n 2018, FFI began formal plans to bring our programming to the young people on the island of Cyprus. After traveling to the region and meeting with community leaders, we recognized that the first step was to bring over a team of adults to witness our program in action and be trained in our model of youth empowerment.
 
The team of trainers followed the journey of an FFI team to experience the program first hand and evaluate how to adapt it to serve young people from the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities.
 
In June 2018, the team held their Team Building Seminar where they facilitated FFI sessions and shared their experiences working with young people and community organizing. Their journey continued in July when they traveled to New Hampshire to work alongside a team from our Middle East program. They participated in all the signature activities of an FFI Skill Building Phase, while raising awareness of the situation in Cyprus and why programs like Friends Forever are essential for the future of the island’s young people. 
 
Since they returned home, they have been working together to design a sustainable FFI Cyprus program. The first delegation of youth leaders will be selected in the fall of 2019, in anticipation of embarking on the full FFI experience in 2020.