CIRCUS OF PEACE
August 1st
I like the
training that we are attending very much. We are playing. Games are great,
There uphill next to the monument we made a tent.
LINK:
7 years old Hysenaj from the Kodra te Minatoreve enclave in northern Mitrovica.
Cooperative
games, dance and theatre are being used more and more to foster dialogue and
conflict resolution. An Italian NGO, Association for Peace, takes this one step
further, using circus techniques and values to get children from different
ethnic groups to interact.
Atmosphere
Track 0.06
This is the
Kodra te Minatoreve or Micro settlement – the only Albanian enclave in
predominantly Serbian northern Mitrovica. In fact it is the only Albanian
enclave in Kosovo. While the majority of Albanians left northern Mitrovica for
the southern part of the city in 1999, some 100 families decided to stay their
ground. And like their Serb
counterparts in other enclaves, they too have limited freedom of movement.
Atmosphere up
Kodra te
Minatoreve has become a fun place these days for this bunch of kids since the
circus of peace initiative was launched. Around 40 of them, from different
ethnic backgrounds have been learning to create a circus - playing at being
animals, clowns and acrobats under the watchful eyes of 13 volunteers from the
Italian NGO Association for Peace.
The
whole idea of organizing a Circus of peace, explains project manager Simona
Capocasale, is based on the need to focus on children in order to promote
dialogue between different ethnic communities.
CUT
2 Simona track 0.11 – English
We decided to
focus our activities on children, to make them play and to stay together. Also
we are teaching them to work in a different way, to work in a cooperative way.
So they are working in mixed groups and they have to find their own way how to
work together, how to organize themselves, how to think and to find a
compromise between themselves. So we are just trying to make them stay together
and to speak.
Atmosphere of
kids playing???
LINK: The
method seems to be working just fine, judging from the reactions of these
children. 6-year-old Ivana beams with
joy as she plays with her new Albanian friends.
LINK: For
Ridvan too, the circus has opened up a whole new dimension – it has helped
break the isolation and with it the hope that Mitrovica will no longer be
divided in the future.
I
am very happy that they organize those activities, because we are very
isolated. We made a tent for a circus. I hope there is chance for becoming
united.
LINK:
Both the Albanian and Serbian communities have welcomed the circus for peace
initiative. A major problem for both communities is that the kids have nowhere
to play. There is only the school where kids can hang around, play, and use up
their excess energy, says Zeqir Rushiti, the Albanian community representative
of Kodra te Minatoreve.
CUT
5Track 0.1 00: 29
The arrival of
Italian association of peace in Kodra te minatoreve is very significant for us,
and we are very thankful for that. They started the activities a while ago.
They are working with the kids and the kids are really interested. I believe
that they are having good fun with this association.( So far we are happy that
the kids are having some kind of fun, and) what is important in this enclave is
that there are Albanians, Serbs, and Romas and there is also an effort to include
Gorani kids. This is a group of united kids - one perspective of the future
Kosovo.
Atmosphere
Track 0.06
LINK:
Above all these kids are having great fun. Thirteen young circus artists are
training them how to act as circus characters. The final outcome is a play,
which will be performed tonight in the Kodra e Minatoreve enclave and tomorrow
night at the Cultural Centre in the so-called Confidence Zone.
CUT
6 Simona track 0.08
They
have theatre activities to prepare a theatre show and they have also some
workshops where they are preparing everything they need for the final show.
Everything will be made of recycled materials, their costumes, and musical
instruments. The scenography is going to be made by them.
LINK: So far, the initiative has been a total
success – for the children and the Association for peace, which now wants to
start similar projects elsewhere in northern Mitrovica.
And
with that we end this edition of UNMIK on AIR - thank you for listening.