The borderline village called Mammari is found 2 kilometres north of Kokkinotrimithia and 16 kilometres west of Nicosia.
The biggest part of land owned by the village and the greatest part of the village itself is found in the dead zone. We walked in the streets. The village seems to have been left to its fate. The streets are full of garbage. The dogs wander about freely. The schools have been abandoned before they have even been accomplished. The elementary school children started the new school year today, at the old elementary school, that apart from its ugly construction, the access to it is very dangerous.
We tried to find someone. The streets were empty. In the end we found a settler outside the coffee shop. “Everyone left us”, he replied to our questions. “Years ago, Mammari got the first prize for its streets’ cleanliness. Now they have no money. The village is slowly dying. Young people go to town, they do not stay in the village. The government, built houses and sold them to foreigners. From the time they arrived, thefts have become a scourge. The old village is now lost since there was no help from the governments. Now they have divided the land in another spot, in order to build houses there. What do they want? To transfer us to another area and to erase Mammari? Even the elementary school has been left halfway through…” and the old settler’s complaints could not stop.
We remained silent for a long time, listening to him. Anyway, what could we tell him? We had no solutions. The same is found in rural villages. Everything can be summarised into one word. Abandonment.
