PPI-CY Fellow Adam Hirsch shows the group from Manchester University the different areas of Cyprus where PPI-CY has basketball teams
This week PPI-CY got a special visit from a group of 20 international postgraduates studying for the MSc in Management and Implementation of Development Projects at the University of Manchester. The program is designed for engineers, sociologists, project managers of international or bilateral aid projects, NGO practitioners and policy makers of key ministries working in the context of low income economies. The program incorporates a field study, usually to Cyprus, which offers an opportunity to apply conceptual understanding and techniques to organisations and issues in a society undergoing rapid cultural, political and economic change.
Although the group did visit Cyprus once before in 2010, this is the first time they had an opportunity to visit with PPI-CY. The group gathered at the PPI-CY offices on Wednesday morning for a presentation given by PPI Fellow Adam Hirsch. The group was very international in composition, with students coming from all over Europe, Africa and Asia. Adam began the presentation with a short quiz about the history of the Cyprus conflict, including having the students guess how long Cyprus had been effectively under control of the UK (82 years), how long the buffer zone extends (182 kilometers) and how many children PPI-CY has worked with since its establishment in 2007 (3,000).
The students were very keen and showed great interest in the presentation, which included information on PPI-CY’s conflict resolution philosophy, program activities and measurement and evaluation system. Afterwards the students asked many intelligent questions regarding the successes and challenges PeacePlayers has faced in Cyprus. One of the students asked Adam how PPI-CY recruits new kids into the program. This was a perfect opportunity to show one of our favorite videos, “PPI-CY visits Peristerona,” showing PPI-CY fellows, Adam, Gunnar and Rory, introducing a PeacePlayers practice to a group of elementary school kids in the Greek-Cypriot community. If you havn’t seen the video in a while, its always good for a few laughs:
In the end the group gave a special thanks to PPI-CY for doing great work and presented Adam with a small gift from their University. This Saturday the students will have the unique opportunity to see PPI-CY’s work in action during a bicommunal twinning at Ledra Palace. We hope they have a chance to come and witness the process of peace building in person.
