Refugees in many countries sometimes find it difficult to get a welcome, but in Cyprus they are being told (in the nicest way possible) to get on their bikes!
A new scheme in Paphos, funded by an arm of The Episcopal Church in the USA, will be providing thirty-five bikes to help Refugees adapt to their new situation. The bikes will enable them to travel to study, to work, to exercise and stay healthy, and to make a contribution to the life of their new town, as volunteers.
The news was given by Reverend Anne Futcher, the Social Concern Officer for the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, to a meeting of the Social Forum last week. The Forum, the brainchild of Bishop Michael Lewis, began in 2017 as an annual means of bringing together all those on the Island who were working in the field of what the Church would call Social Responsibility. This included secular NGOs and faith-based groups as well as churches. The Anglican Church, working in both the north and south of Cyprus was uniquely able to convene such a meeting, and from the outset it proved invaluable for networking, strategic planning, information sharing and mutual encouragement.
In 2020 Covid intervened, and this year’s meeting was the first face-to-face meeting for three years, though zoom meetings have been held in the intervening period. The initial concept has been developed, largely thanks to Anne’s determination, and last week there were twenty social concern organisations represented in a meeting of some fifty people. The meeting was held in the green zone, to enable participation from both sides of the Island, and has been incorporated into the series of meetings held under the auspices of the UN bringing religious leaders into the conversations about the relationships between the different parts of the country.
The theme of the meeting was “Safe Spaces for All,” and speakers, including the archdeacon of Cyprus, the Venerable Christopher Futcher, described their efforts to achieve that degree of safety in a country that has more refugees in proportion to its population that any other in the EU. There was an air of realism about what could be achieved, but also some inspiring stories about how life has been improved, albeit for a small proportion of those affected as refugees, trafficked people and other vulnerable groups.
The Paphos scheme builds on a smaller scale one begun by the Anglican parish of Paphos. It gives informal training and provides equipment such as helmets and hi-vis jackets. The scheme is now based at the so-called Learning Refuge, associated with the Catholic charity, Caritas, itself a voluntary association, providing informal learning opportunities.
One speaker described Cypriots themselves as a traumatised people, as a result of the events and consequences of the 1974 conflict. She hoped that it might be possible to open an intercultural trauma centre in the buffer zone, as a safe space for sufferers to come together. Trauma clearly has long lasting effects and will likely fill the agendas of subsequent meetings. But there is a very positive and hopeful atmosphere created by the Forum.
You could just feel the energy in the room.
Anne Futcher
Article by John Holdsworth, May 2023
For more on Social Concern in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf go to the Summer 2023 Bible Lands page 10
