The Kutlu Adalı Award was created in memory of Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı, who was assassinated in 1996. The award is given every year by the Cypriot Press Laborers’ Union in recognition of media professionals working to promote peace in Cyprus.

Talk of the Island is the result of HasNa’s 2005 program implemented with the Management Centre located in north Cyprus and the Future Worlds Center (formerly the Center for Neuroscience and Technology Institute) in the south.  Talk of the Island aims to foster communication, understanding, and respect between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots by covering issues that affect both communities.  Through bilingual news, music, and discussions that include listeners from the north and south, the program uniquely enables Cypriots to interact and learn about one another across the “Green Line”.

Osman Kalfaoğlu (Radyo Mayıs) and Aral Moral (Radyo Astra) received the award in recognition of the bi-communal broadcast.  Speaking about the award, Osman Kalfaoğlu stated: “This is the first time [the Press Laborers’ Union] has awarded a bi-communal program.  We should encourage more bi-communal cooperation between journalists and explore ways to allow journalists to be able to exchange information daily across the divide.  There is a lot of misinformation about both communities reported in the media and if there was more cooperation between journalists, this could be prevented.”

Visit the Talk of the Island website to listen to live and past recorded airings of the award-winning program.

HasNa has implemented peacebuilding programs in Cyprus focusing on media and communications since 2002.  Click here to find out more about HasNa’s related Cyprus programs.

With all the attention that HasNa’s programs are receiving in Cyprus and Turkey, it is clear that HasNa plays an integral role in the international peacebuilding community.  The Alliance for Peacebuilding, an association of organizations that promote collaborative action for peace and security world-wide, selected an article on HasNa to appear in the initial 2012 online publication of the Peacebuilding Post.  The article highlights the experiences of participants in HasNa’s successful water and agriculture programs and captures the impact that our conflict resolution training has had on their lives.  HasNa has been an active member of the Alliance for Peacebuilding since 2007.

Click here to read HasNa’s article in the Peacebuilding Post…

Writing in the Cyprus Mail, a leading Cypriot newspaper, journalist Poly Pantelides commended HasNa’s Cyprus Friendship Program (CFP) as part of the solution to the ongoing conflict in Cyprus.  The author of the article, titled Teen Turnaround, purports that amid the usual political banter of the Cyprus conflict, CFP rises above as a model for peaceful engagement.  HasNa board member Warren Muir founded CFP in 2008, which since then has become so successful that a new volunteer-run organization is being created to operate the program.

Click here to read the article on CFP in the Cyprus Mail…

“Natural Histories: A journey into the shadow of Ararat,” appears in the October 24, 2011 edition of The New Yorker and follows avid birdwatcher Çağan Şekercioğlu, founder and president of the Turkish environmental NGO KuzeyDoğa. One of HasNa’s partners in eastern Turkey, KuzeyDoğa works to prevent species extinction and ecosystem collapse while ensuring that humans also benefit from wildlife conservation.

Cagan Sekercioglu, founding president of HasNa partner KuzeyDoga

The feature mentions HasNa’s ecotourism projects implemented by KuzeyDoğa around Lake Kuyucuk in Kars, Turkey. These projects in 2010 and 2011 trained local residents in environmental protection, conservation of natural resources, conflict resolution, hospitality, and other aspects of ecotourism. The most recent of these trainings helped 20 Turkish women from diverse backgrounds attain the management skills necessary to run bed and breakfasts in the region in order to attract more domestic and international tourism.  Elif Batuman’s article in The New Yorker describes the many socioeconomic challenges that remain in the region, but projects such as these provide hope for real environmental and economic improvement.

By highlighting these efforts, the article shows that advancing sustainable and inclusive development in the region is a shared goal. Through our relationships in the U.S, Turkey, Cyprus, and beyond, HasNa aims to make this goal a reality. When it comes to building peace, saving habitats, and improving livelihoods, birds of a feather do flock together.

To read a preview of the article online, click here!

Click to view photos:

This year we had four special guests at the event. The English teachers from HasNa’s English Training for English Teacher’s Program were here in Washington, DC studying at Georgetown University. They had a wonderful time at Madam’s Organ and expressed how impressed they were by Americans’ spirit of volunteerism.

Our supporters play an integral role in HasNa’s work. The money we raised will help us achieve HasNa’s mission to promote cross-cultural understanding and economic empowerment in culturally divided areas of the world.

We would like to thank all those who attended. And to those who didn’t—we hope to see you next time! We are already excited for next summer’s happy hour at Madam’s Organ.

By Alexsandra Fischer

We inaugurated HasNa’s English Language Skills for NGOs in Diyarbakir, Turkey on May 9th, 2011. We were English teachers in Turkey as Peace Corps Volunteers in the 1960s. Our Turkish was rusty, but we welcomed the chance to teach again in Turkey, to see some of the southeastern region, and to further the goals of HasNa.

We taught English for three weeks to 20 staff members of the Development Center, one of HasNa’s local NGO partners in the region. Class was held nightly from 6-8:30 PM at the English First language school following a full day of work by the participants. The classroom setup presented a challenge to the interactive style of U.S. language teaching, resources were limited, and the students were tired. Nevertheless, the participants caught on quickly to exercises with partners and team work and responded to the active communicative goals of the course.  We used dialogues, role play, word bingo games, the phonetic alphabet—all to get the students using English.

We planned lessons daily at the Development Center offices and were taken sight-seeing in the historic area on the weekends. We had a chance to visit historic sites in Diyarbakir—the six kilometers of 3rd century volcanic rock walls encircling the old city were quite impressive as was the centuries old and still active Assyrian Orthodox church. The nearby cities of Sanliurfa, Harran, and Mardin were wonderful to visit with participants in the course. The Turkish elections were an added bonus. Sound trucks blaring music drove throughout the city. Flags from the various political parties decorated the streets. The Development Center was next door to the headquarters of the most popular political party in Diyarbakir, so we even saw some candidates walking the neighborhood.

The students and the host families were all warm and welcoming and the food was delicious. We are now communicating with some of them by email—in English. We made good friends and after three weeks it was hard to say goodbye.

By Pat Lowther and Kathy Scruggs

CFP focuses on fostering trust and understanding through friendships between Turkish Cypriot teens and Greek Cypriot teens. CFP prepares these future leaders to find bi-communal solutions for living harmoniously together in Cyprus.

An impressive turnout--over 200 parents and teens attend a CFP briefing in Cyprus.

This year the program is expanding tremendously. The group of 60 young, future leaders from Cyprus will live in Oregon, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, as well as Washington, DC and Northern Virginia for a month of leadership training, team building, and community service.  This is a big step forward since CFP began in 2009 with 20 teens living in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia.

The enthusiasm for the Cyprus Friendship Program continues to grow as well, as both teens and host families prepare for the arrival in the U.S.

HasNa would like to recognize the extraordinary efforts of the volunteers that made CFP 2011 possible:

Warren Muir, Executive Director and Chair

CFP IN THE U.S.

Cheron Calder, Portland, OR Coordinator

Cassie Cleverly, New Hampshire Coordinator

Tom McCarthy, Maryland Coordinator

Mike Messinger, Northern Virginia Coordinator

Liz Swenson, Connecticut Coordinator

Priyanka Komala, Webmaster

Kim Bell, Transportation Coordinator

Don Guziewicz, Transportation Coordinator

CFP IN CYPRUS

Nicos Anastasiou

Sarper Ince

Sotia Adamidou

Cise Sakalli

Simge Kahvecioglu

Theano Kalavana

Meral Akinci

By Ciara Masterson

HasNa’s Citizen Journalism Training Program—or “Gorilla Activism” as it is being called in Cyprus—is an 8-day workshop that began June 20th. The program was developed in conjunction with the Management Centre and Cyprus Community Media Centre in Cyprus to empower Cypriot youth with innovative and fun tools and skills to engage in citizen journalism and digital storytelling.

Biased journalism is a major influence in Cyprus and has furthered misunderstanding between the two communities. There is a growing need for news that is prepared by and for youth, using digital social networking as an effective media platform. This program trains young Cypriots on the techniques of digital storytelling and the principles of citizen journalism to enable them to produce bi-communal news stories and increase interaction between the communities.

Check back soon for more information on this exciting new program!

By Ciara Masterson

Pat Lowther and Kathy Scruggs

Pat Lowther and Kathy Scruggs were seniors in college when they were moved by President Kennedy’s call to service with the Peace Corps. They applied, took the exam, and reported to Peace Corps training at Georgetown University. At Georgetown, they studied with about 100 other volunteers to become English teachers in Turkey.

It was terribly hot and humid that summer in 1963. There was no air conditioning in the dorms. They studied Turkish every day for 3 hours, took classes on American studies, ESL teaching, and rigorous physical education. There were inoculation clinics and most of the trainees had their wisdom teeth pulled as a precaution.

Pat and Kathy became friends soon after they met. After a week in Ankara they traveled to their sites: Pat to Bursa and Kathy to Bandirma. Their second year Pat taught in Adapazari and Kathy in Ankara. It was difficult to be new teachers without family and old friends but the volunteers relied on each other and new Turkish friends at their schools. Adjusting to a new culture and language and dealing with homesickness was a challenge, but the kindness and hospitality of the people in Turkey made the two years a remarkable experience.

Since then, Turkey has held a special place in their hearts which is true for all the rest of their Peace Corps group, known as “Turkey II.” It was their home away from home.  In 2009 there was a reunion for the group in Washington, DC and they immediately bonded with folks they had not seen for 45 years because of their shared experiences in Turkey. They traded stories of the various recent volunteer projects they had been involved with in their communities across the US.

Pat Lowther and Kathy Scruggs with students in English Training for NGOs 2011

Pat and Kathy have known Nevzer Stacey for over 40 years and admire her for founding HasNa. They have been glad to volunteer in the past, helping with museum and shopping tours for program participants.  Since they are both retired ESOL teachers, it was natural to volunteer to teach English.

This project–teaching English to people working in non-governmental organizations–particularly resonated with them. They are a little apprehensive, especially since their once-fluent Turkish is almost non-existent, but excited as well. They set about writing lesson plans and dialogs.  When they learned that HasNa’s budget could only fund the purchase of one set of textbooks, Kathy reached out to the Turkey II members for donations.  In a short time, dozens of new textbooks were donated as well as over $500 to purchase additional books.

Pat and Kathy will keep journals while they are in Diyarbakir in May so they can regale their Peace Corps colleagues at the Peace Corps 50th celebration in September 2011.

By Pat Lowther and Kathy Scruggs

English Language Trainers, Kathy Scruggs and Pat Lowther, in front of the White House

English language training is one of HasNa’s priority program areas for 2011. It is at the top of the list of HasNa alumni requests for new skills and knowledge. “If I am able to improve my English, it will bring various opportunities for both me and my co-workers,” one graduate from HasNa’s Program Management Training 2010 said when asked what skills would be most beneficial to him in the future.

According to a needs analysis conducted by one of HasNa’s local NGO partners, lack of adequate English language skills is hindering communication between local NGOs and international organizations. Local NGOs feel that this prevents adequate cooperation and the exchange of expertise and knowledge.

Kathy and Pat are now retired after careers as English language teachers. Kathy says that, “This will be a good way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps and to get to know Diyarbakir too.” Kathy and Pat have been supporters of HasNa and are excited about the opportunity to teach in Turkey again.

By Duygu Soyer