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In a divided country, Cyprus Friendship Programme unites people


 

The Cyprus Friendship Programme (CFP) is playing a crucial role in fostering understanding, friendship, and a sense of unity in a divided country. CFP is a volunteer-run grassroots organisation that fosters friendships between teens from the island’s divided communities and encourages these relationships to spread to families and friends.

CFP held its graduation ceremony on October 12th in the northern part of Cyprus, celebrating 96 graduates and their families. The event featured various student performances, including videos from their time at camp, theatrical performances referencing the border that separates communities, and musical acts in English, Turkish, and Greek. Graduates shared the lifelong bonds they formed and the memories they will cherish.

The ceremony also featured a bilingual performance of a Cypriot song, which captivated the audience and encouraged participation from the crowd.

Rawlings “The work you do ripples out”

British Deputy High Commissioner to Cyprus, Ben Rawlings, attended the ceremony and praised the students, teachers, and families. “The work you do ripples out. You are ambassadors for peace and friendship. You are going to take these experiences back to your communities, to Cyprus, and to the world,” he said, emphasising the importance of promoting peace and friendship.

Several attendees and coordinators spoke with Voice Cyprus News about their experiences with the programme.

Simge “ We need more sponsors to reach more people”

Simge Kahvecioglu is the director and the lead coordinator, she shared the journey of CFP and the operational structure of the programme.

CFP is like a child to me. I was here from the first day when we established the CFP in 2009. The programme is established from a Northern Ireland programme between the Catholics and Protestants, then when they reached their target, a solution, let’s say, they finalised it. Following Northern Ireland, Cyprus was considered as a place where the same model might work. Americans came with this idea and they found us, then we established the programme. We were a very small group with 10 Turkish Cypriots and 10 Greek Cypriots when we started. We sent one group of teens to the USA then in 2013, we established a camp in Cyprus, the Troodos Camp. It’s been two years since we established a Kormakitis camp in addition, which takes place in the North.

It is important to highlight that the CFP is an all volunteer program. We as the coordinators are all volunteers. We are spending our time, our energy, sometimes our money on the purpose of the mission of getting peace in our own country. So our common goal is to have peace in our country and our common thing among the coordinators is the love of Cyprus. We love our country, we have hope for the future of this country and we all want peace in our own country. Unfortunately, even though we are a very well -known program and we have a very good number of applicants, since we are all volunteers, we have to ask for funds from the participants to cover the cost of their camps. We really need to find funding, and we are not really successful in this area.

We are asking teens to pay 250 euros, and this is only the cost of the Troodos camp for one week. We understand how the costs might be preventing someone from applying to this program. Can you imagine if it was free? We feel bad about this, if we are lucky enough and we are in a good position, next year we really want to find sponsors to cover at least some portion of the costs. Even if we reduce the amount we would be able to reach more people.

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We were really lucky to find a sponsor to cover for our graduation ceremony this  year. It is deeply appreciated.

We are not an educational camp but we do have history workshops. Workshops are held by a bicommunal team of experts. It is crucial that we provide an objective environment to the kids. We are all coordinators and we are all experts in our own areas. In the South, they don’t have anything written in their history book before 1974. In order to bridge the two communities, we provide insights on what happened between 1963 and 1974. We invite people who lived in this time period, in conflict, so they can witness their stories. All sides suffer in war. This is why we need peace for the future, for the future of our youth.

It is a beautiful thing to witness children form friendships with one another through this programme and not only them, their families come together and become friends as well.

Every year we are observing that teenagers are more likely to express themselves and also they are more willing to learn what happened. Every year we say that, oh, this year’s teens are more likely to express themselves and they are more willing to learn what happened and they become more friends.

As a program we do not want to cover the past, we want them to know the past but they need to know that war is not the solution, there should be peace.

Every year we have a new record number of applicants. This is achieved without financial aid, without presentations, only by having a website presence and word of mouth. We had about 150 applications from both communities of the island this year.

When kids attend CFP, the impact is seen by their peers, their families, their neighbourhood. So more and more kids apply next year. This is how we are still alive and functioning as a programme.

 Bulut “Breaking psychological barriers has liberated the kids, made them feel more safe in the presence of people from other communities”

 Bulut Unvan is a camp coordinator and an academic from the University of Cyprus. He shared his observations and thoughts on the CFP camp in Kormakitis.

 We are a student centred program, not an authority centred program or a level centred program. Secondly, the contents that we cover here are not covered by state schools or private schools that are linked directly to educational establishments to both sides. We do educational things about peace building but also the history of the other societies. We try to develop a comprehensive look for every individual, like liberating ourselves from the category that we are stuck into in our societies and this part of the history. So I can say that this is a liberating experience that gives confidence to participants unlike regular education.

Since the kids create their own space here and they’re liberated from their regular environment, the friendships are also unique for them and it’s something that they cannot have in other social spaces. They express themselves as they are. They connect on an individual basis, carrying something from their own societies, like respecting differences, but also meeting at the common points. And that makes these friendships, I believe, unique, sincere, and permanent.

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We see the individualistic differences of students that come from different backgrounds with their own uniqueness. Because of that, we are able to listen to everyone’s own ways. Since we are not stubborn about our own ideas, we are able to develop and transform with their ideas. It is pretty much a creative activity. It’s a two -way educational experience. For us, as teachers and camp coordinators it’s an educational experience as well. I learn a lot from the students, the participants that joined this camp. Areti is a very experienced teacher. We are very lucky to have her with us, she is still also learning with the students as well.

No one is judged for their opinion or for misinformation, because we are all aware that we have all been taught somethings mistakenly on this island. Because of that, no one is afraid of making a mistake, and that makes students relaxed and comfortable about explaining themselves. I see a great, great sense of curiosity in children who have had no interaction with a member of the other community prior to attending this camp.

I’d like to believe that we all gain these students, these bright individuals into our society, because they, as some of our students mentioned, they experience having a voice for the first time. It’s very important for these kids to be able to explain themselves and develop information, and then, with that encouragement, participate in the civic processes in society.

We often forget that the Cyprus issue is also a social issue, and we are looking for an agreement on the table only, but this reminds all of us, and especially the participants, the human essence of the issue. And I see changes in their daily practices. They are less hesitant to cross to the other side. They are more open to developing friendships with people from different societies. The small things are actually the thing that we should establish the piece of, that can also help a political solution. Having free thinking individuals liberated from the historical chain and being able to say something new at the board size, I think that’s a great gain.

I don’t remember who that was, but someone said something in this camp and I really like the quote. And the quote they say is that we don’t hate each other, we hate the masks that we put on each other’s faces.

In this camp, we take off these masks and interact on a human basis. We share the same food, we sleep under the same roof, and we wash dishes together. We sing together and we discuss things together. We listen to each other. And that’s a very important step. I will say that, especially for Greek Cypriots, because Turkish Cypriots are more keen to pass to the other side, breaking some of the psychological barriers enables them to embrace new ideas much easier and be able to reconsider what they have learned in their society. That creates a great change. And I see them as, you know, like relieved almost because imagine what type of weight gets off your chest when you feel you don’t have an enemy. You don’t have to hate someone and no one is hating you. That’s a really liberating experience. It’s a kind of trauma healing, actually.

Click here for the interviews with the participants of the Cyprus Friendship Programme:

“Life changing opportunity” CFP attendees share their experiences

Voice Cyprus News-2024


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