A Day at the Estate UNICEF boosts spirits of children from the Paediatric-Oncology Unit. Their faces lit up. Was it out of curiosity? Surprise? Joy? That carefree feeling?
All of these things together managed to coax out a broad and vibrant smile on the faces of the 13 children hosted at Ktorides Estate on Wednesday, 20 June, 2012.
More specifically, children being cared for at the Paediatric-Oncology unit at Makarios Hospital were given a guided tour of this special habitat, where common and rare species of Cypriot flora and fauna alike thrive. They also had the chance to mould their own clay pottery masterpieces, indulge in a spot of drawing and face painting, even painting their little hands with whatever their imaginations’ desired. And having worked up an appetite, the children, together with their parents, enjoyed an exquisite lunch, prepared using home-grown produce from the estate.
The beautiful gathering was graced by the refreshing presence of the enduring and ever-witty Eleni Glykantzi-Ahrweiler, who was a guest of Nasos Ktorides. Ahrweiler and Ktorides are UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in Greece and Cyprus respectively.
“There is no greater gift than the smile of a happy child,” said a pleased Mr. Ktorides, who is the president of the Athanasios Ktorides Foundation, describing the children as “heroes and heroines, who inspire us with their brave spirit.”
UNICEF Cyprus director, Mrs. Maro Panayiotou, submitted the event to this international movement’s timeless mission to improve the life of every child in the world.
In turn, Dr. Loizos Loizou, director of the Paediatric-Oncology unit, having thanked UNICEF and the Athanasios Ktorides Foundation for their cordial hospitality, expressed his joy at the successful progress in restoring the health of these children being cared for by the unit.
Eleni Glykatzi-Ahrweiler is an internationally-renowned Greek Byzantinologist. In 1967 she became the first woman president of the University of Sorbonne’s history department, and in 1976, the first woman in its 700 year history to be made dean of the University of Sorbonne.
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