Ms. Elena, a Greek-Cypriot teacher, experienced a PPI – Cyprus Twinning
This article is written by Yiannis Ktistis, PeacePlayers-Cyprus volunteer, after interviewing a Greek-Cypriot teacher from the Elementary School of Kolossi, Limassol, Cyprus.
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with the enemy. Then he becomes your partner” Nelson Mandela once said. Cooperation is a vital instrument if you want to live together. Education makes cooperation and the understanding of reality more accurate.
PeacePlayers – Cyprus had the opportunity, as many times before, to welcome into the last week’s twinning a teacher who felt overwhelmed to help out with PeacePlayers’ cause.
Ms. Elena found herself at last week’s twinning accompanying the team of Kolossi. With 23 years of experience in education, and having the honor of teaching in the 1st Primary school of Kolossi, she explained, as an outsider, what is really happening at those events. She also talked to us about the children and the importance of the good job that coaches do at all levels.
Children who play together can learn to live together
Her first encounter with the organization was a year ago. As a substitute teacher, she learned about the program and decided to contact the organization/us! After some difficulties in searching for funds to sponsor the team, she managed to organize an event at the school in cooperation with the organization and get the team started. From that time on, she has been closely involved with PeacePlayers.
Her personal ideology is based on peace and cooperation between people from different backgrounds. She believes in peaceful living and that inequalities can be solved. She also holds the hope that in the future, people can find a solution to the national problem and learn to live together.
She believes that PPI’s action is pioneering, an action that should have started much earlier and which helps the members of the community, especially the youth, through basketball to develop a common purpose. Ms. Elena stressed the fact that this opportunity cannot be seen anywhere else in Cyprus, especially in education. Although it may be that through theory, children learn about peace, in practice, chances like that are limited. She comments that her school is the only one in Limassol that practices intercommunal relations and for that they have been criticized. She believes that the organization promotes sports, health and a clear mind, while at the same time giving the chance for the children to meet up with the ‘other’ children in order to accept diversity, something that is already in the schools’ curriculum, but only in theory.
Her experience last week was very interesting. She saw the children that responded to the call of their coach come and enjoy their day. They gained a unique and important chance to do so. She also commented about how excellently the day was organized. The children were taken care of by their coaches and were feeling confident and happy. She was impressed by the responsibilities that the coaches had and how everybody in the program shows excessive care for the cause. “Without these people, coaches, the goal could not be achieved at all. But I know that the goal is achieved at its maximum” she states.
Finally, she believes that the interaction that she has with the organization is very important to her. Throughout her experiences, she knows how to be well prepared to educate the children in subjects like equality, peace, understanding and cooperation. In her school she teaches a special subject called “good citizenship” (αγωγήζωής) – and throughout her involvement in the organization she feels stronger and more prepared to explain to the students the role of cooperation, the meaning of peace in everyday life and how important those aspects are. “Due to the fact that I teach this lesson, I teach the children about diversity and I speak about racism. PeacePlayers are the ‘actors’ of those concepts.”
