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Boardman family will host Irish teen
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Canfield's Carol Crawford (left), Marc Crawford, Stacey Slagle and Kevin Crawford have volunteered to house an exchange student from Northern Ireland for the month of July. This is their first year as a host family for the Mahoning Valley Ulster Project.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Boardman's David Timlin (left) with Northern Ireland's Duncan Taylor as they spend time together last summer. This will be Timlin's third year participating in the Mahoning Valley Ulster Project.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
Teenagers across the Valley will be linked up with teens from Northern Ireland once again this summer in an annual event that has been going on for more than two decades.
The Mahoning Valley Ulster Project (MVUP) is a nonprofit peace project that has provided host families for teenagers from Northern Ireland since 1988. The organization is dedicated to promoting peace between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
The project brings 12 Northern Ireland teenagers to the states each July to stay with a host family and bond with an American teen.
Melanie Timlin and John Timlin, of Boardman, have been a host family for the past two years and July will mark their third. They say that the project is a fun experience that gives their son the opportunity to be exposed to the culture and traditions of another country.
The Timlins believe it’s great to introduce teenagers to other teens from different cities or towns, like at a summer camp, but the Ulster Project takes meeting new people to another level.
“We have always experienced meeting kids in our youth,” John said. “Here, it was us meeting with the East side and the West side, now it’s Ireland and the United States.”
Their teenage son, David Timlin, says though the Northern Ireland natives are only visiting for a month, a close bond is created within that short time span. He enjoys meeting new people and is looking forward to hosting another international visit.
“When they get on the bus to leave, you just want to go with them,” he said. “Tears are just rolling down everyone’s face.”
Each Irish teen can only visit America once through the Ulster Project. With technology and social networking sites such as Facebook, communicating with someone across the globe is only one click away. David says he talks to the Irish friends he made through the project almost every day.
“We introduced them to Facebook and now they are all Facebook lovers,” he said.
This will be the first year Canfield residents Carol Crawford and Kevin Crawford will be a host family for the project. The family isn’t quite sure what to expect, but they feel that it will be a positive experience for them and their daughter, Stacey Slagle.
Slagle says she was excited when her mother brought up the idea of participating in the Ulster Project. She sees it as a means of broadening her horizons and breaking away from her typical summer schedule.
“I’m looking forward to just getting to know this teen and to experience something that is new and unique, something not like my normal summer,” she said.
The Crawfords will host their Irish teen from June 29 through July 30. An event is scheduled for each calendar day, including weekly Sunday worship services, visits to amusement parks and family fun days. All expenses are funded by the project.
The Timlins have remained involved with the project because of the networking that is involved and the growth that takes place between the two teens. Melanie says the experience for the teens is priceless.
“There is a lot of community involvement, it’s a real growing experience for them, especially at this age,” she said. “It gives them a really busy summer!”