Connection

By Ella Haeusgen

 

In my last blog entry, I wrote about our meeting with UNMIK. UNMIK has been present in Kosovo since 1999, and its role has evolved over the years. As previously mentioned, opinions on UNMIK’s work are mixed, reflecting the generally negative perception of UN peacekeeping missions. Both UNMIK and EULEX have contributed to Kosovo’s institution building and continue to enhance interethnic dialogue and community building. We learned about these institutions' standpoint, but didn’t gain much insight into local people's opinions of them. 

For our group project, we interviewed several people who had either lived in or visited Kosovo. Interestingly enough, we often heard that people in Kosovo don't seem to care much about politics. So, are the tensions in Kosovo merely playing out on a political level between different governments? Although we had learnt a great deal about the history and ongoing tensions in Kosovo in our class, it still felt very distant. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to visit Kosovo, so we never imagined that we would experience life there. Despite all the knowledge we had acquired in class, we lacked an understanding of everyday life there. More importantly, we didn't have the opportunity to socialise with locals, share meals and drinks with them and learn from them. In one of our guest lectures, we learnt the importance of going to the places that local people go to in order to soak up their lifestyle, to listen and to observe.

 

Szymon, Elena and I consequently decided to focus our final project on everyday life in Kosovo. Although we wouldn't be able to experience it first-hand, perhaps we could imagine what it was like. With the help of our ‘reporters’, we created a magazine about life in vibrant Kosovo. Our aim was to capture the sparkle in our reporters' eyes when they spoke about Kosovo and convey it in this magazine. Where do people go to dance, eat and swim together? Essentially, it was a question of connection. No matter where we come from, we all know the importance of friendship, sharing a meal, connecting with people and getting to know strangers. What would we be without human connection?

“Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream” – Malala Yousafzai

We learned a great deal during the process of creating this magazine. We listened to our reporters and found out about places in Pristina, such as the Tiffany and Soma Book Station restaurants. We also discovered the vibrant bar district of Rakija and the Mother Theresa Boulevard with all its shops and cafés (see link below). It took us many hours to finish our project, and throughout the working process, Kosovo slowly but surely became more tangible to us. We could imagine what life, and perhaps even a peaceful life, might look like there.

Although we had never been there, we could now make suggestions and recommendations for people travelling to Kosovo. We became so passionate about it that, when listening to our reporters, we felt an overwhelming urge to go to Kosovo ourselves. It was almost a mystical, controversial place that was close to us, yet so far away. During one of our working meetings, we started looking for flights so that we could go on a spontaneous weekend trip, just the three of us. For about an hour, accompanied by much laughter, we searched for every possible way to travel to Kosovo, including hitchhiking, walking, taking the train or bus, or flying. It seemed possible for a moment, but then we had to face reality and accept that travelling on a very low budget at such short notice would not be possible. But who knows... perhaps we can go at some other time, and then we can create a magazine in cooperation with the people of Kosovo. For now, we hope you have time to take a look at our magazine ‘KosovoKonnect’. It is not just a travel guide for people going to Kosovo; it is also a collection of places where people in Kosovo connect, and is therefore hopefully also of interest to Kosovars. Here is the link:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGrKyBPPIM/z27diUToyyeua6tCltnCKQ/watch?utm_content=DAGrKyBPPIM&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=he7a1f45078

 

Here is a link to an online map showing all the recommendations made by our reporter https://padlet.com/landwehrelena/karte-yl75asf60b1959ls

The places described in our magazine are places of connection. People come together to mingle and to share their hopes, fears and desires. That is local peacebuilding every day. However, many of our featured locations are in Pristina, the vibrant capital of Kosovo. As we know, Pristina is mainly inhabited by Kosovo Albanians with some other non-majorities also living there. If there are many places to connect in Pristina, then that is a good thing! But what about the other cities in Kosovo, most notably Mitrovica? What about the outskirts of big cities and the countryside? Can local peacebuilding be achieved there as well by connecting people in their everyday lives? We don’t know the answers. In fact, we know too little about the life outside of Pristina. Is it true that the people don’t really care about politics? Or would other non-majorities in Kosovo tell us a different story? That is something we might be able to find out in the future if we were to go ourselves.

Perhaps this is where we can bridge the gap between local peacebuilding and the efforts of UNMIK and EULEX, whose resources could enhance the effectiveness of local peacebuilding. Ultimately, creating sustainable peace requires a joint effort on multiple levels. I strongly believe that peace is possible, but it requires cooperative and willing attempts at all levels of society, and we can all play a part in achieving it.