YMCA in Kosovo Blog

2004. YMCA Europe was organizing "Catch the vision" in Prizren, a multiethnical, multicultural city in a new and unknown territory: Kosovo. When I got the email confirming that I will be one of the participants I was very happy and curious to find out more about the place. Unfortunately at that time not too much information was available, so I ended up in Pristina airport, surrounded by military forces from different countries, getting a KFOR stamp in my passport. It was one of the first "wow" experiences in my YMCA life. Prizren 2004 The image of the parking at the airport was a bit strange for someone who had not seen any weapon so far. Tanks and military cars, helicopters and barbed wire all over the place. I was waiting with other participants and all the faces around me were scared and concerned.   Prizren was indeed a real experience: buildings, architecture, food, smells, people, thousand of electric generators on the streets making a huge noise. L...

Hi everyone, my name is Armir and I’m a member of GWY in Kosovo. Just recently I got the chance to go on a Training conference which took place in Macedonia from 4th to 12th of June. It was hosted by CID within the YiA program.  Armir (centre) in Skopje  The first 5 days were hold in Mavrovo where we the participants shared our ideas and opinions about different topics and on the 5th day we gathered everything we talked about and started to prepare for the big conference which lasted 3 days in Shkup where we had to make a presentation there about the role of YiA in youth work development. The overall aims and objectives of this  project were: 1. To explore the local impact of the projects and their quality and sustainability 2. To discuss  the development of youth work 3. To accumulate opinions for youth work recognition in different countries and on European level. There were 49 participants from all over the EU, so I’m very happy tha...

The puppet show project has been funded through "Culture for all" and is  An EU funded project managed by the  European Union Office in Kosovo.  Hello, my name is Alban and I am part of the Puppet Show Project team in Kosovo. It is a new project that GWY  has brought to Kosovo. A few days ago we gave our first performance in a kindergarten called AGU in Gjakova, i want to thank Sebahate Efendija director of this garden for hospitality and they made us feel very welcome. Alban (left) with the rest of the youth volunteers I am very proud to be one of the initiators of this project in Kosovo and it was a great pleasure to work with children. This was the first time that we gave our performance and I think everything went just as it should. Together with the team we have experienced many funny moments, especially during the rehearsals. As a team we are very cooperative and I hope that everything will go according to our plans. I said ea...