Καλά Χριστούγεννα (Happy Christmas) from Cyprus!

Zoe, Meaden and Sarah

It's Christmas eve today, and a real treat to have a houseful of extended family members joining us for Christmas.  Sarah's parents, Meaden and Bob are with us, along with Sarah's cousin Zoe, who currently lives in Toronto Canada.  The last few weeks have been busy with pre-Christmas events, and Meaden and Bob have certainly had more than their fill of watching grandchildren performing in various concerts!  We've also been able to get out and enjoy some of the places we love in Cyprus, and the return of milder cyprus winter weather has meant that it's been nice to be out and about.

We haven't managed a Christmas card or letter this year, (we've been enjoying the fine weather outside on the bikes) so instead we'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, wherever you happen to be in the world!  Some pictures follow that share how we are celebrating the festive season in Cyprus this year.

Happy Christmas and lots of love from

Ross, Sarah, Jessie, Angus, Sam, Anna, Menaka, Bob & Meaden, Zoe (the human) and Zoe (the dog)!

P.S. The clip below is from Anna's recent Christmas concert, where she seemed to take quite a shine to being the 'mummy bunny' and shaking her toosh for the audience!

Sam as the little soldier in school nativity play

Jessie in a Christmas concert

A birthday dinner for Bob and Meaden,
lovingly prepared by Menaka

A view all the way to Turkey

Zoe Demidjuk - enjoying some sunshine

"Menaka!  I'm the Mummy Bunny!"

St Hilarion castle

Marshmallows by the fire

Meaden giving Menaka a few sewing tips

Cheese and Tiaras (by Jessie)

Last week, my drama school did a production called 'Cheese and Tiaras' a musical written by the principal of the school. It is basically a modern day version of Cinderella, but like really really modern!
Cindy-Ella lives in a penthouse in New York with her stepmother and three stepsisters the 'Ugz'. Prince Idol is losing talented pop stars and needs a Christmas number 1, so his assistant gives him the idea of holding a Cheese and Tiaras talent show to find talent.

Of course, the Ugz and stepmother are very excited and enter and  then go and tell Cindy-Ella to tease her. Then the Fairy Agent comes and introduces herself to Cindy-Ella and sings 'Popular' from Wicked to Cindy-Ella! Then 2 helpful little ballerina fairies come in and do a dance to find a dress for Cindy-Ella to wear to the talent show because Fairy Agent insisted that she goes. Fairy Agent gives Cindy-Ella her iphone 5s and says hat when it rings, Cindy-Ella has to leave or the spell will be broken! Now, Cindy-Ella has always wanted to be a pop star and should be one but of course, she is just a servant.

The talent show starts with a performance from one of the judges 'Lady Ga La'. She sings an acoustic version of Poker face. She does well. The next act is a singer called Melody Rivers who sings 'Price Tag' by Jessie J. The next act is a girl group called 'The clowns'. The clowns do half a song full of tricks and circus music until the music stops and the Host tells them that they have the wrong show. They go off crying hysterically. The next performance is the 'Ugz' and they do a big dance with wigs and the whole lot to 'Girls just wanna have fun' by Cindy Lauper. They don't leave the stage until the host literally shoves them off stage! The next act is a singer called 'Queen Ruby' who sings Walking on Sunshine.  The next girls are a girl group called the 'Chilly Girls' based on the spice girls. They do a dance to 'Wannabe' by the Spice girls. After that, Cindy-Ella and Fairy Agent are having a conversation, well more of an argument. Finally, Fairy Agent persuades Cindy-Ella to sing her song. She sings 'Rolling in the Deep' by Adele. She is amazing. At the end, her/fairy fairy agents phone rings and she drops it and runs off stage. Prince Idol runs after her and then the host ends the talent show.

Soon after that, there is a scene in the coffee shop where Cindy-Ella works where Prince Idol comes in and listens to people sing to try and find Cindy-Ella. He doesn't manage when really she was just in the background cleaning a table and serving people. Then Cindy-Ella starts singing the song she sang for the talent show very quietly and then Prince Idol hears her and comes back in and asks her if it is really her and she says yes and the host comes in saying that she thinks they've found Cindy-Ella. Everyone comes in and watches as Prince Idol asks Cindy-Ella if he can MANAGE (not marry) her and Cindy-Ella says yes.

Then there was a big company number to Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, and everyone clapped. We all go backstage and then the principal introduced the cast in their groups. Then finally, we all sang All I want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. It was a great awesome magnificent fun show! I was cast as one of the Ugz. It was a really fun part to play and I think all three of us Ugz went really well together. We are actually really good friends in real life so we were even in our characters off the stage and at school!  It was such a great experience and I want to do the show again and again and again! One of the drama teachers says that it should go on tour! But that will never happen...:)!

Anyway, here are some pictures/videos of the show! Enjoy!  By Jessie

Here are a couple of videos and pictures from the show. Click on the links for the videos.

http://youtu.be/psESGVsKCrI

 http://youtu.be/pR8BpFw6pgg

It's snowing in Cyprus

The Cypriot village of Kakopetria today

A winter storm, dubbed Alexa, has hit the eastern Mediterranean these last few days, bringing heavy snow to parts of Cyprus and also across elevated areas in Lebanon and Syria. Snow even fell in Nicosia overnight, which is not common. We heard today from some colleagues in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are located. It is estimated that more than 80,000 refugees will be spending the winter in tents, with many more in temporary or makeshift accommodation. The onset of winter proper is a major challenge for these people.

World Vision, other agencies, the UN and the army are working hard to continue distribution of emergency winter supplies.  However there are real concerns that the winter is going to be very harsh on an already highly vulnerable population. Click here for further details on the emergency response work being done by World Vision or here for some further news about the storm and its impacts.

Mountain roads in Cyprus today

A visit to Abkhazia

This picture shows the lobby entrance of a hotel I recently stayed at in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.  The images are a somewhat strange way to welcome guests to the hotel, but they reflect much about the region's history and present reality. Abkhazia is a separatist region of Georgia, situated on the Black Sea between Georgia proper to the south and Russia to the north.  The region unilaterally declared independence after a war with Georgia over 20 years ago. Abkhazia is not formally recognised by any countries apart from neighbouring Russia and a scattering of small South Pacific islands, so the region remains in political limbo. Abkhazia is heavily influenced by Russia, and now hosts a number of large Russian military bases close to the border of neighbouring Georgia.  The capital Sukhumi is only a few hours away from Sochi, the Russian city hosting the February 2014 Winter Olympics.

An old rusted cafe venue on the Black Sea 

Travelling in Abkhazia feels a bit like being a time warp, and the evidence of war 20 years ago is still highly visible.  Large numbers of houses vacated by Georgians who fled during and after the war remain empty and dilapidated. Likewise the large and now abandoned Soviet collective farms which were famous across the USSR for tea production and various other produce.  Abkhazia was once the playground of the rich during Soviet times, but now faces chronic issues of poverty, ethnic tension, economic malaise and political uncertainty.  On my recent visit I couldn't help thinking that when the Abkhaz fought their war for independence, the present status quo was not the outcome they had hoped for or anticipated.

The Baku city skyline

Following on from my visit to Abkhazia, I spent time with in meetings with staff and donors in Georgia and then travelled across to neighbouring Azerbaijan.  Of all the countries I visit and where we have programs in the region, Azerbaijan is one that always challenges me.  The contrast between Baku, where the government spend billions on public infrastructure and city beautification, and the rest of the country is immense.  Freeways in Baku and some other parts of the country are bordered on both sides with elaborate architectural walls, many illuminated at night and creating what I heard someone refer to as a 'corridor of happiness' as you drive along.  The unfortunate purpose of many of these walls seems to be to hide the poverty and slums that lie beyond.  So in one sense it can seem like there is a false veneer in Azeri society.

Despite the infrastructure grandeur of Baku, the country still faces deep issues of poverty, discrimination and exclusion of vulnerable groups.  These issues are far more pronounced and visible in rural areas away from Baku, but are also present in the capital itself. It seems there has been better progress in recent years, but there is much further to go, particularly in areas of disability, social services and civil society development.

The Azerbaijan flag in Baku. Up until recently this
was the largest 'flying' flag in the world.  

The 2012 Eurovision song contest venue in Baku

Some of our team in Abkhazia

Frozen Moscow!