here - Kosovo Roma Oral History Project

Annual Report 2004
BALKAN SUNFLOWERS
May 2005
Looking back at 2004
OUR WORK TOUCHES
BOTH PEOPLE ON THE
FRINGES, WHOSE
NEED IS GREATEST,
AND THE LEVERS THAT
CAN MOVE THE
BROADER
POPULATION
TOWARD A MORE
JUST AND DECENT
SOCIETY.
Inside:
Message from the International Coordinator
Dear Friends,
The south Balkans is a beautiful region. The land is fertile, rich, and promising. The
mountains crest above our horizon, capped in snow from October to May. Hillside villages of white walls and red tile roofs are surrounded by walls with carved gates and
well-tended gardens. Gradually, since the 1999 war, the grazing cattle and sheep are
increasing. There are medieval monasteries and mosques. Rocky gorges, high meadows, waterfalls, lakes … landscapes change rapidly through even short journeys. More
important, the people of the region leave a lasting mark on the heart. Warmth, generosity, particularly hospitality, are part of the fabric of this area. Those of us who have
had the privilege to live and work in the region want to continue to support our friends,
(Continued on page 2)
COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS NETWORK
4
ROMA AND ASHKALIA DOCUMENTATION CENTER
6
GJILAN HANDOVER
7
SONCOGLEDI SCHOOL
8
WORLD OF WONDERS COMICS
10
SMALL INITIATIVES
12
GRACANICA EDUCATION CENTER
14
NOVO SELO
16
SCOUTING FOR CHANGE
18
PLEMETINA PROJECTS
19
SUNFLOWER SCHOOL ALBANIA
20
FINANCIAL REPORT
22
Annual Report 2004
Plemetina village
neighbors, and colleagues here who are
themselves committed to rebuilding their
communities and their lives.
THE CHALLENGES
ARE GREAT. THE
The challenges are great. The catalog of
post-communist and post-conflict problems
the region faces is sobering:
CATALOG OF
POST-
◊
Environmental destruction
COMMUNIST
◊
Collapsed economies
AND POST-
◊
57% unemployment in Kosovo
CONFLICT
◊
Low wages for those working
PROBLEMS THE
◊
Ethnic hatred
REGION FACES IS
◊
Ethnic discrimination
SOBERING.
◊
Deterioration of infrastructure:
roads, electric, water.
◊
Lack of opportunity and prospects
for young people
◊
High drop-out rate from school
◊
Disillusionment
◊
Undeveloped civil society
◊
Corruption
◊
Poverty
◊
Hunger
◊
Poor health care delivery
◊
Early marriage
◊
Potential for renewed warfare
◊
Refugees and internally displaced
people
Housing destroyed during
March riots 2004. Since rebuilt.
Page 2
◊
Forced refugee returns
◊
Destruction of heritage sites
◊
Trauma remaining from conflict
Nevertheless, the region demonstrates the
possibility of progress and the broad commitment to peace and stability. Balkan
Sunflowers makes an invaluable contribution. Our work touches both people on the
fringes, whose need is greatest, and the
levers that can move the broader population toward a more just and decent society.
The programs detailed in this Annual Report for 2004 improve thousands of lives.
The Community Activists Network expands
the core of people who will work for their
communities – exploring and responding to
many of these problems.
The Roma and Ashkalia1 Documentation
Center gives voice, direction, and support
to two of the most marginalized ethnic
groups.
The Soncogledi School, the Gracanica Education Center, and the Sunflower School (BSF
Albania) all keep some of the poorest and
most disenfranchised children in school, with
affection and support, and with better
prospects for their future.
The World of Wonders comics reaches into
thousands of homes weekly with inspiration,
education, positive examples, activities,
and themes for reflection and growth.
The Scouting for Change program sup(Continued on page 3)
Scout campouts make nature experience possible.
ports the growth of the international scouting program in Kosovo, the program for
children and youth that has the most chance
for sustained growth and a powerful positive impact on young people.
The Novo Selo program was an example
of responding to a 2004 emergency. In
2005, we are again responding to a humanitarian crisis – assisting people whose
refugee camp was built on toxic waste.
The Plemetina programs have helped
families create new income, kids stay in
school, young people to be the first in their
family to go to college, a kindergarten
prepare children for school, and a community group begin to take a broader responsibility for their future.
With minimal support and little or no compensation, they often work harder and
longer hours than many who receive a normal salary. They identify problems that
others do not address. They gain extraordinary experience—not least being that it
is possible to do great work with intention
and little else. They trust that new initiatives can bring results. They often leave
our work more idealistic than when they
started. While, thankfully, all of these
qualities can be found in many places, our
unique approach has meant that our international volunteers—more than 500 since
1999—and our local staff and volunteers
have had an impact well beyond their
numbers.
WE HOPE THAT
YOU, OUR
SUPPORTERS,
WILL TAKE
SATISFACTION IN
THE WORK THAT
YOU HAVE
SUPPORTED AND
WILL CONTINUE
TO MAKE IT
These efforts are very important in many
lives and for the future of the region.
In many respects Balkan Sunflowers is
unique. We bring international volunteers
from many countries together with local
staff and volunteers from diverse communities, communities that are often in conflict.
They have different religions, languages,
and beliefs. The volunteers live with host
families in their various communities, to
more closely share the realities and challenges of everyday life. They work with
some of the most difficult situations of daily
life. They work to build local grassroots
activism and commitment so that far more
people will have the courage and tools to
keep working for their communities.
We hope that you, our supporters, will
take satisfaction in the work that you have
supported and will continue to make it possible for our work to continue.
POSSIBLE.
Poverty, unemployment, refugees, conflict
and the potential for conflict—the war is
past, but we—the aid workers, the international donors, the good neighbors and
friends—must finish the work that we have
begun to ensure its lasting impact.
Rand Engel
Roma is a non-pejorative term for the peoples
sometimes known as “Gypsies”.
1
Page 3
BSF programs make a difference in their lives.
Annual Report 2004
Community Activists Network
Nicolas Puvis, Ramadan Lahi,
Agnieszka Gawronska and
Valentin Girard are community activists.
CAN IS AN IDEA
THAT HAS BEEN
DEVELOPED AND
NURTURED FOR
YEARS WITHIN
BALKAN
SUNFLOWERS.
CAN training reached above
the clouds.
We have all heard “Give a man a fish and is that, through these projects, the volunteers
you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and and program staff will seek out, support, and
you feed him for a lifetime.” It is true – as far mobilize local community activists.
as it goes. If there are no fish where he lives,
Community activism means people – and in
he will starve. If there are barely enough fish this program, particularly young people – are
to support him and no possibility of trade, he gaining training, experience, and positive
will survive in poverty. If the fish are con- results; that they are looking at their
trolled by venal institutions, he may fish for communities with new eyes, and with
others, with little hope for himself. He also increased expectations. They have the right to
needs to see that he has possibilities, that he expect better and the responsibility to
can work together with others, that he can actively work for a better life.
think, plan, cooperate, advocate…
Nine young Kosovars have paired with
One of the fundamental objectives of the nine international volunteers (from Bulgaria,
“international mission” in post-war Kosovo is England, France, Poland, Romania and Spain)
the development of a functioning civil society in the first phase of the project. As the project
that is democratic, human rights-oriented, and started in October 2004, the 2004 Annual
effective. Without this, the conditions that Report can detail some of the work begun:
created the 1999 Kosovo conflict and the
resulting human rights catastrophe remain. ♦ Gjilan/Gnjilane CAN volunteers and activWithout a functioning civil society, the ists developed and implemented Tolerance in
prospects for the return of refugees to their Our Schools, an innovative school-based prohomes, or a safe future for minorities, is ject, in conjunction with the American Refugee
limited. Indeed, there is still a possibility of Committee (ARC). This project brought torenewed conflict and its resulting tragedies.
gether youth of mixed ethnicity to create
Balkan Sunflowers’ commitment to social workshops that discussed issues of ethnicity,
reconstruction is realized by empowering racism, and acceptance. Ultimately, these
individuals and groups to shape their own youth held these workshops for school children
lives combined with the sharing and nurturing in Gjilan/Gnjilane.
of humane values. The Community Activists
Network is a BSF project that helps people, ♦ In Gjilan/Gnjilane, the CAN volunteers are
particularly young people, take an active role working with the residents of the Abdullah
in the development of their society, and Preshevo neighborhood and ARC to develop
a community center. Abdullah Preshevo is
contribute to a future of peace.
The Community Activists Network (CAN) home to many “returnees” – refugees who
is an idea that has been developed for years have recently returned to Kosovo. The commuwithin BSF. The premise is simple. The first nity center as a venue for social services, emprogram objective is that volunteers
w i l l s up p or t a n d d e v el op Funding from the European Union Youth Directorate supcommunity-based projects. This ports the Community Activists Network volunteers working
means that the volunteers with BSF and partners. The grant of € 110,000* supports:
€ 31,800
participate in and enhance, if Volunteer travel and stipend:
possible, on-going projects within Volunteer support (housing, partner, food):
€ 40,440
their comm unities, such as
€ 5,220
kindergartens, the arts, Scouts, or Sending organization costs:
community centers. It also means Training:
€ 24,000
that volunteers will support the
Coordination (SCI and BSF):
€ 8,760
development of new projects with
adjusted
in 5)
(Continued
on page
the community. The second objective * For October 2004-October 2005. Budget
2005 as fewer volunteers than provided for.
Page 4
During 2005, we will look closely at ways to improve the program and build on
the successes of the work thus far. Our primary focus will be improving “activist
education” - such as issue analysis, leadership development, and transforming
theoretical knowledge into practical action. How can we best help young, motivated, and often inexperienced young people contribute to their communities.
The answer lies in moving beyond a network of youth activists, to a network of
young leaders who support each other, have been trained in the theory and practice of posing objectives and achieving results, are knowledgeable on the issues
affecting their communities, and have a passion to make positive change for
their neighbors as well as themselves.
ployment support, children
and youth activities, and
women’s programs is a vitally
important support to the success of this return effort.
♦ CAN volunteers are active
in the community centers in
Lipjan/Lipljan and Plemetina.
Arts and English classes have
been useful community contributions. The volunteers have
helped with youth workshops,
and the Scout programs in
both communities.
♦ In Lipjan/Lipljan, Scouts
and CAN volunteers are organizing a work camp to
take place in late summer
2005. The work camp participants will construct a house
in a national forest near Lipjan/Lipljan to be used for
Scout activities. By the end of
2004, architectural planning,
work camp organization, and
solicitations to local businesses and organizations for
building materials and other
support was well under way.
♦ BSF CAN volunteers have
worked with existing Scout
groups in Lipjan/Lipljan, Plemetina, and are helping two
new Scout groups, Priluzjie
and Gracanica.
♦ The electric power to
Priluzhe village was cut for
many weeks. The volunteers
organized a “Nema
struje” (no power) party and
other activities.
♦ Priluzhe also saw starting
of a kindergarten for Roma
children several days per
week. The support to local
activists was vital to this activity beginning.
♦ The Priluzhe activists also
developed a virtual community internet training project –
which has been funded for
implementation in 2005.
♦ CAN volunteers supported
the Gracanica education center, doing teacher training,
helping with children’s activities, and organizing exchanges with other education
centers.
♦ The Mitrovica CAN volunteers and activists are developing the Gazivoda Lake
BSF/SCI work camp, to take
place in July 2005. The 16
local and international volunteers will clean a large portion of the lake, install receptacles for trash, and build a
swimming platform. This project is supported by the municipality, KFOR and many
organizations. This project is
important for the environment
as well as for community development.
Are the CAN objectives
being met? Should this
program be continued? The
answer to both question is
yes. Not only are the
objectives being met, they
are being exceeded.
Continued development
in the spheres of environment,
ethnic tolerance, peace, and
youth activities are vital to
Kosovo’s civil society. CAN
activists have the ability to
influence even more in their
communities: improving
quality education, developing
the arts, and increasing
community access to information and resources. These
are all “common cause”
issues, bridging the deep
divisions that separate
people.
While much has been
done, much remains to do.
Page 5
Priluzhe children overfill the tiny
room used by this new CANsupported activity.
CAN ACTIVISTS
HAVE THE ABILITY
TO INFLUENCE
EVEN MORE IN
THEIR
COMMUNITIES BRIDGING THE
DEEP DIVISIONS
THAT SEPARATE
PEOPLE.
Tolerance in Our Schools participants created workshops
for primary and secondary
schools
Annual Report 2004
Roma and Ashkalia Documentation Center
Ambassador Pascal
Fieschi, OSCE, at the RAD
Center’s art exhibition.
THE CENTER’S FIRST
MAJOR EFFORT
WAS HELPING
ENSURE MAXIMUM
INVOLVEMENT OF
THE ROMA AND
ASHKALIA
Aferdita Berisa was a BSF volunteer in her village, Plemetina, in 2002. Now working for RTK television, she covers
the Roma and Ashkalia artists exposition, organized by the BSF RAD Center in the halls of the Kosovo Assembly.
COMMUNITIES IN
THE KOSOVO
ASSEMBLY
ELECTIONS.
First Ashkalia forum.
Usually Balkan Sunflowers
develops its own projects and
looks for grants to realize the
project. This can take months,
even a year or more, involve
a dozen project rewrites,
investigation, preparing proposals often on a variety of
different donor formats.
Sometimes, though, agencies
have a program that they
want implemented. Perhaps a
partner will come to us with
exactly the kind of program
we believe in – such as the
Roma and Ashkalia Documentation Center.
The set-up of the Roma
and Ashkalia Documentation
Center (RAD) began in July.
Page 6
BSF was asked by the OSCE
(Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe)
and the OSCE’s Office of
Democratic Initiatives and
Humans Rights, Warsaw
(ODIHR) to select and work
with new managers who will
develop the Center, and lead
it to an independent status.
The Center is intended to
become a focal point and
resource for two Kosovo ethnic minorities - Roma and
Ashkalia. Before the Kosovo
conflict, there were 100150,000 in Kosovo. Today,
there are fewer than 40,000.
As elsewhere in Europe,
Roma (“Gypsies”) suffer from
poor health, reduced life
expectancy, discrimination,
unemployment, poverty, and
poor education. They are
particularly at risk from any
renewed ethnic violence.
The Center functions in a
variety of ways: as a
resource center for activists;
as secretariat for the Roma
and Ashkalia Forum,
particularly in confronting
issues of common concern; for
developing projects and
initiatives; for providing
objective and comprehensive
information on these
communities to government
and international agencies;
for informing the communities
of opportunities relevant to them (calls for
As 2004 was coming to a close the
proposals, trainings and seminars, Center was actively engaged in negotiating
scholarships and internships, etc.)
to have an exhibit of Roma and Ashkalia art
In July, the first month of the
RAD, the Center organized a The Roma and Ashkalia Documentation Center (RAD)
roundtable of Ashkalia community was supported financially by the Office of Democratic
leaders from around Kosovo. Initiatives and Human Rights (ODIHR), based in Warsaw,
of the OSCE.
Further, they presented their pro- The July 2004-March 2005 expenditures of the RAD
gram to Roma community leaders Center were € 16,020 ($ 20,500). This included:
at a meeting on 2 August. One
€ 5,400
important result of the meetings Program managers (local)
was identifying the need for more
Rent, administration, office
€ 2,220
polling places in minority areas.
€ 2,000
The Office pursued this important BSF volunteer support
objective in the following days,
Roundtables, conferences, actions, etc
€ 6,400
but it was too late to make a
difference in 2004 - but perhaps New ODIHR and OSCE Kosovo grants support the Roma
and Ashkalia Documentation Center through December
not too late for future elections.
The Center’s first major effort 2005. Funding is needed for 2006.
was to register voters and help
ensure maximum involvement of the Roma in the halls of the Assembly of Kosovo (the
and Ashkalia communities in the Kosovo parliament), as a representation and recogAssembly elections on 23 October 2004. nition of the participation of these comAs the first public project, support to the munities in the life of Kosovo. The exhibit was
elections was an important step in held in January 2005.
The RAD Center is now a registered nonestablishing the Center as an effective
servant of Kosovo’s Roma and Ashkalia governmental organization. Plans for 2005
citizens. The managers, Bekim Syla and include continuing to work together with
Adem Osmani, recorded radio interviews, Balkan Sunflowers and for BSF staff to
organized a televised debate, visited partner in consulting roles with the RAD,
communities, lobbied for new polling places while it develops its independence and
more convenient for minorities, developed capacity to grow as a major advocate for
information pieces, brought the head of the the full and equal participation of Roma and
Kosovo Central Election Commission to talk Ashkalia citizens in the life of Kosovo and
with leaders, and supported dissemination Europe. In 2005, the RAD objectives include:
and discussion of the Roma community •
Train and support activism and advopolitical platform.
cacy—effective Roma and Ashkalia
Through 2004 the Center organized
activists working with government and
several forums for activists to work on their
international institutions
common objectives and ways of working
•
Documentation initiatives to ensure
together. Efforts included a phone conferlegal status and standing for minority
ence of Ashkalia leaders in Kosovo with
citizens
those in the Diaspora, who wanted to find
more effective ways to support activities in •
Support youth early marriage
Kosovo. In December, the RAD organized
•
Development of the website
Kosovo’s first Roma and Ashkalia Youth
Conference. The youth decided to focus on •
Development the RAD resource library
changing attitudes toward early marriage,
•
Support and development of the
which they see as a major cause of poor
Roma and Ashkalia Forum
education and poverty.
Page 7
Prizren, Kosovo. Turkish bathhouse.
THE YOUTH
FOCUSED ON
CHANGING
ATTITUDES
TOWARD EARLY
MARRIAGE, WHICH
THEY SEE AS A
MAJOR CAUSE OF
POOR EDUCATION
AND POVERTY.
Bekim practicing his remarks
for the opening of the Roma
and Ashkalia art exhibit.
Annual Report 2004
Soncogledi School, Skopje, Macedonia
Soncogledi’s school goes on!
She is going to school.
THE LONG-TERM
EXCLUSION OF
ROMA FROM
DIFFERENT
ASPECTS OF
SOCIETY HAS
CREATED MISTRUST
AND DOUBTS ON
BOTH SIDES.
Senjur, Mushe, Rifce
To those of us who work for NGOs, that a
pilot project survives brings a new optimism:
our work is positively recognized after all. For
Soncogledi, the Macedonian delegation of
Balkan Sunflowers, getting funds for a further
three years for the education of Roma children is more than anything giving us confidence that the work we have started can be
completed.
In September 2004 Soncogledi became part of
the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia’s
(Soros) network of four
NGOs that are implementing Roma school inclusion in Macedonia. Soros’s “Program for Education of Roma”, together
with the Decade of Roma
Inclusion (officially opening in Sofia on February
2nd 2005), aims to improve the socio-economic
situation of Roma in Eastern Europe. After Soncogledi was informed that our project had
three years more life, we could restart the
educational center for children from Klanica,
a scattered Roma settlement in the southeast
part of Macedonia’s capital, Skopje: intensive
field work, interviews with children’s parents,
getting to know new children, making lists, reorganizing school space, etc. Effort was made
to find a new place for school closer to the
children’s homes, but finally the old location
was kept. This causes concern since children
have to be transported to school with the BSF
van, usually during rush hour and the traffic in
Skopje is unorganized and chaotic.
We were amazed to realize the success in
raising the educational awareness level within
the community that we achieved during the
pilot year. From the parents’ side there’s been
far greater interest in enrolling their children
in our program than two years ago, our comPage 8
munication was much more fluent, and their
interest for active participation in our program was remarkable. Together, we’re trying
to overcome issues connected with children’s
hygiene and health. These are crucial for our
program. In one part of Klanica there is no
running water resulting in children having
many skin conditions. Since most don’t have
any health care, infections were serious and
we had to put on hold some of the activities to
deal with the situation.
Nevertheless, realization of the pre-school
program has been good. Through the activities we were monitoring and following children’s individual abilities in terms of socialization, adaptation, language and vocational
The Soncogledi School is supported through
2005 and 2006 by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (a Soros Foundation)
and the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID).
skills, memorization, etc. New children in the
preschool group are already very well integrated and comfortable with us; coming to
school has become their daily routine, most of
the parents have developed the habit of
sending them to school with clean clothes; children are fast in learning Macedonian, disciplined, relaxed, and excited. We have been
focusing a lot on conversation with them.
Children from our Literacy Program on the
other hand have always been a bit more
difficult to organize. Since most of them are
working (collecting waste material around
Skopje, begging, washing cars), a great
deal of flexibility from our side is necessary.
The number of those who participate in Soncogledi’s school has escalated this year. For
those children we have been organizing
different games and creative workshops,
with focus on learning the alphabet, improving practical thinking, and getting them to
articulate as much as possible. Besides that,
we have been exploring ways for reducing
violence among them, and this remains one
of our priorities.
Tutoring, a third activity that is being realized through the Soncogledi program, has
been quite successful considering children
had to use public transport or walk to our
center. For that activity we have support of
more than five new local volunteers. They’re
mostly helping first-year pupils from the
state school in doing their homework and
practicing alphabet and mathematics. In
some cases, volunteers visit children at their
homes. The interest from children’s side for
Soncogledi’s tutoring is growing, so we’re
constantly searching for new tutors.
In the past we have established a lot of contact with the state school “Braka Miladinovci”
in which Roma children from Klanica are
enrolling. The communication with this school
has always been difficult. Since it’s very
important for us to have information about
Klanica children’s progress in the state
school - there is still much prejudice and discrimination against Roma in Macedonia - we
asked the school director for cooperation.
So far, she has not wanted NGOs to
“interfere” with her work. As Roma school
inclusion within “The Roma decade” will be
obligatory for the state and not only something for the NGOs to do, we’re hopeful
that our cooperation will improve soon.
Soncogledi is aware that for Roma School
inclusion more than just a decade of World
Bank and Soros funding is needed; government attention and hard work by the NGOs
will be necessary. Still we strongly believe
Klanica community
DEVELOPING
RESPONSES TO
DISCRIMINATION
AND THE
that a better future for Klanica children is
ahead.
Supporting information: Through its daily
educational activities Soncogledi provides
basic education and school assistance to
approximately 120 Klanica children age 3
to 15 years. The project provides kindergarten, preschool activities, literacy program, and tutoring. Parental education,
working with local Macedonian schools, and
developing responses to discrimination and
the segregation of Romani children in mainstream schools are also Integral parts of this
program. The program is being performed
by three professional teachers, four local
assistants, and one Romani translator. The
Program is managed by two coordinators,
an international coordinator from Slovenia,
and a Macedonian coordinator.
SEGREGATION OF
ROMANI CHILDREN
IN MAINSTREAM
SCHOOLS ARE
ALSO INTEGRAL
PARTS OF THIS
PROGRAM.
Soncogledi (“Sunflower” in Macedonian) is locally registered and locally managed in Macedonia. It is part of the Balkan Sunflowers Network. It’s funding is independent and therefore
is not included in this Annual Report 2004’s Financial Statements.
Rabije, Serdzana,
Denis
For more information on the Decade of Roma Inclusion, see www.romadecade.org,
www.soros.org/initiatives/roma/focus_areas/decade; and
www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=servis/z_en_2004_0137.
Page 9
Annual Report 2004
World of Wonders—Comics
The Sakharov issue includes
kids conscience questions.
Also: “To sin by silence
when they should protest
makes cowards of men.”
Abraham Lincoln
“FEAR GROWS
IN DARKNESS; IF
YOU THINK
THERE'S A
BOGEYMAN
AROUND, TURN
ON THE LIGHT.”
DOROTHY
THOMPSON
Mary Shelley, author of
Frankenstein, in the page
on “Consequences”.
Balkan Sunflowers cooperates with the Children’s Discovery Museum of Kosovo to
create a full-page comic,
World of Wonders, that
appears Sundays in Koha
Ditore, Kosovo’s leading
newspaper. Koha Ditore estimates that they have half of
the newspaper sales in Kosovo daily and 70-80% on
Sundays.
Each week of the comics includes a theme, illustration
and a biography of someone who exemplifies that
theme, activities, challenges,
games, or puzzles, etc. The
themes have particularly,
though not exclusively, focused on values, on big
theme questions presented so
as to interest young people.
The first sixteen issues:
Olympics. The runner Wilma
Rudolph who overcame
disability and racial discrimination to be a gold
medal winner; Olympics
history; geography;
Olympic facts.
Science. Marie Curie, a
woman who was an early
pioneer in science; science facts; two do-ityourself experiments.
Environment. Nobel Peace
Prize winner for environment and community
rights, Wangari Maathai;
things kids could do to
help the environment;
how to save water from
the toilet tank; Kenya.
Music. Beethoven; music facts
including about the Euro-
Page 10
pean hymn; musical do-ityourself.
History of Comics. Walt Disney; comics in history.
History of the Book. Gutenberg; book and printing
facts through history; doit-yourself printing experiment.
Conscience. Andrei Sakharov; questions for kids,
what they would do in
certain moral dilemmas;
a puzzle; a pollution experiment.
Fantasy. Lewis Carroll;
quotes from Lewis Carroll; Cheshire cat story
from Alice in Wonderland; a puzzle.
Charity. Mother Teresa;
charity facts from different countries; charity
word puzzle; something
about the Mother Teresa
Society; exercise asking
kids how they would set
charity priorities.
Science Fiction. Jules Verne;
list of Verne’s future inventions; word puzzle;
invitation to kids to write
a story.
Invention. Thomas Edison; list
of his actual inventions;
how light bulb works;
comparison of a regular
light bulb and an energy
saving bulb.
Scouting. Baden Powell;
scout facts; secret code
puzzle; information on
scouting in Kosovo; Scouting as world peace and
youth promotion movement; do it yourself projects.
Consequences. Mary Shelley;
how different people see
consequences; possible
consequences of behavior
for kids to think about; a
genie “be careful what
you wish for” joke; physiology of fear.
Perspective. Michelangelo;
art facts; color wheel
experiment; perspective
game; people seeing
from different angles.
Relativity. Albert Einstein;
Einstein quotes; Einstein as
peace activist; Theory of
Relativity; gravity experiment; Mobius strip
exercise.
Wildlife. Jane Goodall;
Roots and Shoots program; a story from Jane
Goodall’s childhood;
making an animal art
project; Lessons for Hope.
World of Wonders educational comics received a grant from
the Council of Europe for the first six months. The budget for the
comics was € 5,550. This included:
Art and design
€ 4,100
Concept, research and writing
€ 1,300
Overhead
€
150
The World of Wonders is supported through May 2005. Continuation funding is being sought.
World of Wonders = Bota e Mrekullive
The “Science Fiction”
theme page featured
Jules Verne.
“WHEN I GET A
LITTLE MONEY, I
BUY BOOKS;
AND IF ANY IS
LEFT, I BUY FOOD
AND CLOTHES.”
ERASMUS
BSF’s Scout project
contributed to this page
to coincide with BadenPowell’s birthday.
Page 11
Annual Report 2004
Responding to an Emergency
BSF with the Mother Teresa
Society ran a clothing drive.
When violence shattered
Kosovo in March 2004,
leaving more than 4,000
people displaced from their
homes, BSF joined in the
emergency response. Along
with our work at the Novo
Selo camp (separate article)
we: took a refugee family to
stay with relatives in northern
Kosovo; made many hospital
trips; drove more than 40
people from Gjilan to health
services in a neighboring
village; visited isolated
families in Lipljan; donated
50+ mattresses and as many
blankets to IDPs; donated a
television set to a Gracanica
IDP center; collected among
ourselves for a large box of
toys, games, and art supplies
to Vushtrri refugees living in
isolation on a military base;
conducted, with the Mother
Teresa Society, a Prishtina
clothing drive collecting a
truckload of clothes; made
50-kilometer trips twice daily
for a month helping save a
job, and included some 100
people on those trips, getting
services in other towns;
assessed medical needs and
got donated prescription
drugs; purchased medicines
for people without access to
pharmacies; visited IDP centers in Mitrovica, Gracanica,
Vushtrri; helped arrange
emergency access to social
service payments; developed
and implemented security
plan for a family’s
abandoned house.
other projects.
After the March violence,
BSF provided Sami and
Faton transport to continue
with Open Eyes, a multiethnic youth video project of
another NGO.
Welcome to Plemetina and
Four Years Later, films
produced in two projects led
by volunteer Kieran D’Arcy,
were shown at One World,
the Prishtina Human Rights
film festival, in December.
Kieran returned to Kosovo
for several months in 2004.
He produced a refugee
story, one young man’s
experience after the March
2004 violence left him
homeless.
WHEN VIOLENCE
SHATTERED
KOSOVO IN
MARCH 2004,
LEAVING MORE
THAN 4,000
PEOPLE DISPLACED
FROM THEIR
HOMES, BSF
JOINED IN THE
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE.
Youth Video
Balkan Sunflowers’ contribution to youth video continued
to be realized in 2004:
Sami, Avdyl and Faton
Mustafa received funding
from the Swiss Development
and Cooperation Office to
create SAF Productions, a
video company. They are
filming life at an IDP camp,
making video letters for
neighbors, and working on
Good Will brings Good Fortune
Delivering the tractor.
In February 2004, BSF met
two unusual friends—of different ethnicities but friends
nevertheless. Learning that
the Serb farmer’s tractor had
been stolen two years before, BSF approached Mercy
Corps for assistance. Mercy
Corps developed a plan
which gave the farmer a
Page 12
tractor, his neighbor a trailer,
and depended on a group of
their neighbors receiving
some support from the tractor
in the coming growing seasons. More than 20 neighbors
signed an agreement supporting the friends, and
agreeing to participate in the
project. Though Kosovo’s
March violence made it seem
as if no such project was possible, in fact the tractor was
delivered on 3 June, when
many neighbors gathered to
celebrate the fortune of two
good families.
Gjilan Roma center and kindergarten—hand-over
When Silvia Eckert, acting
head of office for OSCE
Gjilan, was acknowledged
for the OSCE’s on-going support of the community and
the support of the new community center, she thanked
Center Manager Osman
Demiri but said certainly BSF
deserves thanks too. Osman
replied that BSF was part of
the Roma community and the
community part of BSF; that
we are completely together,
that it was far more than
thanks that we had.
OSCE Democratization
Officer (and former BSF volunteer) Daria Paprocka
designed a program to help
the center become selfreliant. After 3.5 years the
BSF Gjilan Roma center was
now to be a local project.
BSF volunteers working on
other Gjilan projects will
continue to be available to
the center and support it.
Since 2000, BSF volunteers
have led English and
computer programs, sports
projects, special celebrations,
arts, community advocacy
and access support, and civic
education programs.
In April 2004, the Roma
kindergarten, under BSF
auspices for almost 3 years,
until January 2004, moved
into a new house, sharing
space with the Roma
community’s elementary
school, now under the Ministry of Education. BSF has
donated its furnishings, desks,
refrigerator, and supplies to
the kindergarten.
Opening of the Roma Community Center, with local management. Sylvia Eckert, Ghadah Alrawi and Bernard
Wright.
BUT IT IS SOME
SATISFACTION
New BSF Office—again
In the May 2004 Sunflower
Seeds we reported on our
new office.
It was torn down.
So, with the building coming down around us, we were
in a desperate search for
new space. In October,
successful, we moved into our
new “HQ” in the Youth,
Culture and Sports Hall, in
the center of Prishtina. We
look out our windows at UN
and UNHCR headquarters,
the national liaison offices
(embassies) on “Dragodan”
hill, the football coliseum,
from which regularly we hear
the exaltation of victory and
the agony of defeat, the
large open market, and the
outdoor cafes. Of course,
there is too much work to
spend time looking out the
windows, but it is some
satisfaction to know that it is
all there if we ever do look.
Being in the Culture Center,
we also hear concerts, enjoy
festivals, and for six months
were subjected to weekly
filming of TV’s Star Bingo.
Nine BSF staff work in our
office; a steady stream of
others come: to the RAD
office, to work on scouting,
for the CAN project, and for
Plemetina and Gracanica
programs.
TO KNOW THAT
IT IS ALL THERE IF
WE EVER DO
LOOK.
Sewing and knitting
For several months in 2004,
Plemetina women gathered
at our community center to
sew and knit together, chatting and socializing. Some of
the younger women and girls
took part at the same time in
a literacy class, as many had
never attended school. They
made their fine handicrafts
with sewing machines do-
nated in Belgium, found by
BSF volunteer (2003) Ellen
Baert, with materials driven
in convoy to Kosovo by the
UK group Hope and Aid Direct. Efforts in 2004 to find
markets for their handicrafts
were not successful.
BSF will continue in 2005
to explore ways to support
this as small income work,
exploring both Fair Trade
options and marketing
through the BSF website.
Page 13
BSF helped register and equip
the Plemetina girls volleyball
teams.
Annual Report 2004
Gracanica Education Center
The center is a fundamental contribution to young lives. These children face such significant obstacles going to school (teaching in a different language, discrimination, health,
poverty, low parental opinion of education) that supplementary education is vital if most of
them are to have a chance of a better life.
learn the language better. They are learning
songs, basic mathematical elements like numbers and shapes, and recognizing the difference between big and small. We have many
creative games, drawing, painting, crafts, etc.
The situation for these children before the
center opened was very poor; most of their
time was spent in the street. Since the center
opened the situation in the community is
different because the parents know the time
when they send their children to the center
and they make sure that their children are at
home after the center. The center has become
a positive habit in the children’s lives; parents
are afraid that if the center stops working the
children will loose their motivation.
We expect and we will work to ensure that
the older children attend the primary school
next year.
Startup
Art complements learning
language and math.
THE SITUATION
FOR THESE
CHILDREN BEFORE
THE CENTER
OPENED WAS VERY
POOR; MOST OF
THEIR TIME WAS
SPENT IN THE
STREET.
From the first month, April 2004, the program
coordinators were finding the center space,
interviewing prospective teachers, and identifying the people who would provide the staff
training. We were also painting the center
and organizing the classrooms.
Once the center space was ready, teacher
training began. The training focused both on
child-friendly practice and developing objectives and activities. Training was led by Milena
Maksimovic, a child psychologist and Angelina
Skarep, an educator. The staff together
planned the objectives and activities for the
first three months.
The activities for these three months were
very productive as the children got used to
coming to the center; it became their habit.
The parents, too, are very
cooperative with the center Grants from the Laura Jane Musser Fund (Minneapolis,
manager and the center. We have MN, USA) and the Organization for Security and Coopsucceeded in building good relations eration in Europe (OSCE) made possible the Gracanica
within the community, both with the Education Center’s first year. The 2004-2005 funding
children and their parents which you was stretched to thirteen months: € 22,400 ($ 28,000).
will see later in this report.
This included:
The activities in the center are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Kindergarten
Starting School Club
Homework Help
After School Club
Kindergarten
Kindergarten.
Teachers and manager
€ 9,425
Rent, utilities, building preparation, etc
€ 6,165
Education materials and equipment
€ 1,480
Children’s midday snacks
€ 1,950
Training
€ 1,000
€ 2,000
The age group of kindergarten is 3 BSF volunteer support
to 6 years old. The number of the
children attending kindergarten The Gracanica Education Center has supported through
daily is 40 to 45. Some 30 of the September 2005. New funding is needed to continue its
children are very regular in their program from 1 October 2005.
daily attendance. The activities with this group Starting School Club
are fun, but all the activities are carried out in
the Serbian language, the language of the The Starting School Club is the school’s main
school they will attend, so the children can target group. This program is geared to the
Page 14
. Results
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Children have improved learning habits.
Children’s attendance at primary school is improved.
Children are behaving and interacting better.
Children have very improved capacity in the Serbian language.
Roma and Serbian children are getting along better.
Parents are more supportive of their children’s school participation.
The center is supporting the stability of the Roma community.
children 7-10 years old, in the first three
years of their primary school. We are providing basic Serbian language instruction so
that they have a better chance of keeping
up in class, and maintaining self-esteem in
what can be a difficult situation. As the
school is not in the children’s mother tongue,
many can easily fall behind their peers, and
be victims of ridicule or other humiliations.
The activities over the last few months are:
fun grammar, songs, games, writing and
story telling. All the activities are strongly
connected to the development of Serbian
language skills. The number of children for
this activity is normally 35 to 45. We receive many compliments from the school director Mr. Gligorije Stojanovic. He said that
we are doing a good job and he can see a
positive effect on the children who are attending the school. Center staff meetings
with the parents have improved the parents’
opinion about education. Now the parents
are visiting their children more often in the
school; this is also giving a different picture
to the primary school teachers.
Homework Help
Ten to 15 children come every day to the
center for homework help. It provides an
opportunity for them to study and ask the
teachers for help with their work. This class is
bringing a lot of positive results for the center and for the children. The Roma children
that are in the primary school have a lot of
difficulties in understanding their homework,
so they come to the center and do their
homework with the assistance of the teachers. The results of this are that the Roma
children that are in the school are doing
The Center is an important
part of their lives.
their homework correctly. We provide a
positive environment where the children
have time, space, quiet, and assistance to
do their homework. Some of the children
won’t find this at home.
The teachers at the school asked the
Roma children why they are doing their
homework so often. The children explained
that an education center opened up in the
Roma community. We have full support
from the teachers in the school.
ONE OF THE
GOALS IN
GRACANICA IS TO
RAISE AWARENESS
After School Club
OF VOLUNTEERISM.
The After School Club activities are being
managed by On the Good Way. The activities are Street Law, Scouts, Roma history,
art and dance, movie nights
THE TRAINING
HELPED RECRUIT 7
MORE
VOLUNTEERS.
The Teachers & Volunteers:
The center staff includes a manager, Sebastian Serifovic, two full-time teachers: Mirjana Manitasevic and Ivana Markovic; two
part-time teachers: Aziza Butic and Bajram
Serifovic; a cleaner, Kemajl Tahiri; and a
BSF volunteer, Maria Vergara.
One of the goals in Gracanica is to
raise awareness of volunteerism. The center
organized a meeting with young people
and explained volunteerism and the
benefits of volunteerism. This training
helped recruit 7 more volunteers that are
coming in different times to keep the center
clean, help the teachers organize activities,
help the homework class, prepare extra
activities, and participate in weekly
meetings.
- Sebastian Serifovic
Page 15
Gracanica staff on a cold
winter day.
Annual Report 2004
How We Measure Success—Novo Selo
In the aftermath of the violence of March 2004, thousands of people were displaced from
their homes and communities within Kosovo. Many of the families affected and displaced by the violence were friends of Balkan Sunflowers. Some BSF volunteers and staff
were caught up in the violence, surrounded by the riots and destruction. But, ironically,
out of that trauma and violence, out of the anger and misunderstanding, came new
friendships, lives torn down and rebuilt, and the renewed notion that compassion and
cooperation can revitalize communities during their moments of greatest need.
Three charmers.
Of course, compassion and cooperation didn’t
come easily and not without hard work. After
the violence, BSF was asked to develop programs of psychosocial support for several
displaced communities throughout Kosovo.
When those proposals were not funded, our
at the end of our first day, “Our children
haven’t smiled so much in five years.”).
We were a team of five working in the
IDP camp. It wasn’t the sprawling, diseaseinfested camp that people are used to seeing
on television. With a population of around
promises to those communities remained. BSF
volunteers chose to work with a displaced
Ashkalia community living on a French KFOR
base just south of their hometown of Vushtrri.
Initially hesitant with our presence (one concerned father told us at the start of our first
day, “We know how to play with our kids.”),
the community ultimately welcomed us and our
work with open arms (the same father told us
250, this was a small community; a boutique
camp. Each family lived in one of twenty
tents. Do the math and imagine sharing a
space the size of a small sitting room with that
many people. We spent a lot of time with
families in these tents drinking coffee and
hanging out with babies. It doesn’t take long
for claustrophobia to set in. There were a
couple of large, often muddy, fields where
WE SPENT A LOT
OF TIME WITH
FAMILIES IN THESE
TENTS DRINKING
COFFEE AND
HANGING OUT
WITH BABIES; IT
DOESN’T TAKE
LONG FOR
CLAUSTROPHOBIA
TO SET IN.
Films were always popular.
Page 16
we played sports and games with kids.
Other than the living tents, there were two
others. One was the “feeding tent,” where
neutral tasting army food was delivered by
soldiers and served up by residents. The
small art projects hanging on the walls were
the only clues that this was a kindergarten
after lunch. We converted the other tent into
a theater, where people watched movies
projected onto a large screen for the first
time in their lives.
In addition to the football games and
film screenings, the children of the camp
participated in kindergarten, English lessons,
math and reading lessons, art activities, a
girls discussion group, and occasional karate
lessons, yoga, and water balloon fights.
Parties, of course, were on Fridays. As our
time in the camp grew, parents and other
adults became increasingly involved in our
activities. A mothers and babies playgroup
was formed. We brought in sewing
materials for the women and chess for the
men. News-papers were the most popular
supplement we provided.
Much of what we did was just talk to
people and try to help them access
resources. It seemed that we were in
constant negotiation with authorities for
better representation and medical care. I
spent some time speaking with a young
father. Along with his wife and two boys he
lived in Vushtrri where they owned a small
neighborhood market. They had lived in
Vushtrri their entire lives and were obviously
a close family. He told me about the store,
its success, and his plans to pass on the store
to his sons when he was older. I could just
imagine him working in the store, selling
bread and produce to his neighbors, his
boys running in and out taking candy at will,
showing his sons how to write a receipt or
take inventory, thinking of them as grown,
successful men with families of their own.
And I could just imagine the curl of the
smoke as it rose from the roof of his store
and adjoining house, the way the fire
started with a Molotov cocktail thrown
through the store window and burned its
way through the paper products, and the
split-second decisions this young man, who
was born into poverty, had to make while
saving his family from the mobs in the
street and leaving his life savings behind
in his house. I could just imagine trying to
cradle a one year old in my arms while
sprinting down the street, the race of his
son’s pulse as he screamed for his mother,
and the police force locked them in jail
while their houses burned to the ground1.
In July, the camp was closing; the
community was being moved to a partially renovated building not far from the
charred skeletons of their houses in
Vushtrri. By this time the community was
incredibly splintered. Many had chosen
not to return to Vushtrri and instead had
taken refuge with friends and family
elsewhere in Kosovo, Serbia, and beyond.
The community had shrunk from 250
people to less than half that number.
There were countless instances of a green
KFOR jeep entering the camp, loading a
family and their belongings inside, and
driving off while sobbing friends and
neighbors followed closely behind and we
stood on the sidelines watching.
Can a story like this have a happy
ending? It’s hard to say, because the
ending has yet to be written. But what can
be said is that through tenacity and a
dedication to the value of human dignity,
many people in Kosovo have found success in their struggle against hatred and
violence. These successes are not always
grand. They come in the form of reading
classes when there is no school and in the
form of knitting with your neighbors when
all your blankets have been burned. A
success will be declared when this
community lives once more in their homes,
new and shiny, and we will all be
successful when those houses never again
feel the heat of fire and this community
never again fears for their lives.
1 The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and other
security services had examples of outstanding
work during the March violence. There were also
significant failures. For more information, see
“Failure to Protect.” Human Rights Watch.
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/kosovo0704/
Page 17
Doing lessons gave some normality to life in the camp.
WHAT CAN BE
SAID IS THAT
THROUGH
TENACITY AND A
DEDICATION TO
THE VALUE OF
HUMAN DIGNITY,
MANY PEOPLE IN
KOSOVO HAVE
FOUND SUCCESS
IN THEIR STRUGGLE
AGAINST HATRED
AND VIOLENCE.
Children want to learn.
Annual Report 2004
Scouting for Change 1& 2
If their mothers could
see them now.
IT WAS ALSO AN
OPPORTUNITY TO
MEET NEW FRIENDS
AND GET IN
TOUCH WITH
LEADERS FROM
OTHER GROUPS
WITH WHOM TO
ORGANIZE
COMMON
ACTIVITIES IN THE
FUTURE.
What kind of future will they
have?
Scouting for Change 1
Scouting for Change 2
"Scouting for Change", a Balkan Sunflowers’
training program, began with a seminar at
the Vushtrri Police School from 16th to 18th
January 2004. The seminar gathered 50 Kosovar youth leaders—Albanian, Serbian, and
Roma—from nine communities. Thomas Bevand
led the program. Tom is a French scout with
more than 15 years experience.
Scouting for Change 2 continues the direction
of the first phase. The project is intended to
The six-month training program aimed to help
leaders from the different Kosovo scout groups
to improve activities, exchange experiences,
gain new leadership skills, and deepen their
knowledge and their practice of scouting.
Through different kinds of workshops, the
participants expressed their expectations of
the seminar and the Scouting for Change program. They looked at the situation of scouting
in Kosovo, and discovered how they could
contribute to improve it.
This seminar was not only a chance for the
leaders to gain skills and learn about scouting, but it was also an opportunity to meet
new friends and get in touch with leaders
from other groups with whom to organize
common activities in the future.
The seminar was followed by several oneday trainings. The program concept called for
a Kosovo-wide training for leaders to be
followed by two further steps: regional
trainings conducted by participants from the
Kosovo-wide training, and then group
activities that further put these trainings into
practice. The whole concept was to ensure
that leaders quickly learned by doing. The
March 2004 events in Kosovo altered the
plan. In April 2004 we held a scouts peace
meeting, to plan next steps. From May, again,
the schedule resumed. The basic concept of
tiered training was used and appreciated.
Scouting for Change 1 led to several busy
summer months. Tom helped coordinate Scout
et Guides de France (SGDF)-supported scout
camps, as well as SGDF groups who visited
and participated in activities in Gjakova,
Gracanica, Obiliq, Prizren and Plemetina.
Page 18
encourage and support local groups,
strengthen an informal network among scout
groups, and improve skills and program
through training. Fourteen of Kosovo’s scout
groups, representing as many of 1500 scouts,
regularly participate in the activities of the
network. They have participated in a threeday seminar in October and a network planning meeting in October. They also contribute
to a scouting newsletter which shares information on activities, and provides tips and activities.
This phase of the project was organized
by Elise Drouet, a BSF volunteer and French
scout, and Sami Mustafa and Gezim Visoka,
who staffed the project.
Scouting for Change 1 was made possible
by a grant from the Swiss Liaison Office,
Pristina. Scouting for Change 2 was made
possible by support from the Scouts et
Guides de France (SGDF), Fondation Schneider, and the European Scout Region. Plemetina and Obiliq scouting programs were enabled by grants from the Norwegian KFOR
brigade. Summer camping programs are
projects of Scouts et Guides de France and
supported by SGDF, but receive logistical
support from BSF. Additional support for
scouting programs was received from Caritas Italiana and Ruud van der Meer.
Plemetina
Background: Plemetina, a village 3 km
from Obiliq town, the municipal hub and
location of two old lignite-fired power
plants, has some 1200 Serbian, 300 Albanian and 400 Roma inhabitants. Most Serbs
and Roma lost their employment after the
1999 war. But, in Kosovo, the majority Albanians are also largely without work. Balkan
Sunflowers started a community center in
Plemetina in January 2002.
In 2004, BSF had 6 projects in Plemetina:
Community Center. Since mid-2001, at the
request of OSCE mission in Kosovo, Pax
Christi NL was involved in development of a
community center in Plemetina. As the construction took much longer than anticipated,
Pax decided to support an interim community center. In 2004 BSF merged its center
with two local NGOs, Idemo Pravo and Novi
Pacotek, in a new interim center. Activities
included English and computer classes, kindergarten, and handicrafts.
tics, and manage a 2003 Norwegian KFOR
support grant.
Small income projects. Four families received small income generation grants from
a project BSF presented to the Swiss Development and Cooperation Office. Ekrem
Kurti, a mechanic with fifteen years experience, had the trust but now also has the
tools to work on local cars, motorcycles, and
tractors. Mehdi Skenderi proved his reliability driving for BSF over more than a
year. Now he has “Taxi Mehdi”. Semo
Mustafa has played music since he was a
small child. His new keyboard and speakers
allow him to play for weddings and parties. Sami, Avdyl and Faton Mustafa (SAF
Productions) are making films. One of their
income innovations is making video letters
which neighbors send to relatives abroad.
Self Development Project. A working
group of local people must decide on projects, using a Pax Christi grant. The second
phase, from January 2004, was making
The “Freedom Train” runs on
these tracks, connecting Plemetina to towns north and
south.
BSF HAD 6
PROJECTS: THE
COMMUNITY
CENTER, A
KINDERGARTEN,
SOCIAL SUPPORT,
Kindergarten. The kindergarten is developing. Every day 25-35 local chilThe Plemetina small incomes projects were supported
dren are playing, singing, learnby the Swiss Development and Cooperation Office,
ing their numbers and letters, Pristina. The SDC is the development agency of the
improving hygiene, and develop- Swiss Foreign Ministry. The grant total for the four small
ing social skills.
income projects was € 9,576.
THE SCOUT
Post-violence support. Plemetina Pax Christi Netherlands supported the Interim Commupeople, though not direct victims nity Center and the Plemetina Self-Development proof the March 2004 violence, ject. Phase 2 of the Self-Development project was
were affected. They were cut off funded by a grant of € 24,600.
from their families in other towns
as buses and trains stopped work. Getting
progress until the March 2004 violence. A
to the market or to health care was internew working group began to function in
rupted. The social assistance office in Obiliq
late 2004. This group includes representawas destroyed. There were many refugees
tives of communities, neighborhoods, and
from other towns. BSF provided transport to
local institutions. After a call for proposals,
help meet needs. We pressured for quick
they selected three for support: continuation
alternative handling of social assistance
of the kindergarten, support of the village
payments. We reached out to people to
sanitation company, and a project for forinclude them in programs. We provided
mer workers of the electrical enterprise. The
blankets and mattresses, and collected
working group may become a useful vilclothes for new refugees in the village.
lage institution, bringing together different
interests to assess needs and together seek
Scouting. The group started in 2002 continsupport for new initiatives.
ued. BSF volunteers advise, help with logis-
DEVELOPMENT
Page 19
GROUP, SMALL
INCOME
PROJECTS, AND
THE SELFPROJECT.
With a new watch.
Annual Report 2004
Balkan Sunflowers Albania
Balkan Sunflowers Albania, with the support
of Caritas St. Polten (Austria), CAFOD and
B.S.F.USA. has been working with school children in the Roma community in Tirana since
2001. Focusing on the small Bregu i Lanes
neighborhood, a BSFA community center has
money for food, and in 2003 destruction of
their homes.
In 2004, 31 children were enrolled.
Parents’ attitudes, as well, towards their
children going to school improved. BSFA
tackled various problems in keeping them in
offered a continuous program of children’s
activities, including games, art, and school
help. Summer work camps have exposed the
children to foreign volunteers. They have gone
together on excursions to the mountains, the
seaside, and the national zoo – all of which
the children had never before visited. The
program has particularly aimed to enroll children in school and help them stay in school.
Of the 80 children in the neighborhood of
school age (6-13) when the program began,
only two were enrolled in school.
There were many obstacles to the kids
going to school: poverty, lack of registration
documents, the family need for even small
children to go on the streets to bring back
school, including finding food support for their
families, a visiting nurse, arranging legal
assistance to help families get documentation,
and running a tailoring workshop for their
mothers. In 2003, the families in Bregu i Lanes
faced a very difficult situation which also put
Holidays party, 2004.
OF THE 80
CHILDREN IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD
OF SCHOOL AGE
(6-13) WHEN THE
PROGRAM BEGAN,
ONLY TWO WERE
ENROLLED IN
SCHOOL.
Food distribution has been
important for families.
Page 20
The Balkan Sunflowers Albania Roma Center
program is supported by Caritas St. Polten.
Caritas St. Polten has provided long-term support. Additional support has been provided by
CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas
Development. The work camp has received
support from VIA Netherlands. Additional support has been received from Renovabis.
Beach excursion during the
international work camp.
IN 2004, 31
CHILDREN WERE
ENROLLED.
PARENTS’
ATTITUDES
the BSF program in jeopardy. The
municipality tore down their homes, which
were illegal structures. With help from
Caritas St. Polten and Renovabis (a German
donor), BSFA was able to get a minivan
which helped get the children to school, and
keep the staff in contact with the children
and their families.
BSFA’s objectives for this project included
that children would have increased awareness of the role of the school in their lives,
that the community center would offer social
services to the Roma community, that the
project would increase children’s school
enrollment and that the staff would help the
children prepare their daily work to keep
them in school, that preschool age children
would get support, and that families would
receive counseling on children’s health issues
During 2004 the main actions were:
school support, the international work camp
June 20 – July 5 2004, food distribution,
and the summer program.
BSFA worked closely with children:
helping with their homework, supporting
them with school items, food, meetings with
the teachers in the school. The result is the
successful completion of the academic year.
All of the children passed their school year
and were looking forward to returning to
school in the fall. This was a big success.
Most had not been in school for long, or
before. They had lost their homes and were
still not in stable shelter.
The summer holidays mean less formal
activities—but nevertheless a busy schedule. The kids come to the center for all sorts
of activities. From June 20-July 5, 2004
Balkan Sunflowers, in collaboration with VIA
Netherlands, organized a work camp,
“Working with Roma kids”, with 4
international and 4 Albanian volunteers.
The kids had the opportunity to go to the
beach, to the mountains, in the city park,
playing and having fun. Volunteers brought
new ideas and games for the activities in
the center and outside it, and built very
good relationships with the kids.
BSFA continued to implement food
distribution for the families of children who
attend the school. The number of the kids
who attend the school and the number of
the families who are programmed to
receive food is growing.
Page 21
TOWARDS THEIR
CHILDREN GOING
TO SCHOOL
IMPROVED. BSFA
TACKLED VARIOUS
PROBLEMS IN
KEEPING THEM IN
SCHOOL.
An excursion out of the city
takes the children into nature.
Annual Report 2004
Balkan Sunflowers Kosovo 2004 Financial Information
Dai and Ekrem organized a
basketball tournament.
Balkan Sunflowers Kosovo Balance Sheet
ASSETS
Total current assets
Other Assets - equipment
TOTAL ASSETS
€ 29,598.39
€ 22,895.94
€ 52,494.33
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
LIABILITIES
Grants committed
TOTAL LIABILITIES
€ 25,430.15
€ 25,430.15
EQUITY
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY
€ 27,064.18
€ 52,494.33
Balkan Sunflowers is a volunteer organization. Volunteers normally receive
food and accommodations and may receive a small stipend. During 2004
there were 13-15 international volunteers and more than 20 local staff working at any one time. Yet the costs for the whole program were less, for example, than the costs of supporting two American policemen working for the UN
in Kosovo.
Volunteer Ambika Bhaskar
helped on the tournament.
Balkan Sunflowers Profit and Loss 2004
INCOME
Grants in Kosovo
Grants ex-Kosovo*
Contributions ex-Kosovo*
Other Income Kosovo
TOTAL INCOME
€ 18,966.00
€ 77,665.38
€ 14,700.00
€ 2,041.08
€ 113,372.46
EXPENSES
Administration
International volunteer support
Local staff
Communications
Office rent etc
Transport
Direct Project Expenses
TOTAL EXPENSES
€ 2,727.17
€ 25,402.07
€ 20,256.65
€ 6,734.54
€ 8,400.14
€ 17,450.14
€ 40,205.15
€ 121,175.86
OVERALL TOTAL
* Includes funds received from Balkan Sunflowers USA
Page 22
-€ 7,803.40
Balkan Sunflowers USA 2004 Financial Information
Balkan Sunflowers USA Balance Sheet
as of 31 December 2004
ASSETS
Current Assets
Checking/Savings
Assets
Bank of America
Raymond James
Total Assets
Total Checking/Savings
Total Current Assets
TOTAL ASSETS
$838.36
$186.98
$1,025.34
$1,025.34
$1,025.34
$1,025.34
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Equity
Retained Earnings
Net Income
Total Equity
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY
$1,637.94
-$612.60
$1,025.34
$1,025.34
Balkan Sunflowers USA Profit and Loss 2004
INCOME
Income
Total Contributions
Total Grants
TOTAL INCOME
$16,240.00
$24,000.00
$40,240.00
EXPENSES
Expenses
Total Balkan Projects
Profesional fees - consulting
Utilities - telephone
Printing and Postage
Administration
Bank Wire Transfer Charges
Internet costs
Travel - Fundraising
Uncategorized
TOTAL EXPENSES
$38,700.00
$800.00
$390.73
$82.40
$250.00
$200.00
$-45.00
$464.52
$9.95
$40,852.60
Karmit, Sebastian, and Rand
watched some of the games.
BSF organized tournament.
Page 23
Volunteers for Social Reconstruction
BALKAN SUNFLOWERS
Balkan Sunflowers
Youth, Culture and Sports Hall 114
Luan Haradinaj Street
Prishtina, Kosovo
bsfcoordinator@yahoo.com
+381-38-24-6299
Balkan Sunflowers USA
PO Box 861086
St. Augustine, FL 32086
Sali@balkansunflowers.org
+1-904-806-1400
Balkan Sunflowers Euskadi
Rioja 4,5 dcha.
48015 Bilbao, Bizkaia
Spain
bsfeuskadi@euskalnet.net
+34-943-20-6907
Balkan Sunflowers Albania
Rr Hoxha Tasim Pall 263/1
Tirana, Albania
bsfalbania@albaniaonline.com
+355-4-360-676
+355-4-266-821 fax
Soncogledi (BSF Macedonia)
1000 Skopje, Macedonia
soncogledi2001@yahoo.co.uk
+389-2-277-3270
Contributors to the preparation
of the Annual Report include:
Ambika Bhaskar
Elise Drouet
Rand Engel
Nenad Gjorgievski
Nathan Hutto
Claudiu Marariu
Sali and Jo McIntire
Enkeleid Pina
Marijana Podhraski
Thank you to our 2004 supporters…
American Refugee Committee (ARC)
Jacalyn Bennett
Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa
David Blair and Linda Marsella
The Bogart family
Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
Caritas Italiana
Caritas St. Polten
Nancy Cooperstein Charney
Council of Europe (COE)
European Scout Office
European Voluntary Service (EVS)
Judy Haney
Barry and Connie Hershey
Hope and Aid Direct
Kerkinactie
Kind Zighn Trust
Gary and Randi Levitz
Samuel Lupton
Laura Jane Musser Fund
Maria Markowitz
Norwegian KFOR
Omaha Community Foundation
Open Society Institute (OSI)
Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe
Palo Alto Friends Meeting
Pax Christi Netherlands
Provisional Institutions of Self-Government
(PISG)
Renovabis
Patricia and Dan Ryan
Jeanny Ryffel
Nina Santner
Scouts et Guides de France (SGDF)
The Smith Family
Stichting Limburgsch Protestantsch Kinderhuis
Swiss Development and Cooperation Office
Swiss Liaison Office
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Ruud van der Meer
Van Itallie Foundation
Ian and Amy Wallis
World Aid Mission
The Wyeth Family
Steven and Mary Yarmosky
Thanks are due to numerous others who have
contributed in many ways.
Thank you!
Balkan Sunflowers brings volunteers from around the world to work as neighbors and friends in
social reconstruction and renewal. By organizing social and cultural activities, we promote understanding, further non-violent conflict transformation, and celebrate the diversity of the lives and
cultures of the Balkan region. Volunteers bring skills, experience and enthusiasm to societies that
have been depleted by conflict, and the volunteers are themselves enriched by their involvement in
community building.
Balkan Sunflowers activities are intended both to achieve concrete results and to enliven and empower the participants and their communities. Through play, art, sport, work and celebration, and
in compassionate response to traumatic experiences, we serve the communities with whom we live.
www.balkansunflowers.org