The 8 students from Laniteio Highschool return with an award to their classes, after setting up an imaginative enterprise within the Junior Achievement contest by Astro Bank. Avita Nostra is their own way for preserving and showcasing the beauties of their place through modern jewelry.

Maria Adamidou, Sophia Panayi, Carla Haber, Maria Savva, Cleopatra Kythreotou, Christina Nasiri, Melissa Geissler and Theodora Alexandrou have collected the most beautiful samples of traditional embroidery and flowers of the Cyprus flora and “caged” them inside elegant, modern jewelry.

“Our culture is one of the richest in the world. Preserving it is preserving our identity. Times may have changed, but we should always look for new ways to keep the beautiful craftsmanship as part of our life and the life of the future generations,” explain the teenage girls. The jewelry are crafted with materials from small workshops or women in the villages and part of their profits are donated to support MediCLEFT, the Cyprus Center for Clefts & Facial Disformalities.