When Cheron Calder signed up for a study abroad class in Cyprus, she had no idea that promoting peace and sustainability on the ethnically-divided island would so greatly influence her life’s work.
But during her two weeks in Cyprus, Calder observed firsthand what decades of inter-ethnic conflict can do to a country. During the 1960s and 70s, violence between the Turkish-speaking Muslim minority and the Greek-speaking Christian majority wracked the island. After a Greek-sponsored coup d'état in 1974 was met by Turkish military intervention, UN Peacekeepers called for a ceasefire and established a patrolled UN buffer zone to segregate the two communities.
Consequently, most children, teens, and young adults have never had contact with anyone from the other side, and each side has its own version of the country’s history.
“There’s a serious need for both communities to acknowledge what happened in the past so they can begin to heal,” said Calder, who graduated from Portland State this year with an M.S. in conflict resolution.
During her study abroad visit, Calder was asked to become a volunteer coordinator for the Cyprus Friendship Program (CFP), which focuses on breaking the cycle of mistrust between the two communities by connecting teens from one side of the island with teens from the other. Each teen selects a partner from the other community, and for one month they live together with a host family in the U.S.
“It’s a beginning process to open up dialog between the two communities,” Calder said.
This year, Calder connected seven pairs of teens with host families in the Portland-metro area. And, capitalizing on Portland’s reputation as one of the greenest cities in the world, each pair was tasked with studying a sustainability topic in Portland—such as transportation, water management, or renewable energy—and considering how they could apply similar sustainability practices back at home.
To get an introduction to Portland’s sustainability initiatives, the teens took a Green Campus Tour at Portland State University, which features green roofs, electric vehicle charging stations, and LEED certified energy-efficient buildings. They also explored a farmers market, the OHSU Center for Health and Healing, and the new compost system at the VA Medical Center. Towards the end of the month, the teens worked on a community service project with Habitat for Humanity.
“Doing work in Cyprus around sustainability is something that benefits both communities,” Calder said. “And when the teens are working on sustainability issues, they’re also presenting a very powerful message about peaceful collaboration and a peaceful future for the island.”
Once they return to Cyprus, the teens will continue working on their sustainability projects and present their research and ideas to bicultural audiences in venues across the island, using sustainability as a tool to unify the two communities.