Kataklysmos

Anna and Sam hit the water

Last Monday was a public holiday in Cyprus to commemorate an event known as Katakylsmos, which is celebrated at Pentecost 50 days after Orthodox Easter.  Katakylsmos was originally a pagan festival to celebrate Aphrodite, but has evolved into a Christian commemoration of the flood.  It is mainly celebrated in coastal towns in Cyprus, and involves a range of rituals with water, including water fights.

On the public holiday we headed to the north to a place called Escape Beach, which is somewhat notorious as this is the location where the Turkish troops first landed during 1974.  The only evidence of this today is a large monument and nearby war cemetery, and the beach now hosts a club and somewhat kitsch facilities that are quite typical in the north.  The location is stunning though, with a backdrop of towering mountains and beautiful clear water all around. Also plenty of Russians wearing lots of bling and ordering exotic drinks and spectacular fruit platters. 

We had a lovely day in the water. Anna has suddenly decided she can swim(!), and spent the day doing belly flops off the jetty into the water below.  Sam and Angus spent the day looking for fish and swimming across to the nearby limestone island complete with caves, and Jessie enjoyed lounging, swimming and reading a good book with mum.

Jessie gives her bro a massage!

A shave with Mustafa

The maestro prepares to get to work

One of the interesting elements of living in a divided city is the option to cross the border for quick shave.  Yesterday I crossed over to the north with a Korean/American friend who is shortly to return to the US.  We agreed that he should not return without experiencing a Turkish shave atleast once.  As gents we are typically not so accustomed to this level of grooming, but the Turks and Turkish Cypriots have truly mastered the art of shaving and hair removal.  Many men in Turkey would not dream of shaving themselves every morning, but would instead visit a barbers shop every few days for straight edge or cut-throat shave.  A visit to the barbers is considered a social event, and men commonly gather in barber shops for a shave, haircut, or just to drink tea and talk.

'Flaming' those ear hairs! 

And when it comes to a shave, nothing is rushed. Everything is done with precision and purpose, and somewhat unconventional techniques for hair removal are commonly applied.  This includes 'flaming', where a kerosene soaked cloth is ignited and then brushed against ears and nostrils to burn those pesky  unwanted hairs.  My friend and I yesterday observed a new approach, which was a complete ear wax, where a gentleman's ears and nostrils are filled with warm wax which sets and is then removed.  Ouch! Suffice to say we opted just for the 'flaming' and the regular cut-throat shave.   I'm not sure whether these techniques would pass muster in an OH&S audit in Australia, but they are very effective.

A shave is also accompanied by hot towels, cologne and a back, neck and shoulder massage.  All in all a fine way to spend a morning, especially for gents who are not used to such indulgences.  

The end of school and the beginning of summer!

Sam 'graduates' from pre-primary

The temperature is rising and summer is upon us.  38-40 degrees in Nicosia each day this week.  Jessie and Angus finished school last week, and Sam and Anna will finish up in another week and a half.  School doesn't start again until the second week of September, so it's a long break for them (and for us!).  The kids have had a really good school year, but by this time everyone is tired so the end of school and the winding up of various activities comes as a bit of a relief.  Over the last few weeks the kids have enjoyed taking part in the normal end of year concerts. This included Sam's 'graduation' from pre-primary school.  He starts the equivalent of Yr 1 after the summer.

Sam with his teachers Miss Dora and Miss Wendy

With the onset of hotter weather, many people head away from Cyprus to cooler parts of western Europe.  Somewhat ironic that at the same time there is an equal or greater influx of tourists coming to Cyprus from Russia, the UK and elsewhere.  We're planning to spend most of the summer here, but will head away for a few weeks in late August to Kas in Turkey, and we're also hoping to get across to Jerusalem with the older kids sometime in July.  

So overall we're looking forward to a slower few months, hopefully with plenty of time in the water.  

Here's a video of Sam and Anna's year end concert, and also a few other recent pictures of the kids and various activities.

Angus has loved UN soccer this year

Proud to receive the most valuable player award! 

The arrival of summer has seen the start of
a regular backyard badminton tournament

In the footsteps of Livingstone

Last week I travelled to Zambia for a strategy and planning meeting.  The meeting included a field visit to learn about some alternate development approaches that are being piloted in various communities in Zambia.  The primary reason that these programs are different is that every aspect of the development process is fully owned and facilitated by the community themselves, rather than a combination of internal and external inputs.  At face value this may only seem to be a subtle difference, but the impacts on the ground are profound, and it was both insightful and challenging to see how communities approach chronic issues in areas of malnutrition, hunger, child protection and economic development with a different approach.  At the heart of this approach also lies a community's capacity to develop its own resources over a period of time.

Community members explain their development process

Good development is both art and science, and these elements need to be balanced in equal measure to see systemic and sustainable positive change occur in communities.  If this were simple to achieve, poverty would not be the global issue it is today. Alas, whilst the concepts are simple, effective implementation is not straightforward and a range of internal or external factors can influence or constrain success.  Across the developing world, failed or stagnating projects are not uncommon, and my sense is that building and shaping effective development practice is more of a journey than a  defined end point or destination.  One of the key elements of the projects we visited in Zambia (and more broadly across World Vision), is an absolute focus on sustainable improvement of children's wellbeing.  Every aspect of the work is measured through this lens, and this in itself drives an important dynamic in measuring a 'return on investment' for the resources committed to community development (and related decisions about where investment should be prioritised or reduced).  In this regard, there is an interested confluence of corporate or business thinking, with traditional community development practice. 

The venue for our meeting was located close to Victoria Falls, and I was fortunate to be able to visit the falls during the visit.  The falls themselves are breathtaking, and I can well understand David Livingstone's journal notes after coming upon the falls for the first time in 1857. He wrote:

"the most wonderful site I had witnessed in Africa.  No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England.  It had never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight".

The falls were in full flood during our visit, and the sound was deafening like a jet engine.  Water and blasting mist is everywhere, and it's hard to not be overwhelmed by the power and majesty of the falls.  I felt very privileged to visit such a special place, and have vowed to return with Sarah and the kids next time!  

On a final note, I also enjoyed running each morning with a colleague across the bridge over the Zambezi river right up to the Zimbabwe border point.  One of life's more interesting runs!

Zambezi River sunset, just above the falls.  The cloud
is the mist/spray coming off the falls

The daily run!