Park Life - By Paula Manoli-Gray

I live opposite and next door to two parks and should consider myself lucky really, especially with two young children, but the reality is not so idyllic.

For one, the two parks are of the old-school variety, despite being only eight years old. By that, I mean they have the same, standard, dated toys as every other park in my area; slide, swings, roundabout and seesaw, all in the same boring metal, same basic design and same colours. But that is not a reason to be ungrateful, nor would I be if the parks were a) maintained properly by Aradippou municipality and b) not desecrated and destroyed by the hoodlums in my neighbourhood.

These parks – along with a myriad of their kind across Larnaca neighbourhoods – are a sorry sight to see. They are so dilapidated, overgrown and vandalised that we actually give them a wide berth, opting instead to get in a car and drive to some of the nice new ones with their elaborate play structures, landscaped gardens and less-standard toys. What a shame when we have two parks directly next door and opposite to us.

My ex-pat neighbour once remarked to me that he could not understand why we have so many parks. There is a law that a certain percentage of land in built-up areas needs to be 'green', therefore, you will find multiple parks in areas like mine, which are relatively new to development, with literally one every couple of hundred metres. At the time I didn't particularly like his comment and put this down to him not having young children. But I can see now that he is right. We do not need a park every few steps we take, especially when they are all the same and battered. Yes, we need green areas, but they should be just that – lush, green forests and gardens, with some, good quality parks intermittently. These fewer but better parks should have exciting, sturdy toys, be maintained by the municipality and above all, vandalism should not be tolerated.

As we speak, in the park directly opposite to my house, the hoodlums of the neighbourhood have smashed the slide to pieces, along with a bench. Furthermore, they have built a den with all manner of household junk (I won't ponder where it has come from) and are still letting off bangers and fireworks even though Easter is long behind us. They scream and chant late into the night.

Whilst I fully agree that children will be children and should have the freedom to shout and build and explore and, and, and… there is a fine line between them doing this and becoming a nuisance and pest. We all share the neighbourhood so why are their parents not checking up on what they are doing? Why do they allow them to run around till late at night letting off fireworks and smashing things up? What a sad indictment of society if they don't actually know that this is happening, although I suspect they do and turn a blind eye because it is not actually in their own property that the destruction is taking place.

As much as I love my neighbourhood in Aradippou, these parks are a shameful, ugly blot to our community, as are the disrespectful and aggressive children that destroy them.

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly, 10/05/14

Family Fun Day in aid of breast cancer charities

Soulla's Saturday Morning Library will be holding its annual Family Fun Day on Saturday, May 17 at the American Academy Junior School premises, from 9.30am – 1pm

The annual event is organised as an offshoot of Soulla's Saturday Morning Library, an English library of children's and adult's books, which is run by Soulla Sophocli every second Sunday of the month - also at the Junior School. Aside from the library, Soulla holds fundraising events throughout the year in memory of her colleague Cathy Ioannou, who succumbed to breast cancer in 2009, with all proceeds going to various breast cancer charities.

This year's event – the sixth one running - will once again offer a variety of entertainment and activities for all the family, with past events raising over €5,000. There will be stalls selling items such as toys, books, make-up, sweets, jewellery and handicrafts, with the €10 stall fee going to charity.

Children's entertainment includes a bouncy castle (without a fee to use), face painting (€2), cookie decorating and kids crafts, use of the playground, and a children's theatre production from Little Muse Theatre. Kicking off the event at 9.30am, Little Muse Theatre's play will be Harold and the Blue Pen, which is suitable for even very young children at half an hour long.

There will also be a raffle (tickets €1 each), with prizes donated from the community, including manicures, massages, cinema tickets, gym membership, dental exams, jewellery, a photo shoot and carvery meals, amongst others.

Soulla says everyone is welcome: "This year's Fun Day promises to be another great, affordable day out. Come along, join in the fun and find out more about the library!"

Alongside the support for breast cancer charities, the event will also be supporting the Larnaca Parents Network (LPN) collection efforts for needy families. Founder of the LPN, Sharon Mckinley and her team will be collecting clothes, toys (new or second-hand in good condition), as well as dry food, baby food, nappies and the like. The LPN collection for the needy is in conjunction with Larnaka Municipality's efforts and the Municipal Market. Sharon is an avid supporter of the library and says: "Please support us by bringing along any of your unwanted clothes /toys and household items, and we would like to thank everyone for their continued support during this difficult period, which many local and foreign families are finding themselves currently in. The LPN also supports and thanks Soulla for her fantastic contribution to the community through the library."

There is still time to book a stall, donate a prize for the raffle or volunteer to bake a cake/s. Volunteers to sell raffle tickets are also welcome. For any of the above, or for more information, contact Soulla on: 99801141 or via the Facebook event page: Family Fun Day – Soulla's Saturday Morning Library.

The library itself – which runs bimonthly – is in its sixth year and is open from 9.30am – 11am. During its opening hours there is a story and song time session for children (at 9.30am), and thereafter (from 10am) there is time to browse the books, which includes over 600 adult's titles. Yearly membership costs €10 (for two books at a time), or €20 for a family membership (six books at a time), and the Story and Song Time session incurs a minimal cost of €1 per child which covers refreshments.

Curves blood donation day - plea for donors

The Larnaca branch of women-only gym Curves will be holding a blood drive on Wednesday, May 14, 6-8pm at its premises, as part of an island-wide blood drive held by the chain.

The blood drive is open to everyone; women, men, members and non-members, and everyone who is able to donate blood is encouraged to do so.

Taking place at the gym, which is located near the Electricity Authority, medical staff and equipment from Larnaca hospital will be set up with four donors able to give blood at a time.  Refreshments and snacks will be provided by Curves.

This is the first time the gym is holding a blood drive, and owner of the Larnaca franchise - Stella Kyriacou - is proud that the gym can contribute to the community: "The island has a general shortage of blood in its blood banks and donations are always urgently needed. Everyone who is able to should donate blood as they will literally be saving lives. We are very happy to be able to do our bit and hope to make this an annual event. We will gratefully welcome anyone and everyone who is able to give blood to our premises on Wednesday and hope we can all come together to make a real difference."

Those who wish to donate can turn up on the evening, but are advised not to drive themselves back as the donating of blood can sometimes cause temporary dizziness or weakness. A form will need to be filled in before donating, which can be done then and there, or can be obtained from the gym in advance to fill in at home and bring along on the day.

For more details, you can visit the Facebook event page: Εθελοντική Aιμοδοσία/Blood Drive, or contact the gym on: 24623203.

The importance of play for kids

Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.

As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue.

Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills. In contrast to passive entertainment, play builds active, healthy bodies. In fact, it has been suggested that encouraging unstructured play may be an exceptional way to increase physical activity levels.

Children’s developmental trajectory is critically mediated by appropriate, affective relationships with loving and consistent caregivers as they relate to children through play. When parents observe their children in play or join with them in child-driven play, they are given a unique opportunity to see the world from their child’s vantage point as the child navigates a world perfectly created just to fit his or her needs.

New discussion group on natural parenting

A new discussion group on natural parenting, Pathways Connect – Cyprus, held its first gathering last week where an article on the importance of community for children's development was discussed in an informal setting.

Pathways Connect was set up by mum of two, Veronika Christodoulides, with the aim of connecting like-minded parents to discuss topics on family wellness, based on magazine articles in Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine. The magazine - which is published by The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association – 'provides a professional, first class approach to introducing Family Wellness to parents'.

The meetings in Larnaca are held the first Friday of every month at 8pm and everyone is welcome. During the meeting, one article from the latest issue of the quarterly magazine is discussed. The meeting is held at Theo's Drawing Room, (5, Agias Elenis), in a relaxed environment with refreshments and nibbles, although attendees are also welcome to bring their own bottle of wine or snacks.

The first meeting attracted around 10 parents and was a great success. The article discussed was 'Why Children Need Community' by Peter Gray, Ph.D, where the author says: "Our indigenous roots reveal that children want and need to move beyond attachment to their parents."

Veronika says of the venture: "The purpose of Pathways Connect is to learn and build solid relationships with other families concerned about conscious choice and family wellness.

"Sometimes it is difficult, if you choose to go against mainstream, then you need some emotional support. One example is that today in Cyprus, most people bottle-feed their children. But before formula milk was invented, babies were all breastfed. So if you decide to breastfeed, which is basically the most natural thing in the world, you sometimes don't find enough people around you to support or understand your wish. Then it is much harder."

The group is a bi-communal project that will take place all over the island in the future. Meetings in Nicosia will start on Thursday, June 5 and in Kyrenia on Saturday, June 21.

For more information, or to attend the next meeting, contact Veronika on: 99992477, or visit the Facebook page: Pathways Connect – Cyprus.