Headed out for a walk to clear thoughts and feelings about today. Blue skies, sunshine and a brisk cool wind. Leaves glistening in the light, the paths strewn with dead branches and occasional pops of pink.

Wish that the deadly politicians with their empty rhetoric could also be swept away. Fifty years ago to this day Greece regained its democracy, the Turkish army invaded Cyprus in their so called “peacekeeping mission”, the guarantors of the island’s sovereignty and independence were not worth the paper they were written on, and one third of the island came under Turkish occupation. That’s the story in a nutshell so today I need to find a way to preserve something positive of my first homeland.

I decided the way to do it was to put it in the middle of Oz beauty and some watercolours painted so sensitively by my niece Katerina and listening to the resonant voice of my sister through her writing and books.

I was born just before Independence in 1960 and growing up I have valued it and the democratic process. But lets not kid ourselves, political interests, short sightedness and pure greed stand in the way of leaders achieving the goals they were elected to fulfil.

Refugees the world over continue to be displaced by war, economic hardship, climate change and persecution and desperately piece together their lives in new towns and new homelands amid the never ending battle of assimilation and acceptance.Many left the island. Others stayed and moved to where there were other members of their community. Rebuilding and surviving in any place is never an easy task as countless authors and journalists remind us.

How does one bridge the gap between the person on the ground and the leaders on top? Sometimes blind faith, always hope. Time and time again we have been lead to believe that our wait will finally be over and the island will be reunified. Fifty years on and there is barely a blueprint to even suggest this. So solace is sought elsewhere. From art and nature and writing – preserved longterm as a balsam for displacement, injustice and historical truths.