Agia Napa

Angus in full flight

Last weekend we headed for Agia Napa, which is about a 45 minute drive from Nicosia.  Agia Napa used to be a small and quaint fishing village before it was 'discovered' by developers who have now transformed it into a resort style town where you can see the best and worst of tourist development.  Picture an old fishing harbour, big resorts, party boats, lots of restaurants (some tasteful, some not so tasteful.......for example a Flinstones-themed cafe that looks like Barney Rubble's house complete with big sign 'Yabba Nappa Doo'), lots of tanned Russians and badly sunburnt Brits, nightclubs on the sand, and you start to get the picture.  The beaches are stunning though.  All sand and limestone cliffs, not unlike parts of Western Australia.  Agia Napa is very much a party town, described by some as the new 'Ibiza'.  The town is taken over by a large clubbing crowd from Europe who move in for a few months in summer.    

Monica came down with us for the day, and Bob and Meaden also, so it was very much an extended family trip.   The kids loved going out on a boat called the Yellow Submarine (complete with theme song.......very Agia Napa), and were able to swim just off some lovely limestone caves.  Angus enjoyed jumping off the boat from some precarious heights, and even Sam made it into the ocean.  It was Monica's first time on a boat, so a great experience for her.   Things are really starting to warm up here now - high 30's or 40+ each day, so trips to the coast will be a regular part of surviving the summer!

Bob reliving his days as the McWilliams monk at a
monastery in Cyprus (actually, they had a dress code
and anyone wearing shorts had to wear a robe!)

The long summer school holiday begins

School has just finished this week, so the kids are looking forward to a 12 week break.  Yes that's right, you heard correct......12 long weeks!  Sarah is not sure whether to celebrate with the kids or cry!  Suffice to say, there's been some detailed planning go into how to spend the summer.  It's already been hot here, and we're told it will only get hotter.  One of the interesting challenges for us is how we get the kids into the groove of having a siesta each day.  The place virtually stops in the summer afternoons from around 2pm until 4 or 5pm.  This makes for some interesting dynamics when our kids refuse to sleep and want to swim in the pool instead.  One of the things we're learning is that Cypriots love their siesta, and are none too impressed when they are awoken by the noisy Australian kids living next door!  So this is our current challenge, with the incentive for the kids that they can stay up until 11pm like the rest of Nicosia through the hot summer months.  We'll see how things go on this front!

We've enjoyed welcoming Bob and Meaden (Sarah's parents) who arrived for a 3 week visit last weekend.   It's lovely for the kids to have their grandparents around, and Bob and Meaden are quickly adapting to life in Nicosia (including the obligatory experience of getting lost on a recurrent basis while driving). They had an interesting introduction on their first day in Cyprus when they joined us for a kids birthday party on the Turkish side of Nicosia.  Passports in hand, we crossed into the north and spent a few hours with a lovely Turkish Cypriot family for their daughter's 8th birthday (she is in Angus' class at school).  Whilst in Cyprus, Bob and Meaden are planning to see a number of areas in the country, and last weekend we did a trip up to the Troodos Mountains, which are still cool and temperate at this time of year.  Tomorrow we're heading for Agia Napa, where we'll hopefully take a boat trip and swim at some of the nearby beaches. 

Otherwise all well with the Piper clan this week.  Hope all is fine in your part of the world.  A few more recent pics of life here below.

Gus and his friend Rashid at an end of school concert

St Hilarion Castle near Kyrenia

Village of Lefkara

Preschool for Sam

This is for you S.K!  The Sat & Wed market place in town.

Farmagusta gate in Nicosia old town

A thousand splendid suns

“Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs

Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”

Saib-e-Tabriza  17^th Century Iran poet

I’m writing this tonight from Afghanistan, where I’ve spent the last week visiting staff and projects in Kabul and Herat.  Afghanistan is a confronting place to visit, a so-called ‘failed state’ in every sense of the word.  The  statistics tell a very hard story:

• 60% of the population lives on less than $2 per day
• The second highest infant mortality rate in the world (including mothers)
• One child in every five born in Afghanistan dies before reaching the age of 5
• Six in every ten Afghan children are stunted
• Less than one in two Afghan girls enrol in primary school

 The first experience of Afghanistan comes in the rapid circling aircraft descent into Kabul (aircraft approach this way due to the mountainous topography surrounding the city).  At first glimpse the city below looks like some sort of alien landscape.  Ancient mud houses and walled compounds, dust and towering mountains everywhere. The airport is highly militarized, UN aircraft and helicopters come and go, along with the constant movement of coalition forces aircraft.  Security around Kabul airport is something to behold, and the experience of clearing customs, collecting bags and heading to the domestic terminal for the one hour flight to Herat is not for the faint hearted. The sight of many women in full burkas in the arrivals area is also somewhat confronting.  Welcome to Afghanistan…..

 World Vision has been operating in Afghanistan for the past 10 years.  The main operations are based out of Herat, with other offices located in Ghor and Badghis Provinces.  There are currently about 200 national staff in country, and 5 expatriates.  In the past the program was significantly larger, but the conclusion of several large food aid grants has resulted in recent downsizing.  Key program areas focus on maternal and child health, education and agricultural livelihoods.   The program staff includes a range of qualified doctors and other professionals, along with a full cross section of disciplines and skills.  They are a great team who work under conditions that are at best challenging and often extreme at times.  An short clip outlining some of the issues in Afghanistan and some of the work World Vision is engaged with can be viewed here.

The staff house in Herat.  Sand bags for blast protection.

The problems in Afghanistan are complex and seem at times to be intractable.  In recent history, the country has had some sort of active conflict present since the late 1970’s with the Soviet invasion.  Security within the country has deteriorated significantly over the past few years, and this continues to present a major challenge to NGO’s and UN agencies operating within the country.  Operating safely and effectively in Afghanistan is complex, and the World Vision program has to implement a range of extraordinary security measures to manage risks effectively.    

A drive down any street in Herat or Kabul is a sensory overload, with the maelstrom of people, families on motorbikes, old Afghan tribal men, small children on bikes or on foot crossing busy roads, women in burkas, street sellers.  A week ago in Herat there were two suicide bombings in the city centre, but as in many of these places, commerce and trade quickly resume and people are soon back on the streets.  Difficult to fathom from a western mindset and perspective, but unfortunately all too common in Afghanistan.   

Entry to the team house.  Thick walls for blast protection.

It’s hard to come to a place like Afghanistan and not be challenged about issues of suffering, poverty, conflict and injustice.   Many of the staff, community members and children I’ve met this week have known nothing but conflict since they were born 5, 10, 20 or 30 years ago. And yet in the midst of this there is hope.  It seems that people in places like Afghanistan often have a remarkable resilience, and that the darker the situation seems, the brighter the light when someone shows love, compassion and hope.  I’ve seen this in many of the people I’ve met this week, and been humbled by it. 

  

I was running this morning on a treadmill within the WV staff compound (definitely no option to run on the streets), and the U2 song “Yahweh” came onto the ipod. It’s a song that has always challenged me in my faith.  Anyway, listening to it this morning, I was struck by how apt the chorus is for a place like Afghanistan, where the injustice and despair can seem to overwhelm, but perhaps a better future awaits.  The chorus of the song says:

“Yahweh, Yahweh, always pain before a child is born

Yahweh, Yahweh, why the dark before the dawn?

What no man can own, no man can take

Take this heart, take this heart and make it break”.

Someone once said ‘let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God’, and this is a good description of my feelings after visiting Afghanistan this week.  Much to process as I head back towards Dubai and Cyprus over the coming days.

World Vision community
project area

The main mosque in Herat.  5000 years old

Main street of Herat

Midwife training program

Inside the staff compound

Herat fort

UN aircraft on the ground in Kabul

Mosque miniarets in Herat

Life on the Home Front

Hello, Sarah here. Whilst Ross has travelled far and wide; apart from the odd trip across the Green Line, the other 5 Pipers haven't been anywhere.  A week of listening to Eurovision songs is about as International as we've got but boy do we know our 2011 Eurovision songs!  Not only did the kids have their own family voting scheme worked out, they also stayed up very late to watch the Final and now, several weeks later, are giving us countless performances from their favourite entries.  The pictures below are from a very spirited dance to Romania's song "I can't change the world".

Note that Sam's fascination with frocks continues unabated...

Only 2 and a bit weeks to go now until the summer holidays start here.  I previously thought that a whopping 12 week break with all 4 kids at home should just about drive me around the bend and became a tad fearful of school breaking up.  However,  not long ago I was rescued when the heavenly "Summer School" note emerged out of the kids' school bags.  So for 5 weeks, Jessie & Angus will spend mornings doing a school holiday programme and then in the afternoons hang out at the local pool with Sam, Anna & myself.


Despite the weather heating up rapidly (most days around 30 degrees), the kids are reluctant to go to swimming lessons.  For J & A, it's just hard work swimming laps, and for Sam he gets cold in the water and has a teacher with no kid skills.  (how I miss the Aussie style swim lessons!) This makes 2 afternoons a week a bit of a drag for Mum but I keep meeting interesting people at the pool so I don't mind so much.


The driving here continues to amaze and amuse.  I figure that if I don't laugh and marvel at the Cypriots' cheekiness on the road then I'll probably just ram into one of them on purpose SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WERE ASKING FOR IT.  I mean, how far can a car poke it's nose onto a main road hoping to be let in?  The answer here from the average Nicosia driver seems to be "as far as I need to to make the oncoming traffic stop so that I can get where I'm going".  The weird thing is that too many people do stop and let them in thus perpetuating the problem and creating a lot of strange traffic scenarios.  In a funny sort of way, however, it all still seems to work and those people who stop to let people in must arrive at work feeling awfully generous.  I've tried it even myself.


The other strange traffic phenomenon that I'm still getting used to is sharing the narrow roads with MASSIVE bulldozers and excavators.  No flashing lights or bulldozer body guards to warn us of their presence.  Quite a wake up call resulting in my becoming a much more alert driver.

All is well here on the home front and we've been pleased this past weekend to have Ross around.  The kids had some friends around to play, we went to a friends' farewell gathering (Angus' best friend is heading back to USA), and then last night headed out for Doner Kebab in the Turkish side of the Old Town. We wanted to take a bit of a 'look around' walk, which the kids are never too keen on, so Ross told them they all had to count 40 cats before we would even think about buying them dinner.  Lucky they spotted a full litter at one point... Today we went to church and then were invited back for lunch with a family who live in a village outside Nicosia.


Monica is with us for 6 days out of 7 and fast becoming a very appreciated element.  She's great with Anna and always hard working and cheerful.  She had a birthday recently which we enjoyed making a big deal of.  It has been a huge adjustment for me, having her here, on many levels.  More about that some other blog.  For now.....Kala Nichta (good night).  No, I shouldn't have written that - it makes the Greek language look easy but it's NOT!  Twice a week I go to mind gym (alias Greek classes) and then have nobody to practice on except intolerant shop keepers.  I'm getting too old for this....

A week in the desert

I've (Ross) just returned from a week in the Jordanian desert, where I participated in a security training course run in co-operation with World Vision, the UN and the Jordanian military.  Security has become a significant issue for aid workers and NGOs, particularly as past approaches of 'community acceptance' as the primary strategy for security protection have been increasingly challenged in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.  Carrying a UN flag is no longer a signal of neutrality and impartiality, and in fact can actually have the opposite effect in some contexts.  This is, unfortunately, evidenced by the increasing number of attacks on the UN and also NGOs in various parts of the world.   

We spent a week in the desert being shot at, kidnapped and detained, harassed at hostile checkpoints and generally challenged in terms of how organisations can effectively manage their risks in complex operating environments.  We had about 30 participants on the course, drawn from countries all across the region.  There were some interesting cross-learning opportunities between participants and instructors, especially given some of the places where participants were from, and the daily risks and security issues they face eg. Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Iran, Bosnia and Georgia. All in all some remarkable people, and I feel privileged to be able to work with them. 

Downtown Amman

It was also good to spend some time in Amman, where World Vision has an office and program working primarily with Iraqi refugees.  Jordan is a relatively stable country in the Middle East, largely due to strong support from the broad population for the King Abdullah and royal family.  It's a country with enormous economic disparity though, and it's interesting to see how the current Middle East 'spring' is impacting even Jordan.  Whilst I was there, two very large protests occurred after Friday prayers in Amman, and these are a now a regular occurrence in various parts of the country.  World Vision and other NGOs in Jordan are preparing for a possible influx of refugees from Syria, where the political and social situation is highly volatile and may further deteriorate.  Syrian refugees are already arriving in the northern parts of Lebanon. World Vision has a number of long-term development projects in north Lebanon and has mobilised an emergency response to support the influx of refugees.


Managing the balance between effective long term development with a capability to respond quickly to emerging crises is one of the key challenges for World Vision and other NGOs working in this part of the world.  Lots of internal organisational issues as well as external challenges to manage in order to get this dynamic right.

Jogging with a passport

One of the quirks of Nicosia is the option to carry a passport when you go for a run.    Our house is close to one of the border crossings between the north and the south. This morning I went for a run that involved crossing the border near our house and then running along the 'green line' or UN buffer zone and into the old city in North Nicosia, before crossing back into the south at a different border point.  Somewhat surreal to jog up to a border checkpoint, have my passport and visa stamped, and then proceed across no man's land to the other side.  When you cross into the north, there is nothing subtle about the change of national focus.  Soon after the crossing you pass under an enormous sign stating 'happy and proud to be a Turk'.  

North Nicosia provides an interesting contrast to the southern part of the city where we live.  Many aspects of the architecture are similar.  For example the beautiful old framed doorways, stately limestone block houses and cobbled streets and squares in the old town.  There are a number of contrasts also, with a strong Turkish character to the food, cafes, shops and of course the mosques.   Houses along the green line remain derelict, largely unchanged from when the war finished in 1974.  The buffer zone has a eerie atmosphere, and it's hard to not think about the lives of the many families who used to live there.  

We've been reading a lot over the last few months about the history of the island, and the conflict over the past 50 years.  Of course each side has their own story and aportions blame to the other but the core fact is that the partition of the island has had tragic consequences for many people on both sides of the divide.  The conflict is long dormant, but the newspapers on both sides trade a war of words on a daily basis.  The current UN Special Envoy to Cyprus is none other than Alexander Downer(!).  His mandate is to work with leaders on both sides of the island and seek to broker some sort of resolution, with a push towards possible reunification.  It seems that this goal is a long way off.  Just quietly, I'm not sure that Downer, A. is the best man for the job to bring these two sides together.......!

You can see the emotion in signs at various war memorials

It's been interesting for us to meet more families from both sides of the island.  A number of students at the kid's school come are Turkish Cypriot, and they cross the border each day to go to school.  Certainly an eye opener for our kids to have school friends from such diverse backgrounds.  


Things are starting to warm up here, which means many more tourists around.  I flew in last weekend, and was amazed at the number of Russian and English charter flights on the tarmac at Larnaca.  We're feeling more settled now, although still working at building some community.  Sarah and I are taking a few Greek lessons each week, and we're also trying to get some more balance and normality into our lives by getting out for dinner together on a regular basis.  Small things about life here continue to surprise.  Even a trip to the local butchers last week.  When we asked for some lamb chops, the butcher went out the back and returned with a full carcass, asking which particular cuts we wanted.  Nothing like getting close to the source!


A few recent pics of the family are included below.

Anna's 2nd birthday

Eurovision awaits......

It's been a while since we posted a blog, but it would be remiss if we let the occasion of this weekend's Eurovision song contest pass without a mention.   Ross was travelling last week, but returned yesterday in plenty of time to prepare for the big event.  Suffice to say, Eurovision is a high point during the year, what with the dubious quality of many of the songs, the hype of the event and of course the intrigue and high drama of political alliances around the voting.  Hosted in Dusseldorf this year, the event promises to bring a certain German sophistication and 'edge' to the mix, along with the general high quality production values that the Germans are so well known for.  


In terms of winners tips, we both feel a certain loyalty to the local Cypriot entry San Aggelos S'Agapisa by Christos Mylordos, but alas think it may struggle against some heavy hitting acts coming from the Caucasus and the Balkans.  The smart money at the moment is on France or Russia, although I'm a particular fan of Dino Merlin's entry for Bosnia. The Caucasus states of Georgia, Azerbaijan or Armenia are long overdue for a victory, and Britain will of course be hoping to avoid their all too often nul points status.   For us, the most noteworthy part of the evening will be to see whether Greece and Turkey swap any points, a sure sign of a thawing in their relationship and a possible indicator of progress in Turkey's EU assessionist aspirations.   Any you thought the contest was about the music???


Hope you can carve out a spare 8 hours (!) or so to watch the event on TV this weekend, and be sure to toast the Cypriots when they take to the stage.  


ps. a clip of the Cypriot entry is included below: