Thursday 20 June 2019

By Chaz Lenfant

Today I woke up with a sad realization: it was the last full day of our amazing ten-day trip to Kosovo. Just like most of the other days there was a tight ten-minute shower schedule for the “Enver Fam” which always resulted in people running around, stressfully switching between the kitchen and the bathroom. Anyway, around 09.30 we met up with the rest of the group at Newborn and were ready for the last two meetings of the trip. Our first meeting was with Kosovo 2.0, an independent media organization that focuses on deepening the understanding of the current affairs in Kosovo and the Balkans in general. What really inspired me was the fact that they often write about topics that the Kosovar society doesn’t dare to talk about. In other words, through their work they create a way for their audience to talk about topics that are considered taboo by most of the population. One of their staff members, for example, said that if their issue did not create discussions on controversial topics, the issue would not be seen as a success; a strong statement that in my opinion defines their work.

Our second meeting was with the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, a non-governmental humanitarian organization whose mission is to promote universal human rights among citizens of South-Eastern Europe. The person we spoke to was really inspiring. Even though she was only twenty-three years old, she already had loads of experience in her field and was incredibly passionate about the work YIHR does. One aspect of their work I really admired was the effort they put into creating awareness for the people in Kosovo who are still missing. For example, they sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Kosovo with the names of all the missing persons including a pair of shoes (often the only things families have left from their missing child, sibling or parent) asking the Prime Minister to undertake more action regarding this issue. Besides that they also organized the first ever march for missing people in Kosovo.

At night we all met up again and had dinner at the same place as we did on our first night, a restaurant called Rings. I could really tell a difference in the atmosphere between both nights. People whose face you recognized from previous classes at the start of this week now have become friends. Throughout the week we all got to know each other better and during this final dinner together I could see how everybody also grew closer to each other. In between main course and dessert Anne asked everyone to list an event that changed them and another event that was their favorite. At the end, there was a quietness that I hadn’t heard before on this trip, not even when we had to meet at 08.00. Every single one of us was silent, struck by all the kind words and thinking about the amazing experiences we shared as a group. After dinner we decided to party one last time and danced till the early morning hours.