Redux
Every journey circles home
Sri Lanka is a country many Cypriots could not easily point to on a map. It sits far beyond our sea, our continent and our immediate daily worries. And yet these days, as Cyclone Ditwah leaves devastation, deaths and whole communities washed away, Sri Lanka is not far at all. It is, in many ways, inside our homes.
For years now, the Sri Lankan community has become one of the most visible and essential migrant groups in Cyprus. They are the women who care for our children, hold the hands of our elderly and steady the routines of households that depend heavily on them. They are the cooks in many homes who have introduced us, sometimes without us realising, to flavours like curry leaf, ginger and cardamom now quietly blended into Cypriot kitchens. They are the workers in the large supermarkets, at the car washes, at petrol stations and in countless service roles across the island. Sri Lanka may be far away but its people are woven into the everyday fabric of Cypriot life.
Over the weekends, big parks in our towns fill with Sri Lankan workers meeting friends, sharing food, selling small services and sending money home. Their lives run in parallel to ours: the early morning buses, the long shifts, the modest wages, the constant pressure to support families they have not seen for years.
They contribute to our social insurance system so that we can look forward to better pensions, yet they themselves will not take that insurance back home. Integration for the Sri Lankan community in Cyprus is a fact which has been achieved not through policy but through patience, resilience and quiet dignity.
And now, while the holiday season here approaches with lights and music, many of them wake up each morning to messages of loss. Losses that follow the devastating years of Covid, economic strain and other hardships their families have endured even before this cyclone. The news from home is grim. Hundreds dead, hundreds missing, more than a million affected. Entire districts flooded, homes swept away, families suddenly without shelter or income.
A catastrophe like this magnifies the distance between Cyprus and Sri Lanka, yet also collapses it completely. When someone who cares for your grandfather every day tells you her family has lost their house, or relatives are missing, Sri Lanka is at home.
So perhaps this month, as we enjoy the comforts of our own celebrations and acknowledge how much this community contributes to our island, we might consider a gesture. Even a small addition to their salary could help with the increased needs of their families back home. A simple act of solidarity for people who are so far and yet so very close.