In a member of Cyprus’ diaspora PAUL LAMBIS finds a woman who won a beauty contest and used the victory to raise environmental issues and battling for the freedom of others
Catherine Constantinides was raised to believe that our actions matter. Her parents, especially her father, would teach her and her siblings about environmental responsibility and the need for caring for our planet as a whole.
Today, she is an environmental and social justice activist whose passion for the environment and human rights advocacy has earned her the title of ‘earth warrior’ in her home country of South Africa, where she invests in education and raises awareness about climate change, sustainable development, agriculture and women’s empowerment.
Beyond her looks, which earned her the title of South Africa’s first Miss Earth in 2003, Constantinides seized the opportunity to use the vehicle of the beauty pageant to develop a leadership and climate advocacy programme that has expanded outside South Africa. “My passion for food security and ocean preservation, as well as water and sanitation, has allowed me to work extensively on a global platform to champion what previously had no face and voice,” she said.
As a proud South African with both Greek and Cypriot roots, Constantinides attributes her success to her family and the foundations that her parents created during her formative years, encouraging her to dream big and achieve everything she set her mind to.
Constantinides was born in Johannesburg and spent as much time as possible while growing up outside with her parents and siblings enjoying the miracle of life. “My father would always say that fairies and creatures lived in our garden, often showing us glow worms and chameleons while teaching us that the earth is our most valuable asset.
“We never imagined we’d become the climate activists and earth warriors we are today, but the journey certainly began in that very garden,” she told Cyprus Mail. “Our understanding of social justice issues, as well as our advocacy, had been shaped ever since I can remember.”
Her faith, according to Constantinides, was the cornerstone of her family and continues to be her guiding light and strength, “especially in a country plagued by inequality, depths of hunger, poverty, and social injustice.
“We were exposed to a strong sense of community outreach from a very young age, serving others in our daily lives and always assisting and supporting those who were suffering,” she added.
From driving into impoverished areas of Johannesburg’s central business district to deliver loaves of bread to homeless people on the street to organising fundraising events while still in school and reinvesting the proceeds back into the community, Constantinides’ social enterprise caught the attention of large corporations and brands who assigned work to her despite the fact that she was still in school.
Constantinides chose to study law and anthropology because she aspired to be President of South Africa one day, but her academic career was put on hold when she lost her scholarship due to political circumstances at the time. “I had applied for several bursaries, and they were all denied, so I realised that I had to pursue my passion by carving my own path,” she said.
And over this career, she was motivated to incorporate as many young women as possible in typically male-dominated sectors.
“Greening programmes started when I was determined to plant corridors of trees in historically under-greened communities in South Africa and to begin to uplift communities by working on the ground and fighting for a seat at the table to voice the reality and the impacts of climate change.”
A year following her reign as Miss Earth South Africa, Constantinides worked to ensure that she could then take over the platform and establish a programme focused on leadership and climate activism. “Thousands upon thousands of lives and communities across South Africa, and in other countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Ethiopia, Togo, Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya, have been touched two decades later.”
Her passion for food security, ocean preservation, water and sanitation has also seen her work extensively on a worldwide platform to champion what has no face or voice. “I am firmly committed to this work and will continue to advocate for a better world where we have a more in sync connection to the world’s most valuable resources.”
Constantinides has many defining moments that have played a role in establishing her as an individual motivated to make the world a better place: meeting and spending time with Nelson Mandela as a young girl – a time which she recalls reinforced her passion and commitment for social justice and the pursuit of human rights – to working in the Saharawi refugee camps, championing the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara; working with the youth-led environmental organisation Generation Earth; receiving the South African Young Woman Entrepreneur Award for Women Empowerment in 2012; participating in the Archbishop Tutu African Oxford Fellowship in 2013; meeting American President Barack Obama in 2016 as a Mandela Washington Fellow; working in many war-torn countries, experiencing the coalface of war with people, women and families, and becoming a mother to Mattheo “are certainly moments that shape who you are and your journey.”
Challenges abound in life for everyone, even Catherine Constantinides. “From a business perspective, it has also never been easy, especially when you do what you do to fundamentally shift and change the world,” she said. “Being young has seen many people try to take advantage of you and dismiss your value, but you must fight on and hold on to the set of values that define you.”
Constantinides’ work as a human rights defender is still crucial. Having served on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN Security Council in New York, she believes that “the travesty of humanity remains the hunger for power.
“We live in a very broken society, and I believe we lack authentic leadership that puts people first. There are several concerns and emergency items on the global agenda that demand much-needed robust and in-depth debate and discussion, as well as a number of crucial situations that require resolution and finality.”
As many nations continue to lack access to basic human needs and even fundamental human rights the energy crisis has crippled her own country’s damaged and suffering economy. “We lack decisive leadership and focus on the future of our nation,” she added.
Although born and raised in South Africa, Cyprus holds a special place in her heart, especially village life in Omodhos or sailing along the Paphos coastline. As a human rights advocate, Constantinides believes that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the Cyprus issue, “especially when it comes to rallying and mobilising Hellenes from around the world to stand firmly against the occupation and to give voice to what I believe has been forgotten.
“I have made an effort to connect to this cause on several occasions, and I often use my position to shed light on the occupation of Cyprus. My objective is to become more involved in activism since an occupation anywhere in the world is an occupation. And there is a clear violation of human rights in these spaces.”
For the time being, this earth warrior intends one day to write a book detailing her various humanitarian missions, which led to her becoming a daughter of the Sahara. “Working on the ground, having lived in refugee camps and connecting with people in these camps, the diaspora and the freedom fighters themselves, I can never rest until my Saharawi children return home to a free and liberated Western Sahara,” she said.
“My freedom as a child of South Africa, is meaningless if I do not use it to unlock the freedom of others. And this also applies to Cyprus.”
