from underpriviledged families, who would otherwise have no chance of such experience
Ten projekt jest realizowany przy wsparciu finansowym Komisji Europejskiej. Ten materiał odzwierciedla jedynie stanowisko jego autora, a Komisja nie ponosi odpowiedzialności za sposób wykorzystania zawartych w nim informacji.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.