On this day Greek Cypriots commemorate the start of the uprising against the British rule in 1955.
On the 1st of April 1955, the EOKA organisation whose aim was the unification with Greece through armed struggle, started their guerrilla campaign, targeting British military installations on the island.
The campaign against the British lasted until 1959. On August 16th 1960, a cease-fire was reached and Cyprus attained independence after the Zurich and London Agreement between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey.
For this day special events take place in schools so that children are made aware of the island’s struggle for freedom. Also, every year there is a massive military parade held in Nicosia.
This year at aspire Private British School, students engaged with a variety of activities in the context of their Greek lessons to commemorate this event and its importance and in an alternative activity to symbolise peace they created a ‘Figure of Freedom’.
The primary students had an amazing time: mathematically enlarging a small map of Cyprus and translating it onto the basketball pitch; attaching the school community’s paper doves and messages to the enlarged shape and adding symbolic olive branches to complete our ‘Figure of Freedom’.
