UNMIK on Air

“Peace - its in a Game”

6 September 2004

(Valon A. Syla)

Hello and Welcome. You are listening to UNMIK on Air.

A mixed group of Kosovan youth believes that small initiatives are important for establishing peace between ethnic communities. With the hope of breaking down walls of isolation built over many years, one group met for a day of sport. UNMIK On-Air was there.

Atmosphere: playing sports

Watching this group of Kosovan 20 something’s play a volleyball game, it is difficult to identify which one is Serb and which one is Albanian. None of them have ever had a friend from a different nationality because they’ve grown up in a hostile atmosphere, and for the first time they met at a Police Academy in Vushtrri. Ironically, they all work together as translators.

Anna - “I have victims in my family from the past conflict and at the beginning when I started to work here it was very hard… but as time passed it changed, because I thought that something should change. And I believe that is important to improve our communications our relationship between each other because we all have to live here - together.”

Ana Stojanovic is a 21-year-old Serb from Caglavica. Her grandmother was killed in 1999. She still thinks that the younger generations had nothing to do with that conflict and believes at it is up to the youth to change things.

Rinor Beka’s grandfather was also killed during the 1999 conflict. He says that the past can be remembered but it should not be an obstacle. Beka says that if there are mutual interests, positive change between Kosovo’s ethnic communities can be realized.

Rinor Beka - “We can start through initiatives like sports for example, where Serbs and all other ethnicities play on Football teams, or Basketball teams. Then, we can create a common league where all these groups would feel a part of this community, a Kosovo community.”

One Serb 21 year old from Vushtrri, Betim Llapashtica says it is important to simply feel as if you are a Kosovan - not a Kosovo Serb, Kosovo Albanian, or Turkish Kosovan. Llapashtica says these ethnic breakdowns are too simple. He says the time has come for understanding each other as they inherit the power of their parents.

Llapashtica - “It is very important because these initiatives can bring people together and if we bring people together we will understand each other’s problems, and if we don’t understand that how can we solve the problems”

Others like Mimoza a 24-year-old girl from Lypjan, think that the youth has a responsibility to veer from the footsteps of the older generations. Hate, she says, was their big motivation. Working together should be the path of the youth Mimoza says:

Mimoza - “Now it’s time for the youth to start change the past models… to start replacing the politics of the past generations and circumvent their roles, in every kind of daily event - no matter if it’s in politics, or in schools- everywhere change needs to happen.”

Atmosphere: of playing kids

Wisdom like Mimoza’s was plentiful on this day of sport; one young Albanian remembered the words of activists who came before him.

Actuality: - “There is a saying which posits that individuals can make a change but a group can make a miracle, and I think we should work together in order to solve our problems and change Kosovo”

Playing and working together has started to make a difference in the lives of these youth - creating the conditions for understanding the mutual problems, and mutual interests that affect them all.

This concludes today’s edition of UNMIK On-Air. Please stay tuned as we bring you unique news from in and around Kosovo.