YMCA in Kosovo Blog

The Regional Youth Peace Camp is held in Prishtina from 13 th till 20 th of September and really successfully accomplished to get together young people from different countries that used to be in war just a few years ago: Kosovo, Albanian, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. At the first look it doesn’t sound very interesting, but it was! The first night people were cold with each other as nobody knew each anyone, but everything start next morning. The first person I meet was my roommate Jetmir from Macedonia, we stayed there in our room talking for about 15 minutes and then decided to go and meet the others. It wasn’t anything big because we were from countries that have been in war. But it wasn’t how everyone was expecting and we started talking to each other and started sharing our experiences on that great sunny morning that made the atmosphere even better. Days were passing and on the third day everyone felt like it was more than just three days that passed in...

Hi, I am Nol Ajeti from Prishtina, through GWY (YMCA in Kosovo) I had the opportunity for a fantastic journey to Prague, Czech Republic and a short stop in Dubrovnik, Croatia this summer. Nol (center) with Migjen and Rinor Every five years an international festival takes place in Prague. As part of the group from Kosovo I am very satisfied with this opportunity, taking into consideration the lack of possibilities to travel abroad, events like this are always welcomed for Kosovo youngsters. Also it should be mentioned that the nature of Love2Live Festival in Prague, was very inspirational and positive! With different musical performances, theater, dances and a lot of attractive workshops, this gave people from all over the world to get to know each other, sharing ideas, experiences and learning about and from different cultures. Nol being interviewed on main stage I was lucky during my stay in Prague, I was asked to give a short interview about my opinions on the festiv...

As I wrote this blog my body has been left sore and broken from a 30 hour road trip has left me needing much recovery, in recent years my heath has not been the best but I have had luxury for too long of flying around to international conferences with our movement, so I decided to travel from Kosovo to Prague with bus. For many participants from Kosovo this was their first trip outside of the country, something I take for granted as a British passport holder and yet at the same time something special as young people’s first experience abroad was with our movement.  Our first stop was at Prizren (2 hours from the capital in Kosovo) to pick up a participant and allow for a cigarette break, I decided to take the opportunity to use the bathroom but was greeted with an Asian toilet? Now for those reading wondering what such a thing is, it’s basically a hole in the ground… nothing more, nothing less! No seat, no bowl…. Just a hole!!!! Luckily I had come across this type of thi...

For those who don't know what YMCA/RGE is please visit their page by clicking here . Photography from Adrian Davies  By being part of this movement I am having the chance to know more for YMCA as a global organization, meet people from different continents and feel more important in YMCA family. It is a great pleasure to participate in online meetings and I can easily say that big things are expected to come from this global team. YMCA/RGE is open for all people who are ready to make positive changes and actions in YMCA family and their community. I am looking forward for every meeting to come because I really enjoy brainstorming, planning and acting with YMCA/RGE part of YMCA World Alliance.  RGE is the voice of young members in the World Alliance of YMCA. Martin Berisha GWY - YMCA Kosovo

Hi dear friends! I want to tell you guys of how the YMCA helped me to evolve as a person and also directed me in new interesting paths in my life. I spent most of my life outside of Kosovo. In 2002, my family decided to move back after living 9 years in Switzerland. I ended up spending 5 years in Kosovo end I can easily say that those were the happiest years of my life, even if we didn’t have the best financial situation as a lot of other kids in my town, we still managed to have a lot of fun and in the same time we did learn how to love and help each other. Me and my friends were engaged in a lot of programs and organizations in my town like the local youth center and the red cross, so when my family decided to move to Sweden in 2007, this was not really happy news for me, because of the fact that it was really sad to leave all these amazing people behind and the whole project that we worked so hard for. So the first days in Sweden were really hard and I missed everyt...

Dear YMCA friends, I had the opportunity to be in WAY training in Norway as an 'Agent of Change'.   The experience was great and every time we go through these International trainings it makes me more aware of how big the YMCA World is and it that it leaves you inspired and feeling so good! We stayed in Oslo for one night and then moved to Gjovik for the rest of training. It is was an inspiration to see youth from different YMCA’s and the diversity of the ways they contribute to their institutions and local/national movements. At times I was had a feeling that some of agents where seeing communication with their CEOs a big challenge, which made me think how can I can contribute to this process. I think in the next NGSs (National General Secretary’s) meeting I will have to say something about this and maybe share with an open letter to everyone the importance of having around 50 youth from Europe who voluntary contribute to help awake the sleeping giant and are ...

Dear friends, let me first thank everyone within our movement for trusting me to represent them. It’s no secret that Kosovo has been involved in the peace institute for years, even hosting a conference back in 2007. When I first met young people from Kosovo it was during a peace conference in Prague and now 2 years later I find myself speaking on behalf of our movement. Before i arrived in Yerevan i was told it was similar to Kosovo, but that was not the impression i got. Like Kosovo it has stunning scenery and there is rich history. There is plenty of new buildings being developed and the backdrop of mountains again left me breathless. Armenia doesn't accept the Kosovo passport so there was extra pressure on myself to speak on behalf of our movement, this will one day change but brings home the reality we face as a movement in Kosovo about giving our youth international opportunities. The training in Yerevan was the second stage in the current process, after Istanbul in O...