They will remember Kosovo through us by Lum

I’m Lum Kuraja, and I’ve been participating in YMCA activities as a volunteer for several years now. I was part of the Kosovo team and went to represent my country in the Youth Engagement in Europe program held in France. Altogether, there were six teams from six countries, and we went there from August 22nd to August 31st. I have been a part of YMCA from 2015 as an active volunteer. This organization has had a major impact of shaping my character and personality. I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of new people, make new friends, and learn new things each time. This has given me a chance to improve my English, my communication and interpersonal skills, and to grow a lot as a person. And finally, YMCA gave me the chance to go to France to represent my country. It has been a wonderful experience being a part of this organization, and I intend to continue committing to it in the future as well.

Lum
First off, the journey to France was very exciting because several forms of transportation were involved. First, we went on the plane, an experience a lot of my companions had never tried yet at that point, and then we continued with a bus and finally a train. We all got time to see a lot of beautiful scenery on the way there and also have different conversations with each other. Then finally when we arrived, someone came to pick us up by car and took us to the camp where we were going to stay. 

Lum and his new friends
The camp was very well organized, teams were divided to do the cleaning and the cooking. The teams were variously formed in a way that each team had a person from a different country in them. This, in turn, helped us a lot in socializing and creating new friendships and learning new things about different cultures. The daily training taught us new things and challenged us in various ways. Also, to make things even more exciting, they had organized numerous games and activities we could do on our free time, which helped us gain experience from people from different cultures but also have fun at the same time. 

Lum and his team

One activity that I particularly liked was that all the teams had to cook traditional food from their own countries and present them to the rest of the participants. To make things more interesting, we had a competition on which team would win depending on the feedback from the people that tried the food. Our team ended up winning the first place in one of the competition categories.

Kosovo table on international dinner activity in France
  
As a wonderful ending to an amazing trip, we traveled to Strasbourg before we went back home. We had the opportunity to sight-see one of the most beautiful and old cities in Europe, and also visit the European Parliament. 

Lum in European Parliament
I am delighted and proud to have had the opportunity to represent my country in the best way possible somewhere abroad, especially considering that we are a small country not very recognized by many foreigners. This has made it possible that the other participants from the other countries to remember Kosovo through us, and maybe even tell others about it back in their homes.   

Lum and all the participants of the training

I am very thankful to YMCA for the opportunity that they gave me, and I believe and hope that I gave my very best to represent the organization and my country in France.  

 Lum




Comments

  1. Unknown12 November 2018 at 22:32

    Hi, I am a new member of YMCA in Prishtina and I can see how much fun this club is just by participating and engaging in. I hope that a lot of people will join this club because we truly change our world little by little for the better. I feel like in YMCA club we are all one and equal and every bodies good experience makes all us happy and proud. I truly believe in our power.

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