By Heidi Trautmann
In August 2013 the German Aid Association ROTE TAUBE -
RED PIDGEON -KIRMIZI GÜVERCIN came again to Cyprus on her mission to bring aid
to institutions in need of medical equipment. This year the donations of
altogether Euro 3.800 went to the
Health Centres of Lapta, Yenierenköy and Dipkarpaz, a considerable amount of which was donated by
Hartmut Blankenstein, former German Ambassador to Oman, with strong ties to
North Cyprus since the 1970s, by asking his guests on the occasion of his 70th
birthday to donate for the project of ROTE TAUBE instead of giving him
presents. A nice thought.
The handover
ceremony at the Health Centre of Lapta was on 23 August in the presence of İlker
Şekerzade, the Chairman of the Association, who is a native of North Cyprus but
lives in Munich; Mr and Mrs Ulli Piller TRNC Honorary Representative in Munich, the Head of the Health
Centre, Dr. Sana Emral and Mrs Irene Raab who in the name of Kaleidoskop Travel
has been coordinating the ‘Rote Taube’ projects for the last years. Mrs Raab is
well known for her deep interest and activities to improve environmental
awareness among children in the TRNC. In
coordination with the health centre the most needed hospital equipment was
acquired such as a stretcher, a sick bed, and first aid trolley and some
medical cabinets which were handed over to Doctor Emral at the ceremony. An ECG
and blood pressure unit went to Dipkarpaz and to Yenierenköy an ophtalmoscope
and medical autoscope.
Since 2008 altogether Euro 15.000 were donated by the
association converted into medical equipment most needed by institutions in
North Cyprus. The first occasion was in
2008, when the association was first able to bring a sizeable donation of
private money to North Cyprus, collected by voluntary workers of the
association at Christmas and Easter Markets. The amount they collected was Euro
8,500 altogether: Euro 7,000 to the Çengiz Topel Hospital in Lefke
and Euro 1,500 to a school for deaf and dumb children, the Özel Eğitim ve
İs Eğitim Merkezi in Lefkoşa. In 2010 several donations could be again made
to the same school and the Bülent Ecevit Rehabilitation Centre in Gönyeli.
The daughter of the first German Ambassador in Cyprus,
Mrs Ursula Schölz-Koenig, fulfilled her dream of supporting Cypriot-Turkish
medical institutions in need of equipment when she founded the Aid Association
ROTE TAUBE in 2002. She spent part of her youth in Cyprus while her father was
serving there as ambassador. In those problem (war-)stricken years of 1963 –
1964, she discovered and never lost her sympathy for the Cypriot-Turkish
community and during the later years she spent there, she decided to found the
association with help of many willing hands. The association and its
activities also serves to keep alive the connection with their roots for those
families who have come from Cyprus to live permanently in Germany,
strengthening the bonds between two countries. Many Turkish Cypriot families
living around Munich are among the active members.
May the ROTE TAUBE-RED PIRDGEON- KIRMIZI GÜVERCIN grow a
family and come back again soon. For
this visit I am sure that it and its representatives were most welcome.