Excursion
for boys and girls from
Kosovska Kamenica
A one-day excursion for young Serbs and Albanians from
the municipality of Kosovska Kamenica (Dardanë) was organized on Monday,
July 29, 2009 by the Pristina office of the Helsinki Committee for Human
Rights in Serbia.
The excursion had 51 participants, boys and girls,
most of which are members of the women's volley ball club "Arberia"
which competes in the Kosovo super league (12 Albanian and 8 Serbian
girls). Additionally, there was the table tennis team from the village
Kololec (10 Serbs) and members of the Serbian football club "Rudar" and
the Albanian "Dardani" from Kamenica. They were guided by the
representatives of the Kamenica municipality: Teuta Selimi officer for
return, Zoran Jovanovic coordinator for culture, sports and youth and
Agim Abdullahu coach of women's volley ball team.
The participants of the excursion visited Gnjilane,
Vitina, ski-center Brezovica, tourist area of Prevalac on the Šara
mountain and the city of Prizren.
In Brezovica, the representatives of the Kamenica
municipality have discussed the possibilities of sports teams' joint
trainings at the center with ski-center management. It is agreed upon
that one volley ball and one football game be played between the teams
from Kamenica and Štrpce. Additionally, the visitors from Kamenica have
presented a ski-school project which would be realized at the end of the
year at the Brezovica ski center courts. The project envisions the
participation of 30 boys and girls (15 Serbs and 15 Albanians). The
Center's management has shown willingness to help in the realization of
this project.
In the city of Prizren, the young men and women have
visited cultural-historical monuments (St. Archangel monastery, the Old
Turkish hamam, Orthodox seminary, Sinan-Pasa's mosque etc.), walked
around the city, went shopping and gathered in coffee shops.
The majority of participants have visited these sites
for the first time, and for the Serbs from the village of Kololece, this
was the first trip outside their enclave.
In Prizren, they were walking in a group, with fear.
At the beginning, they refrained from talking while curiously looking
around. However, after our encouragement to freely move and communicate
in their language, they went shopping, again in a group. They returned
surprised and cheerful because they were able to communicate in Serbian
in stores, they even joked a little and bought what they wanted.
Afterwards, they relaxed and went by themselves to a coffee shop for a
drink, a pastry shop and then for some local burgers.
The children most frequently associated amongst
themselves regardless of their ethnic background, singing and dancing
together. Albanians sang Serbian songs, and some of the Serbs even a
popular Albanian song. All of them, almost without exception, have sung
a popular song in the Serbian language. The children have danced a
traditional dance near the tourist area in Prevalac and on the streets
of Prizren on their way to the bus which was waiting for them at the
outskirts of the city.
The excursion was very successful and enjoyed by all
participants. At its end, after 8:30pm, upon returning to Kamenica, the
participants commented how short the excursion was.
HCHRS
GALLERY::: |
