Cypriot youth camp exposes global village of eco-warriors

SOUTH Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) media officer, Joanne Groom was given the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Cyprus for a youth summer camp called Young Friends of the Earth Europe from 3 to 10 September.

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Young Friends of the Earth Europe is a grassroots network of young people and youth organisations working collectively for social and environmental justice on a local, national and European level.
They strive to take action on climate change, food and agriculture and education for sustainability and are passionate about environmental and social justice, and believe the voices of young people should be heard.

Groom and other African youths from Egypt, Nigeria, and Mozambique joined their European friends on the eight-day trip to Cyprus to discuss and share stories of each county’s environmental issues, climate change, various aspects of activism, how they are dealing with it and how they are going to work together as the world’s community to help each other.

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In addition to a jam-packed schedule of workday sessions, on day five, participants took an excursion to the Mathiatis South mine in Limassol. Originally an ancient copper mine, it was turned into a gold mine.
The participants also had the opportunity to network on a more informal basis, learning about their colleagues’ cultures.

This was Groom’s first international trip and her visit to Cyprus was a breathtaking experience. “At first I was so nervous to travel so far but when I got there, it was so interesting and an eye-opener. I met so many lovely people who had many amazing stories to share with us about their communities.

When I told them about South Africa and especially Durban South where SDCEA operates from, it was shocking and surprising to see their reaction and how they all wanted to help us and know more.

It really shows the type of solidarity we as a worldly community are capable of and how we could solve global problems if we worked together,” she said.

Groom had time to also enjoy the beautiful sights of Cyprus and took advantage of the beaches, nature walks and delicious food they had to offer to her South African pallet.

“If I could, I would go back there to stay. I still can’t believe I was even on this trip and made such great friends from all over the world. I can definitely see myself living in Cyprus,” she giggled.

Photos by: Andreas Link.

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