It was a full house at South Australia’s Cyprus Community ‘Apokries’ event, held on Sunday, 14 March at the organisation’s centre in Welland, Adelaide to mark the end of the Carnival season and the beginning of the Easter Lent.
The attendees had the opportunity to enjoy Cypriot delicacies prepared by the Ladies Auxiliary and the community’s volunteers and were entertained with live music.
A number of dignitaries as well as state and community leaders were present, including the High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia Martha Mavrommatis, the Assistant Minister to the Premier of South Australia the Hon Jing Lee, Councillor of City of Mitcham, member of the South Australian Multicultural & Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC) Andriana Christopoulos, GOCSA Secretary General Panagiotis Ppyros and Cyprus Community SA Secretary Christina Charalambous.
“Today, we are celebrating the beginning of Lent with members of the Cypriot and Greek communities like we would do in Cyprus and we are happy that we have a good turn up,” President of the Cyprus Community of SA, Andreas Evdokiou, told The Greek Herald.
High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia Mrs Mavrommatis, who is also in Adelaide for the Fringe Festival, congratulated Mr Evdokiou and the organising committee for the event and expressed her gratitude that such community gatherings are going ahead in Australia while Cyprus and Greece are in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s very important to keep our traditions alive and pass them on to our children. The work the Cypriot community is doing in engaging our youth is outstanding and the fact that they currently have 80 young students in their dancing group is amazing.
“We have a duty to these kids to teach them about our language, religion and culture especially as the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution is fast approaching,” said Mrs Mavrommatis and went on to explain how the 1955 Cyprus Emergency was influenced by the Greek Revolution.
“Our Cypriot heroes drew courage and pluck from the 1821 Greek war of Independence heroes,” Ms Mavrommatis said.
From her side Councillor of City of Mitcham and SAMEAC member, Andriana Christopoulos, said that she is “thrilled to be part of the celebrations of such a kind hearted and welcoming community.”
“It’s great to engage with South Australia’s communities and make them feel valued for what they have offered to Australia and South Australia in particular. We really appreciate the efforts of the migrants who have come to Australia and have set up the culture and the country we have today,” Ms Christopoulos said.
The next South Australia’s Cyprus community event is set to be held in May for Mother’s Day.
