This June, the village of Agros became the setting of a powerful first: Cyprus’s very own fully accessible summer camp - Χάι Χούι (pronounced Hi Hoo-ee). 

For three days, young people with and without physical disabilities came together at the Rodon Hotel to connect, share experiences, and discover what inclusion feels like when it’s built into every detail.

From the initial design stages of the camp, it was important to us that its activities would be inclusive and open to all. This meant that there would not be a segregation between people with and people without disabilities. 

The camp programme included parallel activities, giving participants the opportunity to choose the sessions they wanted to participate in, from yoga to co-designing sessions to snorkeling and theatre workshops. 

The camp also featured numerous group activities, including a sport tournament that featured archery, volleyball and basketball games. Meanwhile, evenings brought everyone together for community-focused events like a lively swap party and an eventful pub quiz, breaking down barriers through laughter, teamwork, and shared fun.

By the end of the camp, we saw a group of random individuals transformed into a united collective, brought together by these shared experiences. 

When launching an event that has never been done before, you are bound to learn a few things along the way. In our case, the Χάι Χούι camp was a mixture of mostly positive, and some negative experiences that gave us food for thought for our next events.

There is no one-size-fits-all for accessibility

Even when all precautions and preparations are made, there can still be barriers that need to be overcome – both physical and mental. A ramp might still be too steep to navigate, accessible parking spots, while available, could be limited, and some activities may still not be easy for everyone to partake in. 

Sometimes, attitudes and assumptions themselves become barriers just as real as steps or narrow doorways. 

While these obstacles might still be very much present in the moment, what defines the experience in the end is the willingness to come up with new solutions and overcome these challenges together.  As such, building an accessible camp is as much depended on facilities, as it is on having a positive attitude, a little ingenuity and a constructive approach to make this an enjoyable experience for all involved. 

Women with disabilities are being left behind

One of the most significant lessons from our first accessible camp was the clear gender imbalance in participation. Women and girls with disabilities were almost entirely absent, a reality that prompted serious reflection within our team. 

This absence cannot be explained by a lack of disabled women in our communities; rather, it stems from systemic ableism and intersectional discrimination that continue to limit their visibility and inclusion. Disabled women remain underrepresented in decision-making spaces and public life, which often means they are overlooked during the design stage of activities and events. This cycle of exclusion is bound to continues unless it is intentionally broken. 

Within the dialogue about accessibility and inclusion, we must also make space to discuss gender equality and representation. Making spaces accessible for all requires an intersectional approach that aims to dismantle all kinds of social limitations and prejudices. If we want to create spaces that are safe and inclusive of all, we must be intentionally intersectional. 

At RESET, we have, and will continue, to work closely with disabled women and girls to co-create activities that reflect their needs and voices. Their meaningful involvement in planning, organizing, and implementing initiatives is essential. While this year’s camp fell short of achieving a gender balance, we are committed to making the participation of disabled women a top priority in all future actions, using our participatory approach to ensure everyone feels seen and heard.

Inclusion benefits everyone 

When spaces are designed to be accessible, they become more welcoming and enjoyable for all. A ramp helps a wheelchair user, but it also helps parents with strollers. Clear signage can assist someone with visual impairments, but it also makes navigation easier for newcomers. Accessible events can make people with disabilities feel included, but they can also uplift and support their families, partners and friends, as their loved ones are able to take part in social settings without limitations. 

As such, inclusive practices can nurture a more empathetic and understanding society, bringing people together in ways that can enrich an entire community.

The Χάι Χούι camp is not meant to be a once-off event. Its organisers, RESET, ΥPARXO, and Ablebook founded Χάι Χούι with the aim of creating fun, accessible events for all. As such, the team is aiming for the camp to become an annual event, and to be part of a growing list of accessible events that we are hoping to bring to our community in the future. 

We hope that Χάι Χούι can act as a blueprint for other initiatives and events across the island, encouraging them to rethink and redesign their spaces and programmes with inclusion at the forefront. Accessibility should not be an afterthought, nor should it be treated as an optional add-on only when budgets and facilities allow it - it must be an unnegotiable, core design element in everything.  

Our mission, then, is to demonstrate how, when spaces are designed with everyone in mind, something amazing is bound to happen. 

This event was the direct result of numerous collaborators and supporters: 

• Organisers: RESET, ΥPARXO, Ablebook
• Supporters: Commissioner of Citizens’ Office, Cyprus Paralympic Committee
• Platinum Sponsor: IronFX
• Golden Sponsors: Amdocs, Andrey & Julia Dashin's Foundation
• Host: Rodon Mount Hotel & Resort

To the staff and participants who contributed to this journey, thank you for proving that when spaces are designed for all, everyone wins.

If you want to keep in touch with Χάι Χούι and its initiatives, find us on Instagram at @xaixoui. 

Written by Melina Theodorou, with the contribution of Stephanie Kalavazidou.