THE CYPRUS FRIENDSHIP PROGRAMME

THE CYPRUS FRIENDSHIP PROGRAMME
BICOMMUNAL YOUTH GROUP
PRESS RELEASE 14/3/2012
100 TEENS FROM BOTH COMMUNITIES AT THE CENTRE OF CYPRUS TURNING THE WALL OF PAIN TO A BRIDGE OF FORGIVENESS
If a line is drawn on the map of Cyprus from east to west and another from north to south the two lines will cross on a small hill outside the village of Dhali. On that hill, on Saturday the 17th of March, at 3:00 pm, 100 Cyprus Friendship Programme teenagers from the two communities stand together and make a circle. Then an event will take place to acknowledge that both communities have suffered on this island:
A Turkish Cypriot and a Greek Cypriot whose fathers were lost during the war will together place some flowers in the middle of the circle in memory of their fathers.
Then teenagers of the Cyprus Friendship Programme, who have relatives lost, will place flowers in the middle of the circle.
The organizers will then ask everyone present to hold one minute of silence to grieve together and remember all the people who were lost in the many years of conflict in Cyprus, not just the ones in our own community.
Finally, we shall ask those present to enter the circle and also place flowers in the middle. Many may also have lost members of their families, while some others may just want express their sharing of the pain of all Cypriots.
This is an open invitation to all Cypriots from both communities to attend the event. If you share with us the belief that we have all suffered enough, that it is important to forgive each other and that we need to acknowledge each other's pain in order to celebrate our togetherness, then:
Take some flowers and come and meet us at the centre of Cyprus.
In the link below you can find a video report of the same event we did last year. The video was made by a 16 year old member of the Cyprus Friendship Programme:
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-580337
Instructions on how to find the hill:
For those coming from Nicosia: Exit from the highway to Dhali industrial estate.　 At the traffic lights turn left, go past the next set of traffic lights, up the hill, and take the first turning left into Ikarou Street. There is a sign which says White Hill.
For those coming from Larnaca or Limassol: Exit the highway left at Tseri, then turn right, go straight and at traffic lights turn left. Drive up the hill and take the first turning left into Ikarou Street. There is a sign which says 'White Hill'.
　
For more information contact the programme coordinators, Sarper Ince sarper_ince@hotmail.com (0533 840 9792), or Nicos Anastasiou: nicosiew@spidernet.com.cy (99-498531)