YMCA in Kosovo Blog

The impact of the YMCA Roots for Reconciliation ( https://rfr.ymcaeurope.com/ ) project has been very visible for a number of participants from Kosovo and Ireland. Together the two movements reignited their partnership recently and hope to build on solid foundations of very successful past projects and train a new generation of leaders to add to their talent pools. Seeds were sown many years ago when YMCA Ireland joined the Balkan Tandem project that took place in Prishtina, Kosovo. Following that and the similar mission and priorities of the movements a joint ERASMUS bid was funded, this helped both movements invest in youth workers and peace advocates. The long term effect of this has seen some of those participants move up their respected organisations and continue to work in youth and peace building. Those professionals will now help the senior leadership shape the training of the next generation... moving from seeds to strong trees in terms of their importance to their in...

As part of my job, international training is very important. This time I had the chance for the second time to be part of  YMCA Europe Roots for Reconciliation training. I was excited about this training because when I was in Berlin for the Peace Work institute we were separated in different tandem groups and the group that I was part of we wanted to do a  digital campaign for peace. After six months I was invited to be part of the P.E.A.C.E project in Budapest- which was my groups tandem idea.I was very happy that our project was chosen to be implemented. P.E.A.C.E project aimed to train different youth workers and leaders who work with young people and to spread peace-building through different online campaigns and build the participants knowledge of digital tools and platforms that can help them do this. Nita and Fiona from Kosovo Y I feel safe and not left out in RFR training's and this time again it was a very good because I had the chance to present about wh...

This time for the Roots for Reconciliation project I headed to Budapest with 35 young people from 17 countries. A wonderful week full of study sessions, workshops and presentations from brighter minds which I'm thankful for.  The main goal was to bring and find peace spreading it through a campaign and social media. Fiona and other participants in the P.E.A.C.E training  An old man once said: "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but building the new"... and that is what we did. Round-tables surrounded by minds thinking independently together, that I'm sure made all of us come to a solution "Peace is our gift to each other". Fiona and her group presented their ideas It was my second time training with RFR, and I'm honored to say 'It changed my way of thinking'. The skills we get to learn do not end there... with yourself, then pass it down and spread the message in our countries. ...

When you first think of the word “PEACE” it makes you think and do something about it because everyone wants to change the disaster in the world… And that’s what RFR stands for. The first session was held in Tbilisi, Georgia but I didn’t have the chance to be a part of it because of a visa problem, however my mentor Adi didn’t let me miss anything what happened there and I was also connected with the group all the time. Fiona at the Roots training in Berlin We met all together in the city of  history, Berlin. We were 30 young people from different countries , where each of us has a story to tell. I was impressed how they managed to make every single detail on point. We started every morning with the “message of the day” and I felt so proud that the first message was a speech from Mother Teresa , because she’s a peace symbol and a role model for everyone, and she’s Albanian. Fiona and her tandem group The session “Do No Harm”  from the program really impress...

Budapest, the name of a city that I heard a lot about but knew very little. This was to become the next destination and the last stop for the Peace Work Institute for me.  Adrian (top left) with other Peace Institute Participants  Like every other training that we attend, this one also had the well known challenge for the young people of Kosovo... going through the visa process. Something I had done in the past but still a really stressing process, anyway I got the visa and was really excited about going to Hungary.  6am on the 8 th of February, I was supposed to be on the way to meeting my colleagues but instead I was sleeping! For some reason I missed my alarm clock and if I wouldn’t have got a call or two from Dorina, I would most certainly missed that taxi... 30 minutes late but i made it! We got to the airport of Pristine, as always waiting in an airport without free Wi-Fi it is boring and it feels like an eternity that was in really a long hou...

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...

My good friend Andy from YMCA Ireland recently wrote a blog stating "I have no idea how i ended up here!" and yet, as i sit here on the floor in Vienna airport waiting for lost property to open... i completely feel the same way. The truth is its been an extraordinary month, i attended the YMCA World Council in Colorado and had an experience that few in our movement will ever have. Leading sessions with my peers, networking with the world, meeting old and new friends and speaking about the work done in Kosovo. I also had the honor of speaking on the opening day, and despite a dry mouth, a none conforming screen and a voice in the shadows telling me to "hurry up" ... i rather enjoyed the experience! World Council Speech A special moment i would like to share with you was during excursion day, i had chosen to visit the museum and was joined from by around 30 members of YMCA Nigeria. As we were weaving our way through the mountains the tour guide declared ...

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...

I took part in YMCA Europe’s 3 rd annual fundraising conference, not something I am used to attending but the reality is in some YMCA’s you may have a certain role but you end up involved in most things. It was a 3 day conference in Brussels “the capital of Europe” as I kept getting told. As I looked at the schedule I knew this was going to get heavy at times and there were sessions around the new Erasmus + and EU financial instruments, there was also input from the Scout movement and discussion around a potential YMCA Europe office in Brussels.  Fundraising Conference participants  Jane Burns from England kicked off the conference and went through a host of methods and initiatives which worked in the western countries, she also treated us to YMCA England’s new brand which I feel has been an excellent process however the new logo left some traditionalists without words, however others felt it would grow on them... eventually. My favorite session was the...