I cannot believe we have been here for an entire week! This week we got to see 4 different sites and each were amazing and unique in their own way. Like I mentioned in my first blog we went to Trinity Disability Services which was our first site. On Tuesday, we had off so the 10 of us did a Jameson Distillery Tour and the Guinness Tour! Typical Ireland tourist attractions but they were something we all wanted to do at one point on our trip! Both were cool experiences and I even got to pour my own pint.
On Wednesday we went to the SciFest at Trinity College and it is a program for people with intellectual disabilities. They only select 10 students so it’s a very good 2 year program. The student chose to base their science projects off of something that interests them. Julie was the first girl I talked to at the SciFest and she made her project about music changing moods. Her favorite musical is Mamma Mia and she said that her study was that when people listen to Mamma Mia it makes them happy. Another student’s project was “The Future of 2030” where she predicted what the future would have in store for us. She came up with so many creative ideas. Overall, the SciFest was a great way for the students to express their creativity and interests in their own way. When we spoke with them individually they were so well spoken and we excited to explain their projects to us.
On Thursday we took the bus to St. Michael’s House and it was such an amazing experience. We were welcomed with smiles and handshakes and hugs and it was such a heartwarming experience. Smiles never left their faces and we were able to interact with the people there which I thought was a great experience. We talked to Stephen, the director of the house, and he knew each individual so personally and what they did. Joe, one of the individuals who uses the service, was so sweet and we talked about his favorite musician Joe Dolan and his favorite song is Good Lookin’ Woman. We even pulled it up on Youtube to listen to it with him. The individuals that use these services come in and out daily and their main goals are to become as independent as possible. A lot of the people there have intellectual disabilities however some have more than one disability as well. The St. Michael’s house that we visited has 26 females and 32 males so a total of 58 individuals. Stephen said that when it’s empty that means that they are all in the community either volunteering or working so it is a good sign! I really enjoyed the trip there and I think the people at St. Michael’s enjoyed our visit as well!
Finally, our last site of the week was Mental Health Ireland which is an organization that promotes mental health and wellbeing to all individuals and communities. We were grouped with other students, one from UPenn and one from TCD, so that was nice to have input from other students as well! Martin Rogan ran the discussion and he was a Mental Health nurse and a General nurse as well. For Mental Health Ireland, or MHI, there were 3 complementary themes. Those themes included mental health promotion, living life well, and organizational fitness. Martin really emphasized the living life well and how it is the life you wish to live. Another thing that I found interesting was that 25% of Ireland’s population is children, however, only 20% of MHI’s budget is dedicated to children, the other 80% to adults. Finally, something that shocked me was that physical meetings with clients/patients are only 7 minutes long normally to make a diagnosis and provide treatment. I found that time to be very short and disappointing as it is simply not enough. Overall, I learned a lot from Martin and the MHI and really enjoyed this trip.
After we left Mental Health Ireland, we walked to the James Joyce Museum as well as walking through the Sandycove Park!
Till next week! 🙂