Basketball in the Buffer Zone
Last Saturday, I went to a basketball game in the Buffer Zone with Greek and Turkish Cypriot kids from both sides of the island. The morning was coordinated by Peace Players International, an NGO that brings kids and communities together through sport, “on the premise that children who play together can learn to live together.” International Fellow Adam Hirsch told me that this was the first time the kids from the North had played a game with kids from the South, but watching them on the court Saturday morning, you never would have known it. Coaches and volunteers split the kids up into four mixed teams and led them through team-building activities and scrimmages. Most of the players were quiet at first, but before long, they were learning names, improving their passing, and bonding over a sport that they clearly love.
