A Reflection on Kosovo, Dreams and Hopes

By Daria van Duren

We have now all been back home in Amsterdam for more than a week. There has been time to rest, time to work on our projects, and time to reflect on everything that we have experienced during our trip to Kosovo.

For our project that we worked on during the trip, Maaike, Noé, Lily, Lara and I interviewed people in Kosovo about their dreams. We have conducted interviews with about 15 people, which we then transformed into a Humans of New York inspired book which consisted of a quote from the interviewee, accompanied by a photo of them. For our project, we talked to many people and each conversation was very valuable and has taught me quite a lot. Our conversations with these people focused on their dreams and hopes for the future and the struggles that they currently face, but often also touched upon many other topics.

By focusing on dreams, we wanted to learn both which issues the people in Kosovo currently face, combined with what their ideal future would be which would then also explain what these issues would look like solved, and how this could be achieved. With such a topic for our project, we learned a lot about which issues Kosovo’s inhabitants currently have to deal with. It’s close to impossible to draw conclusions from our conversations, but we did come across some recurring themes. Dreams that were often mentioned were stability, security, safety, EU integration and visa liberalization.

We also learned that the living circumstances in Kosovo are so dire for some people that they did not even feel like they could dream at all. And we learned that a wish for stability and safety should not be a dream: It should be a human right, as said by one of the persons we interviewed. 

The trip to Kosovo, and our project in particular, has really made me reflect on how privileged I am. This really changed my perspective on my own life and that of others, and I feel more inspired to help others ensure basic human rights and achieve their dreams, and to be even more grateful for my own life. I have the privilege to be able to dream, and I have the privilege to not have to dream about things such as stability, safety, a job or being able to travel to other countries as I am lucky enough to not have to worry about those things about which a lot of people who live in Kosovo unfortunately dream about.

Peace lab has taught me many things. It taught me valuable information about the complex situation in Kosovo that I did not know before. I was totally unaware of how many issues Kosovo, a country in Europe, which is relatively so close to home, still faces. Peace lab has also taught me that being kind is so extremely important. And that being able to dream, especially about other things than basic human rights, is something that should never be taken for granted and should be made possible for everyone.

I will forever be grateful for this trip! I can’t wait to return to Kosovo one day and to see all the beautiful places that we visited and especially everyone that I talked to again.