YMCA in Kosovo Blog

What is the role of women in our society?  What they should do to raise their voices and why is this important for them? Those were the questions we discussed at the round table within the Y Woman project. Y Woman is a new project here in Kosovo which gives space to young girls to talk openly about issues and develop strong female leaders for the movement. I'm a young girl volunteering at GWY (YMCA), and when I was informed about the project I was very happy because I have a strong connection with the topic. I always felt that I need to raise my voice, and be part of a group who shares more or less the same thoughts with me. A space for girls to share hopes, fears and opinions  During the first round table it made me think about how am I contributing my future, and how supportive my family are and how they effect my growth as a person. Personally I think that the strongest weapon a woman has is her education. We all know that woman can educate the who...

From the first moment I heard about the peace institute I was excited to know more about it and really wanted to experience it! Not because of traveling out of the country but because for the first time in my life I knew I was going to have the chance and experience YMCA in a whole new dimension... I was going to experience the international YMCA. The big question was... was I ready for that? YES! Was the big answer, because I knew that a piece of international YMCA was already in Kosovo. Everything started the day when Dorina and Adi called me for coffee and I presumed it was just a coffee meeting like most Saturday mornings, but no it wasn’t they asked me if id like to be involved in YMCA peace work because of my previous experiences and they thought I was the proper person to attend this training.  The preparation started and I was sorting my documents for the visa application (the hardest part of every international training in Kosovo). I had experienced visa application...

As we wave goodbye to 2013 it doesn't seem that long ago since our first blog from Orbis who visited Macedonia back in March last year. He really started the ball rolling and since then we have had many entries ranging from Norway to Armenia, from Prague to England it has been quite a treat reading about our participants and where they have visited. As of writing this blog has been read in over 30 countries by more then 2,500 people! The variety of writers is really growing and 2014 promises to be a fantastic year filled with many more opportunities at home and abroad. We also hope to be joined on the blog by guests from the world wide movement not just our own movement, we hope that their offering will be unique and add to your YMCA reading experience! Another aim this year is to also bring you updates and experiences from our projects here in Kosovo not just individuals International experiences.  So from everyone here at the GWY Blog, we wish you all the best for t...