By Shambhavi Chouhan
As I write down this final blog, it stems from a sense of finality and melancholy, as after this assignment, Peace Lab is
officially over.
Reflecting on the first few days home after our
arrival from Kosovo, many things felt distant and alien, to an extent. I was
still immersed in the experience of Prishtina and was coming to terms with
settling back in Amsterdam. We had met young individuals who were forced to
live in a system which was corrupt, inefficient and devoid of opportunities.
The country is still buzzing with frustration and unemployment. The last few
days in Prishtina were monumental for me as we met inspirational individuals who
through their power were trying to push for a change. Despite the magnitude of
the given problem, they were hoping to create a dent on the inefficient system. Examples included young women such as, Tadi, Mr Petrit Selimi’s assistant, who apart from working
for the Millenium Development Fund were also organizing drag parties. And young
men such as Rinor, from Kosovo 2.0, who while working for an unconventionally
bold magazine were also trying to narrate their story of growing up as Albanian
in Serbia.
Kosovo suffers from an unfortunate
geographic situation, with unfriendly neighbours but the warmest people. What
caught me off guard, was the kindness and the warmth of the people. We were
living with Enver’s family and they immediately made us feel at home. It was
unfortunate to witness the challenges they had to face due to the circumstances
of the society around them. A lot of the youth wanted to leave the country, but
a lot of them didn’t want to either. These Kosovars maintain a strong relation
and identity towards Kosovo and want to make it economically prosperous. As
Petrit Selimi, the founder of the Millennium Development Fund stated, he
eventually hopes that the “brain drain” in Kosovo becomes “brain gain”.
Significantly, Kosovo is brewing with
history and hope (for a better future). It was inspiring to witness the role of
small NGOs such as the Kosovo Women’s Network or the New Social Initiative, and
the strength of their vision, as opposed to the international organizations
which were often bureaucratic, riddled with inefficiency and corruption. The
importance of narrative also starkly comes into play in Kosovo as a lot of
people relate their identity to their Albanian or Serbian past. A uniform
identity in Kosovo is missing and as we witnessed while meeting Albin Kurdi, a
lot of politicians push for a historical narrative which relates to their
ethnic identity.
Currently a daunting number of challenges
lie ahead for Kosovo: visa liberation, fighting corruption and inefficiency and
possibly joining the European Union. The government still lies a world apart
from the grievances of the locals. The only thing which is pushing the country
forward right now is the cluster of social initiatives by the driven locals and
the hope for a better future. The question then remains whether this would be
enough?
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