The book reflects not only women from different nationalities but also from very different backgrounds with different skills who fought hard to grow and achieve what they have achieved
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“Which person was your inspiration growing up?” This was the question I was asked to answer recently at a gathering at the House of Partnership. The gathering was about a new book published by the Historical Dialogue and Research Group entitled “Women's stories from and beyond Cyprus”, an educational material for young students. In this book prepared for use by teachers in the classroom, there are 22 stories of women from Cyprus and the world – among the Cypriot women in the book is my own story, as well as stories by Neshe Yashin, Christine Shahbenderian, Biran Mertan , Marias Hatzipavlou, Doris Myrianthea, Filissas Hatjihanna, Elenis Iosifidis, Kamran Aziz, Karolinas Pelendritou, Lena Melanidou, Loukias Nikolaidou, Natalie Christopher, Olga Rauf, Ozel Vasıf, Serap Kanay, Yena Hacisevki. Among the women featured in the book from around the world are Rosa Parks, Malala Yousoufzai, Jacinda Ardern, Greta Thunberg and Wangari Maathai.
The book is colorful with cartoon-style sketches of these women, and there are also lesson plans to help teachers handle this material. The overall aim is to make women's stories visible as well as create awareness about gender roles. At the launch of this book on February 19, 2024 at the House of Cooperation on the Green Line in Nicosia, just opposite the Ledra Palace Hotel, after the speeches by those who had prepared the book, we were asked various questions, such as: “Did you ever think that you would have you been in such a book?' and “Which person was your inspiration growing up?”
I guess my inspiration growing up was my mother and that's what I said at the book launch. My mother came from a very poor family and despite the huge obstacles she faced, she always managed to overcome them and became a teacher, a librarian, one of the first women to learn to dive in Famagusta, one of the first women to ride a bicycle and so on henceforth. He had a lot of love, and as we know, if you love life, it means you have a lot of patience. Patience to wait for the results, resilience and patience to achieve things, and this is effective only if you love life.
He had a lot of patience with me and growing up, he would sit next to me, he would translate all the RICK movies and series, all the cartoons and teach me to read and write English, he would answer my questions and he always, always had time for me. She was a very strong woman, and no matter how much the regime tried to crush her power, she did not bow her head and her persistence was always with her. He always told the truth. She never lied and never tried to hide behind her finger. He was honest. He taught me values that I carry with me and I have tried to teach my son and live by those values throughout my life.
. Gathering at the House of Cooperation.
“Don't take something that doesn't belong to you”
“Cut the meat yourself, but never go begging a butcher,” he used to say. “Never ask for things from other people. Never take things that don't belong to you. Never take something that belongs to someone else. If you want something, ask for it first, but don't take anything without asking. Don't pick fruit from someone else's tree. Ask first if you really need to collect them.” As a result of being brought up that way, I would never open the fridge even at my sister's house and take anything out of the fridge. I never took fruit from trees that didn't belong to me.
“Be thankful with what you have”
And of course, appreciate what you have. Having grown up as poor as many families in Cyprus during the 1920s and 30s, he knew the value of food and other things. “Always appreciate what you have. Think of others who have less than you. Think of those who have nothing. Always be grateful for what you have and thank the earth that gives you what you have.” These were life lessons, and when we sat down to eat, after the food was finished, she always thanked her God for providing the food we had on the table. He recited poems to me and taught me how to read them, about how we should love and appreciate life and all living things around us. He taught me to be grateful for all the birds chirping, for all the cats around us, for all the trees in our garden, for all the flowers in bloom, even for the spiders and lizards he found a way to teach me why he should appreciate and never harm them.
The book, in three languages, is available for free
Memories
At the gathering at the House of Cooperation, I spoke about how French author Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs and Belgian cartoonist Herge's Tintin cartoon series shaped my life. Herge, through the famous Tintin cartoon series, showed me that anything in the world was possible – that I could go out and do things, that I could achieve things – all it took was hard work and determination and passion for it. truth. As for Simone de Beauvoir, at a very young age – I was about 15-16 years old – I read Memoirs of an Obedient Daughter which had a great impact on me, showing me what kind of problems girls faced and what kind of struggles they had to fight. girls. One of the greatest books I ever read was her later memoir, The Power of Circumstance. In this book she mentioned Andre Gide or Camus or other authors and I would go and try to find all the books by the authors she mentioned in her memoir and read them myself. This was not a problem, since from the age of 3 until the age of 18 I grew up in a library, because my mother was a librarian. I read shelves of books, whole shelves, starting at one end and ending at the other end.
Bringing women together
Simone de Beauvoir shaped my struggle for women for equality and equal opportunities, and I set up women's groups, not only monocommunal, but even in conditions where we could not cross the barricades and it was extremely difficult to meet. I have been creating bi-communal women's groups to discuss common issues of concern, as well as peace and reunification of our island. At every opportunity I tried to bring together women from both sides and not only bi-communal but also multicultural, organizing, for example, an artistic event where for the first time in our history Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, Armenian Cypriots, Latin Cypriots and Maronite Cypriots exhibited the their works of art. This was the first multicultural art exhibition in Cyprus held with the help of Andris Dimitriou and the Multicultural Women's Group at the Peace Hall on Ledras Street. A little later, similar actions inspired by this exhibition were started but they were short-lived since they were not based on passion and the need to meet but rather on demonstration.
Diversity in books < /b>
These were my inspirations and I spoke about them at the House of Cooperation, where it was suggested that this book telling stories from women's lives should be circulated in schools and that we be invited to speak to children and young people. From university professors to poets, from referees to athletes and tennis players, from writers to journalists and activists, the book reflects not only women from different nationalities but also from very different backgrounds with different skills who fought hard to develop and achieve these that they succeeded. Special thanks to Alev Tughberk from AHDR who, as I later learned, had originally suggested my name, and also thanks to Shenel Husnu, Umran Avni, Maria Aggeli and Dora Herakleous who are the authors and Umran Avni and Loizos Loukaidis who are the project coordinators. The book was designed by Baris Argus and Hatice Tezcan. And you can get a free copy in three languages (Turkish, English and Greek) from the House of Cooperation.
Main photo caption: The book collects women's stories for young people students.
