Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

ut an additional military burden for a nation whichis already suffering from the excessive burdens ofher military budget.The Turks are afraid that Great Britain does notshow sufficient strength or understanding for thisdanger, and in that lies some of the explanation forthe violence of the anti-Greek riots at the time of theLondon conference.We in the United States are naturally inclinedto favor movements for self-determination in opposition to colonialism. But I do not think that the conditions for an expression of popular will exist at present. Since the Greek Church will not take a standagainst violence the Cyprus police have been forcedinto passivity.People who normally would vote one way wouldbe frightened into voting another way against theirbetter judgment. There must be a period when lawand order can be re-established before self-determination can become feasible.In the meantime the British efforts to createmore domestic self-administration surely deserve ourgoodwill.HENRY G. DITTMAR,Professor of History,University of Redlands,Redlands.The New School Building andNew OpportunitiesBy Blanche McCreaIt seems it has come my turn to let you knowsomething of what is going on in Cyprus. It wouldtake a longer letter than could be printed in the Witness to tell you of all the happenings amongst us!However, we can give a few highlights.We, in Nicosia, are very happy to be in our newbuilding. It is such a contrast to what we've beenusing that we have to pinch ourselves to believe it istrue. About that time a bill comes in for payment andwe see that side of the reality. We don't quite seehow we're going to make ends meet, at least thisyear, but we know there is a way in His plans. Wewish you who have prayed for and contributed moneyfor this building could see it, visit its classrooms andhelp us enjoy it. We still need your prayers and contributions. The auditorium has not yet been completed, so we work to the sound of hammer and floorsander. As there is a large rectangular space betweenthe two wings of the building, we hold our morningchapel exercises there, the girls standing. Fortunately for our exercises, but unfortunately for the watersituation, no rain has yet fallen. It is needed badly.We hope to have the dedication of the building on the3rd of December, as the whole building should befinished by that time.We are very crowded in our boarding house accommodations and poorly equipped in sanitary installations, at least for the number we have. Thereis quite an expense in getting back and forth to theschool by bus. We have practically decided, if we canfind houses nearer the school, to move at the end ofthe school year. In any case our rent, either here orat other premises, will be a great deal higher. Wedon't know whether we shall be able to continue the376boarding department and make it pay. We do wishwe could also have the second floor of the buildingfor boarding quarters.We have a large enrollment in the Preparatoryand Academic classes, but the Elementary sectionis down considerably. Distance to the building mayhave made some difference. We have built bicyclesheds for 170 bicycles, but there are 180 or morewho ride bicycles to school, about 65 who ride in thebuses which take the boarders, the rest of the 330or so walk, or are brought by parents or suburbanbuses.It is a little early to tell much about the caliberof the student body, but it looks like it would be moreor less normal. We are afraid we have a few undesirable characters, but sometimes they don't staylong. We are missing some of the better Christianwitnesses who are not in school this year, havinggraduated, though we are using one for some librarywork. We are all disappointed that Avge David, ofwhom I often spoke, is not being permitted to go toGeneva after all,even though her passport, visa,guarantee and reservation at Geneva had been made.Parents, and other relatives assisting, decided sheshould go to Ireland where her brothers are. She lefthere still thinking the way would open up for her toget to Geneva, but it hasn't not for this year anyway. She is not to be blamed, and our prayers shouldbe with her that she will be given strength to continue her witness as she did here. Christ is so much apart of her life, that there is not much doubt butthat she will, but she is discouraged.You are all anxious to know about the politicalconditions of the Island, and I'm afraid you have nothad much news from us about it. When questionedabout it before I left for Cyprus, I said the missionaries had not written me anything about it. Thereare so many other things to write about, but it is truethat conditions have become much worse since then,though from about last December matters were getting out of hand. Your newspapers and radios willhave given you much, I'm sure, but still you willwant to hear our view, and how it affects us and thework. The day I arrived in Cyprus, the 28th of August, was really the beginning of the worsening ofconditions. There were mass meetings that day, anda policeman killed on the main street of Nicosia;sentence has just been passed on the young man accused of his murder. That was at the time of theconference in London. Since then the British Institute has been burned in Nicosia, a military Governorreplaced the former one, Commandos were brought into strengthen the army and police, the police andsoldiers are in constant danger of stones and bottlesbeing hurled at them, all government buildings arecarefully guarded against attack sometimes by thethrowing of hand-made bombs. The latest report wasof one being thrown into the Post Office at Famagusta,probably through a private box, considerabledamage being done to the building. One deploringthing is that school boys and girls get mixed up inthings (these are students from the Greek Secondaryschools). Several times different ones have gone onstrike for one reason or another, police have intervened only to be greeted with stones and bottles,they retaliating with tear gas bombs. An Island widestrike was carried out one day. Most schools met, buta number of our girls could not get here as they cameby bus from their villages, or their parents could notCOVENANTER WITNESS