YMCA in Kosovo Blog

For me the peace conference in Pristina, organised by YMCA Europe on 09/09/2014 was the first conference i ever attended. Before going there I was skeptical and thought it would a boring thing... just five days to spend somewhere else. Well I was wrong… Those five days were the best of it’s kind and I enjoyed them very much! The first day we were the first ones to arrive at Hotel Pristina and as the host country it was our duty and pleasure to host other YMCA groups from other Balkan countries (YMCA England and Ireland joined us too ). You could see by our facilitators and organizers faces, their confidence and joy... this was the first indicator to me that its going to be a good and productive peace conference! Participants at the "Bridges for the future conference" Everyday there was a different country who explained their conflicts and what are they doing to find a solution to peace, everybody were involved by asking and answering questions and doing lot

After 11 hours of traveling we finally arrived in Thessaloniki. We were very excited. First we went to YMCA building or XANO how the Greeks call it. It was awesome it had basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a girl showed us around. I loved the YMCA shop, it was amazing. After that we got on the bus and had 2 hours on the road where we arrived at Halkidiki camp. Outside YMCA Greece After we sent our suitcases to the accommodation we went to eat dinner. We were then shown the camp rules. There was a bell and everyday it rang at 7:45 so the marikes ( χαχα ):some of us who had to lay the table and serve, had to go. After that there was another bell ringing at 8:00 so that everyone could go to the dinning hall and eat. After the marikes served the meal it was time for the prayers and after that we started eating and we couldn't leave the table until everyone was finished! The first day we were split in four groups that had two or three leaders and they took us on a tou

"Paradise on Earth" Well, it was quite a new and attractive place for us or should i say for us youth... travelling to Greece was living a reality between antique and modern life, surfing through Thessaloniki at first, it was a great city with all the ingredients of Greek history. All over amazing sights, all across downtown we saw special things and buildings, and then... the YMCA building. When we first saw that place, we thought is all this building for the YMCA? or only half of it?.. but no, it was huge! Everything was organized as it should be, a place where youth can express themselves, can reflect freedom and spend time with friends. A pool, a mini-market, a basketball hall, a mini church, lots of activity rooms and many many other things like cups, awards and we wished that one day we would have a YMCA like this, what an amazing place! We moved from Thessaloniki for a hour and a half to Halkidiki - paradise on earth.The camp was populated by mostly Gre