BREZOVICA
CAMP
(Hysni)
INTRODUCTION: Hello and
welcome to UNMIK on air!
Bringing kids from different
communities together through games and other entertaining activities seems to
have had good results during summer camps. So last week the buses rolled up
again to the famous Brezovica slopes again… this time carrying 25 Serb and 25
Albanian teenagers from Lipjan for a five-day camp.
ATMOS
Music in the bus
They come from the same
town, but live in divided communities and go to different schools. Most of
these kids would never even have laid eyes on each other before.
But from the moment they got
onto the buses Albanian rubbed shoulders with Serb… and found that they had at
least one thing in common… looking forward to a week in the snow. Like Edona
Gashi….
CUT: What are you going to
do there?
-Skiing plus other
activities.
-
Four or five days.
-
ah no….(laughing)
LINK: Alexander Dijanovic
and Igor Dukanovic did not seem as though they were going to miss Lypjan,
either, let alone their school.
CUT: We are going there to get rid of the school
for some time (laughing)
CUT: We are going there to play, meet new friends
and ski.
Tr. 26 When it is fun for us
it is fun for them (parents), too. We call and let them know.
LINK: UNMIK arranged the
camp, with help from others. DFID offered a donation, Finnish KFOR donated warm
clothes, Bonita gave them small bottles of water, and Irish KFOR promised some
more….
Up at the hotel at the top
of the mountain, Manuela Andrea, an UNMIK local community officer in Lipjan,
underlined the point that the children were starting the week as strangers.
CUT: I
would say that though they live in the same town, they probably do not know
each other from before, maybe they have seen the face once or twice, but they
do not interact. After one week together here, we hope they will continue their
interaction together.
LINK: During the first day, adds Manuela, they are usually a bit shy, but this does not last long.
CUT: They
are children and they like to play, any games that are team based, we split
them in five teams of ten children each, the groups are mixed,…..it does not
matter they just want win and their team becomes like one, immediately. I found
that in the summer to be very efficient.
LINK: But how do young Serbs
and Albanians communicate, when they don’t understand each other’s languages?
There are many ways, it seems, but one bridge is English.
CUT: They were trying to teach each other like
this is “uje, this is voda, this is “casha” this is a cup.
ATMOS: Wind and skiing instructor
Marigona: The ski went
astray…
Is it difficult?
No
What have you learned today?
-How to run skis and how to
turn…
LINK: The Youth Centre in
Lipjan is helping organize the camp. Bashkim Meta, manager of the centre, says
games help kids overcome doubts and fear inherited from the past…
CUT:
They are still kids and do not think that way, but they had and they might
still have some fears, and when they come here they quickly give full reins to
their youthful energy, and they get rid of any negative thinking once they
start games and entertaining.
LINK: And by the end of the week Festim Bublica and Nemanja Bllagojevic became close friends. Not knowing each other’s language did not pose a great obstacle.
CUT: Gesticulation, he tries a
little bit Albanian, I try Serbian and we manage somehow.
Nemanja:
When we first came here, we were divided in groups, we introduced ourselves to
each other, this is how it started, we started to associate, ski together.
Me and him sometimes competed who would ski better, he was a bit
better. I think I have learned a bit from him, he has learned a bit from me.
Like this…
LINK: The 14-year-olds plan
to remain friends when they get back to Lipjan.
CUT: I will go to his part, since I need to go to
dancing course and we will meet.
Nemanja: We will continue the friendship, I will take his address and phone number, and he will have mine.
B/A: A successful end to the
Brezovica camp. Funds have been approved for three more weeks, so more
schoolchildren will have an opportunity to try the mountain air with new
friends chance. No matter whether the camps help relaxing the tensions between the
communities, at least they are a great opportunity for kids to have a wonderful
time.
CUT: (Manuela)Well done everybody you were very
good.
ATMOS:
(Leutrim, Krenar, Ivana, Igor…)
And that’s all for today…