By Margaret Sheard…..
We recently went to visit the area of the Kumyali Nature Walk which was being arranged to raise funds for a much needed outside playground for the children of the Ziyamet Special Needs School, which we also visited while we were in the area.
The school has been refurbished with help from people who realise the need for this type of project to give the special needs children of the Karpaz a place to give them some assistance in coping with their daily lives. To see our original article click here.
The Kumyali Nature Walk took place on Sunday 18th October 2015 and there were in the region of 200 participants which raised 4,025TL towards the playground for the school.
There was no official start time for the walk and registration was between 9am and 11am, but many walkers who arrived early decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and set off straight away especially as some decided to do the whole 16km walk. There was also an 8km route and 4km for those who could not do a longer walk, so something for everyone. The route was manned by volunteers from Civil Emergency Service Volunteers (CESV) who were ready to help in case of an emergency and to give support to the walkers as they made their way along their chosen routes.
Hasan Kızılkanat and Esin Kızılkanat came along with their son, Mert, to give support to the walkers. Mert, attends the Ziyamet Special Needs School and they are delighted with the fundraising efforts being made for the school to help these special children.
We were treated to some folk dancing during the morning and as the walkers started to return they made their way to the Nitovikla Garden Hotel to have lunch before setting off for home again. The Mayor of Mehmetçik – Cemil Sarıçizmeli, gave a short speech thanking everyone for their support and hoping that this type of event could be repeated in the future.
All in all this was a very successful event and thanks must be given to Art and Mary Watson, Adem Osman Adem, the Mayor of Mehmetçik Municipality – Cemil Sarıçizmeli, CESV members, Michelle Martin – BRS, Pam Kennedy, EFRAR members, LSOK, Creditwest Bank, and Zekai Altan of Nitovikla Garden Hotel, for their hard work in organising this event for the Ziyamet Special Needs School.
We decided to stay overnight prior to the Nature Walk and booked at the Nitovikla Garden Hotel which we had looked at on our previous visit to the area. A very nice traditional Cyprus hotel in a convenient area for people who want to spend time exploring the Karpaz. I will be writing about this hotel as a separate article.
To see more pictures of this event have a look at the following slideshow.
