These five past weeks I've been in Ireland I have been based out of Limerick and working in Moyross. Moyross has always been described to me as a crime-filled, gang and drug riddled section of Limerick that most people try to never go to. Every single time I have told anyone here that I am working in Moyross, their jaws completely hit the floor and they tell me that I am a saint... I never knew quite how to react to that.
I didn't think that Moyross was that bad, but yesterday (my last day at the school) I actually drove into the heart of Moyross, away from the school and the public library, which is where I have spent all of my time. The school and the library are very safe, clean, and well heated. They are also on the outer edge of Moyross, before you start heading into the rest of Limerick.
Driving through deeper, inner Moyross really shook me up. And I only drove through a little part of it, quickly turning around because I recognized that I was driving through an area where it would probably not be safe for a young girl to be driving around by herself. I had previously thought that Moyross was not that bad - that other people were exaggerating. My drive yesterday forced me to realized that my presence in Moyross was mostly a sheltered one. It broke my heart and made me want to come back even more next year... Going home next week seems sort of cruel, somehow.
Comparisons help people understand sometimes. People in Ireland talk about Moyross the way people in Chicago talk about the South Side, or people in St. Louis talk about East St. Louis. Yesterday, while I was volunteering at the Youth Cafe, I had a teenage boy asked me if Minnesota is close to Compton. "You mean, Compton, California?"
"Yeah, the place with all the shootings and the guns and the drugs."
"No, Compton is really far away from Minnesota. I've never been there."
"Well, it's much worse here. I guarantee you, things are much worse here."
People have told me this is one of the most dangerous places in the Europe... I didn't really believe them because 1. I was living a bit of a sheltered existence via the safety of the school and the youth initiative, and 2. Moyross is really small. It's actually a cul-de-sac: only one way in and one way out. But that is part of what makes it so dangerous. The police, known as the Guards over here, have to be very careful when they respond to calls from Moyross because they know they can get trapped in the neighborhood if they're not careful.
Now, let me reiterate that I have been very safe in all of my endeavors over here. The areas where I work are safe, and the people that I work with have looked out for me as well. I was so well looked after, that I underestimated how safe life is for the little children and the teenagers that I spent time with every week. I love the shit out of all of the little kids and the teens that I work with, and it's just... well, it's all just sort of heart breaking.
I wish I could stay longer, to help them more and to do more good.
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