Sacha, Duchess of Abercorn.
It is perhaps the step that she took after this which became responsible for her efforts to date. Assisting with a student counselling service, she began to run workshops both north and south of the border. Sacha realised however that she didn't want to be just a counselor, she wanted to work with children and teachers. Assistance was forthcoming from her great-great-great grandfather, Alexander Pushkin.
The 150th anniversary of Pushkin's death brought together Pushkin scholars, distant Russian cousins and an enactment of Pushkin's last days. Since 1881, a Pushkin Prize had already been established in Russia and was awarded to authors who achieved literary excellence. It was this Pushkin Prize which led the Duchess to evaluate a method to bring young children together.
Sacha contacted local education authorities in Omagh and gained support for a pilot programme. The pilot programme would involve protestant and catholic schools from both northern and southern Ireland. The schools would twin and then share experiences about their origins, they would submit both poetry and stories. The Pushkin Prize was established in Ireland.
The trust has been growing successfully year by year, crossing barriers that were once seen as impenetrable. As Sacha herself says, "The minute they are working on a project, all these things that people talk about, the differences, don't exist. It is so important that friendships can begin at an early age. If it happens, then the fear disappears."
The Duchess often works amid controversy. Just recently, moves by the political group Sinn Fein objected to her visit to a catholic school claiming that it should be disallowed because of her connections to the British aristocracy. Sadly, the visit was cancelled, surely only seeing a loss to the children of Ireland? In her defence however came Seamus Heaney, Ireland's Nobel laureate who stated, "It is a poor look-out, not only for Nationalists and Catholics, but for people of every party and denomination, if the enlightened work done under the aegis of the Pushkin Prize can be so crudely demeaned."
The Duchess of Abercorn has my personal support and my total respect. Having lived in Northern Ireland amid the turbulence I saw a beautiful country being torn apart. The ones who suffered the most were the children and I often questioned the legacy that they were being left. This country has such a bright future if only they would reach out and grasp it.
Sacha deserves special thanks for allowing the children
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