Mirdita from Lia

Mirembrema!

A first introduction from one of the students in the Kosovo group. I am Lia den Daas, the only science major (physics) on board, half American half Dutch. It has been an amazing blessing to join all of you on this trip - thank you! I've just been soaking up as much information as I can the last days: such a joy for me :) I have learned so much by seeing so many different organisations, people, perspectives, opinions.
Some quick ideas from my side as a reflection on the trip so far..
As we progress and speak to more people + organisations, my understanding for Kosova, the conflict, the solutions, has really grown. I start to link different ideas together from different groups, see how they work together or really oppose. What has really struck me in this process of getting a better feel for Kosova, is the spirit and energy of the Kosovar (Albanians) we meet: the people who truly want to invest in this country. My own host mother - Buqe, Bardha's aunt - is an inspiring example of that. She works at a judicial office in Kosova (not sure exactly what it is) as a translator for Serbian - Albanian. She has experienced so much, but is still fighting and looking forward to a better future. To me she represents the strength of the Kosovars themselves, the drive they have for their own state. This same energy and drive I saw today in Vetevendosja. Especially fascinating I find the intertwining of this Kosovar strength with the UN/EU interventions.
From the few Albanian Kosovar perspectives I have heard, 
I see a common theme: they think the UN/EU have failed/are failing, in at least some aspects. Although the Kosovars I have met acknowledge the fact that they needed the UN/EU, they strongly believe that these organisations should have done better. Personally, I cannot help but sympathize.. UNMIK did not seem to listen to the voices of the Kosovars who were fighting for their country for many years, as Kosovar Women's Network's (KWN) Igballe argued. According to her, the UN neglected the women's organisations that had been doing work inside the region of Kosova since before the war, arrogant in thinking that they know it all themselves. They simply did not think about women's organizations for example, on the assumptions that a Muslim, patriarch state could not possibly have established women's organisations. It has been extremely valuable for me to see the other side of the UN/EU missions: the reaction on the ground. The strength of the people seems to have been underestimated - which is a sad and crucial mistake. The people have not been listened to as they should have - and perhaps we have made the same mistake in our trip.. Vetevendosja is imagining a future with a functioning Kosova state: independent from UN/EU. Are the UN/EU focusing on that move forward enough? How could it improve? Are they corrupt, working together with the corrupted government - with Hashim Thaci as the master of thieves - simply for their own interests, as Buqe believes? 
So much food for thought...

-- credits to Thao for the picture, and I really really liked your post on facebook. It showed exactly the contrast I am reflecting on above. --

Again many many many thanks to the great organizers of this trip - Anne, Monika, Bardha, Enver - for helping me experience this. As I said, truly a blessing.
All the best, Lia

update:
In response to some message I received on facebook I removed a line from the photo above. All opinions and perspectives discussed on this blog do not reflect the opinion of AUC as an institution, or necessarily of the writer or the group. Although I believe showing multiple perspectives is very important, I do not wish to offend anyone. I hope our posts can encourage us to have productive and open discussions together about Kosovo.

Letter to AUC staff

 Hi faithful blog readers--Let me introduce myself. I'm the instructor at AUC who sort-of dreamed up this crazy trip. To give you a quick impression of what's we've been up to, here's an email I just sent to AUC:

Dear friends and colleagues,

I wanted to thank you for your best wishes, emails, kind words, and waving off as we left AUC on Friday. And I wanted you to know that we not only survived the 4-hour bus ride (in heavy traffic) to Brussels, and the flight to Prishtina, arriving safely in the dark Friday night, but we are thriving.

I wish you all were with us, because you would see what I do:
* The students watching out for each other—it began at the airport already. I call it the Litany of 19, as I went through the names and counted 19 every time we arrived somewhere (check-in, passport control, flight gate, luggage, bus…). But I soon learned that I wasn’t the only one checking to make sure we left no one behind. They have each other’s backs.
* Such a generous and kind group of people—if I had to generalize about our students, I would say they are so very curious and smart and kind and non-judgemental. The conversations I have been privileged to be part of have stretched my own mind and heart.
* We are having way too much fun! Laughter all the time.

So far, each day has been full of so many amazing impressions and discoveries, it’s hard to list them all. Friday night the students arrived at their Kosovar guest families. They were nervous beforehand. On the plane, a few were turning to their fellow passengers, asking if they were Albanian, then going over their vocabulary lists with them, learning Albanian pronunciation. Soon our entire section of the plane was laughing and learning. Yet they were nervous as we drew up in parts of Kosovo where it was apparent people are not so affluent as in  Amsterdam. Pot holes, coal smoke, cobbled together houses and old communist-style flat high-rises—all new.

But the next morning when we gathered at the NEWBORN sign in the city center (referring to the newborn state of Kosovo), they told me stories of the children in their homes, and the food, and smiles and friendship. No water between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. is a new experience. Monika, my friend the terrorism expert who helped put together this trip, had told them all beforehand that hospitality is a precious gift here, and sure enough, our students have all been adopted!

We spent Saturday in a Roma camp, seeing the good work of an NGO, the Ideas Partnership, bridging education needs of Roma children. Hard. I felt like I was back in the townships of the Cape Flats outside of Cape Town. Mud and cardboard shacks, more mud on the streets, the men’s wheelbarrows which they use to gather salvageable garbage—usually their only source of income. Children with obvious physical problems with their eyes and skin. And local community leaders who are owning this project and have encouraged a vision for their children’s future. I saw our students playing with the children. Three of our guys were “arrested” by a group of small boys, who then put them against a wall and summarily “executed” them with a toy gun. Tough to watch this. But then our guys turned it around and grabbed the boys, throwing them over their shoulders to the delight of the crowd that had gathered.

Yesterday we visited a string of organizations: UN Development Program, a Kosovar think tank for policy and development, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the first openly gay lesbian, Migration, and a former student of Monika’s who is working here for an NGO. All these places have given us a wide variety of perspectives as we meet Albanian Kosovars who come from Albanian Muslim backgrounds, or Serb Kosovars who think this is still part of Serbia, or intermarried people who have a long string of hyphenated identities. People refer to the ethnic cleansing and missing bodies and burnt mosques with a mixture of relief and hope. Relief that is over, hope that they may prevent a repeat of the violence. One of our local guides and interpreters, Bardha, told me, "We will not forgive and we will not forget, but we will move on.”

At night we all eat together—riots of conversation and laughter. Last night the students dressed up and went clubbing after dinner finished at 11 p.m. Today we’re off to the PM’s office, so again we have more adventures around the corner. Am curious how long it will take before one of the students asks him about the charges brought against him re. organ trafficking.

The students are setting up a blog, where they can share their research diaries and photos. I’ll forward the link as soon as it’s live. Ivan is making a documentary for YouTube.

Full days and a full heart. My husband Erik, Monika, our two local guides Bardha and Enver, the students and I all send our warmest greetings to everyone back at AUC.

Kind regards, Anne

Peacebuilding in Action

From Amsterdam to Pristina
Welcome to the AUC-Kosovo-Blog! Students from Amsterdam University College together with experienced teachers in International Relations are currently exploring Kosovo and meeting representatives from different NGOs, think tanks and political parties. In this blog participants will share their impressions, thoughts and personal insights.

Students, Teachers & Guides - Kosovo 2014 

Stay tuned, first entries are coming soon!