Serbian and Kosovar children together at summer camp
Serbian and Kosovar children come together to forget their past and enjoy their childhood. “I could see clearly… For years I have seen Serbians as very cruel. Now this summer camp has changed my opinion about them and helped me get over the sorrow I had accumulated during the war time in Kosovo. They are not like I thought they were. We had a great time with Serbian peers. We played and I could feel their spirit deeply. I loved their smile, their friendship.”
This is what 16 year old Mirjeta Ymeri from Kushtova commune said, as she shared about her first experience with summer camps. World Vision organized many summer camps in Rugova, a commune near the Kosovo capital of Prishtina. The camp was held in beautiful surroundings and was safe for the children.
This summer children of the Kids for Peace club planned a new way of organizing summer camps — just as they wanted them to be. Their idea was to unify as Kosovar and Serbian children and forget everything else. This was the first time Serbian and Kosovars where spending more time together. During the camp, more than 40 children, 12 of them Serbian, shared their experiences with one another and participated in different activities, like playing, singing, talking about their rights and just enjoying their childhood and freedom -- with no concern about being “different”.
The whole process of planning the summer camp was a child led process, where children of Kids for Peace from Semetisht and Sallagrazhd villages created a working group of 14 children and seven representatives from both clubs. Children divided into seven groups and took care of their duties. They organized meetings before and scheduled all programs and topics they wanted to share during the time they spent together. Such as: how to stay safe on the internet, discrimination of children with different abilities, conflict resolution, spiritual nurture (care, five love languages, forgiveness and friendship), and planning a successful project for the upcoming summer camp.
Fadil Seferi, a boy from Koshtova, Mitrovice said: “This summer camp has changed my opinion about Serbian children and now I’m very happy to have so many young Serbian friends.”
“This was the first time we conducted summer camps without World Vision ideas and plans,” said Besjan Bytyqi, a Kids for Pace member. “I’m proud because we did it our way. For this reason we enjoyed it so much. We talked a lot about our rights, our equality,” he said, trying to remember all the things they did as children together.
“ We are children and we deserve peace.. I hope our friendship never ends,” said Nadja Grbushicë, 12, from Serbia.
One of the topics children were focused on was understanding the isolated and sad world of children with different abilities. They agreed to try to understand their world; how they feel and bring real examples from their life. To reach these children they tried to behave like them and find ways to help them, such as going deeper into their real world.
“I have some friends of mine that are so close to me but they distance themselves on purpose because they feel different,” said Besjan. “One of the topics we proposed was understanding their world. We had a section dedicated just to them. We behaved like them. Closed and blindfolded our eyes with a handkerchief to try to understand exactly how blind children feel. How they handle darkness. The upcoming summer camp we are thinking to bring some of them to the camps and help them feel equal like us,” he concluded.
“Seeing Albanian and Serbian children planning wonderful things, socializing, singing and sharing experiences with one another was a great proof how we envision these children’s lives should be like,” said Loret Buzhala, Kids for Peace Facilitator.
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During this beautiful summer season World Vision held several summer camps and about 300 children and youth from Kosovo, Roma, Ashkali and Serbian communities participated and enjoyed each other’s company. For some of them this was the first time participating in such things and for some maybe the third or fourth. But one thing was obvious in their eyes: they were all happy…