What do a maths class, a tour guide and a yoga bag have in common? Our 2014 update from Kosovo[ne shqip ma poshte]

So what do a maths class, a tour guide and a yoga bag have in common? The answer is that they are each different parts of the work The Ideas Partnership is doing with the poorest communities across Kosovo to help them work themselves out of poverty.As well as our ongoing weekly lessons for children in Janjevo/a and Fushe Kosove, this year we’ve been running new maths classes for adults in the municipalities of Fushe Kosove and Obilic (thanks to funding from United Nations Volunteers). Together with literacy teaching, these classes equip these adults to find work for themselves, and to be able to support their children to succeed in school. You can read the story of the impact of the women’s literacy classes which were run by our local volunteer Mirsade Salihu:

http://www.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/ourwork/womenempowerment/successstories/i-woke-up-when-i-started-my-education-again/.

Mirsade was one of our ten ‘Changemakers’ from the community in Fushe Kosove, a dynamic group of men and women who are taking part in a programme we’ve organised of training on activism and civil society. The Changemakers have now drafted their first projects for implementation in their community and we plan for these projects to start this summer.

The four tour guides we’ve trained are part of a different project, based in the beautiful town of Janjevo/a.

With funding from the United Nations Development Programme we have built the beginnings of a tourism industry in Janjevo/a, giving the Albanians, Croats, Roma, Ashkali, Bosnians and Turks of this peaceful multi-ethnic town the chance to earn a living. As well as opening a tourist information centre in the town, we’ve equipped and trained two families to offer bed and breakfast accommodation. Soon we’ll launch the Janjevo/a tourism website; in the meantime, find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Putting-Janjevo-on-the-Map-by-NGO-The-Ideas-Partnership/1421341371449548?fref=ts, as ‘Janjeve’ on Instagram and @janjevo/a on Twitter. And for some gorgeous, cheeky or poignant glimpses of the town, visit our project’s website at www.hellojanjevo.com to see pictures taken by the children who live there.And the yoga bags? They’re made from recycled material sewn by the women of our social enterprise, SaPune in the village of Srbobran in Istog municipality. A condition of the women’s participation in the project is that their children go to school.The bags, and others of our product lines, including jewellery and soap, are available on the new internet shop offering online sales to people outside of Kosovo – https://balkanspring.com/shopbybrand?brand=51We’re proud that our tote bags are also now on sale at Meridian supermarkets in Kosovo, and our soaps are at the gorgeous Thjesht boutique in Gjakova. We’ve also started a project to produce knitted bagsAnd in Peja we’re supporting a group of excluded women to produce badges and magnets from old beer bottle tops. If you’d like a bulk order of branded badges or bags, or any other gifts or souvenirs from our projects then get in touch to place an order.
There’s more that we’re doing including running Green Drinks environmental events, work to promote Kosovo’s cultural heritage, and ongoing work to register Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children for school, and supporting the community in Fushe Kosove with ante-natal classes, physiotherapy for children with special needs and other forms of healthcare.If you’d like to learn more, then why not volunteer with us or just come and see our work (the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs did !).None of what we do would be possible without our volunteers. The picture at the top shows some of us at the fundraising marathon we ran (a total of 140 kilometres between us).If you’d like to make a one-off or monthly donation to enable us to continue this work then you can use the PayPal button on our website or donate direct to our UK or Kosovo bank accounts.With thanks to our organizational donors this year:

The Finnish Embassy in Prishtina, The US Embassy in Prishtina, Save the Children, The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, Hope and Aid Direct, Livelink Kosova, United Nations Volunteers, United Nations Development Programme

And thanks to all of the individual, private donors in Kosovo, the UK and beyond whose personal generosity enables us to keep going.

UK bank account (with The Co-operative Bank, Sort code 089299, Account number: 65492860, Bank identification code/ BIC: CPBK GB22, International bank account number/ IBAN: GB54 CPBK 0892 9965 4928 60) or our Kosovan bank account (with ProCredit –  1110 305926 000115).

Cfare kane te perbashket  lenda e matematikes, udherrefyesi dhe nje cante specifike per yoga?Lajmet me te reja nga KosovaPra, cfare do te kishin te perbashket lenda e matematikes, udherrefyesi dhe nje cante specifike per yoga? Pergjigjja eshte qe secila prej tyre eshte pjese e projekteve te ndryshme qe The Ideas Partnership eshte duke punuar fuqishem me qellim te caktuar qe t’iu permiresohen kushtet e mjerueshme te jeteses se komuniteteve te ndryshme neper rajonin e Kosoves.Ashtu si aktivitetet tona te vazhdueshme javore te dedikuara per femijet tone ne Janjevo/a dhe ne Fushe Kosove, kete vit, TIP ka filluar te ofroj ore te matematikes per njerez te rritur ne qytetin e Fushe Kosoves dhe ate te Obiliqit (duke iu falenderuar fondeve te dhuruara prej vullnetareve te United Nations). Se bashku me oret e shkrim-leximit, kete ore te reja te ofruara nga grupi jone kane per qellim t’i aftesojne te rriturit te gjejne punesim dhe ne kete menyre, keta te rritur, t’iu japin mbeshtetje te plote femijeve te tyre te korrin suksese ne shkolle.

Ju mund te lexoni storjen qe tregon efektin pozitiv e oreve te shkrim-leximit te ofruara me shume perkushtim nga Mirasade Salihu, vullnetarja vendase e TIP.Mirsade Salihu ishte njera prej 10 “Changemakers” prej komunitetit ne Fushe Kosove, nje grup dinamik qe perfshin femra dhe meshkuj te cilet jane pjese e programit te cilin po organizojme per trajnim rreth pjesemarrjes dhe shoqerise civile. “Changemakers” tani kane perpiluar projektet e tyre te para per t’i implementuar ne komunitetin e tyre, dhe ne kemi planifikuar qe keto projekte te fillojne te zbatohen gjate kesaj vere.Te kater udherrefyesit qe i kemi trajnuar ne vazhdimesi jane pjese e nje projekti tjeter specifik i  cili eshte themeluar ne qytetin e bukur te Janjeves.

Me ndihmen e fondeve te ofruara prej programit te United Nations Development, ne kemi filluar t’I zhvillojme hapat e pare te industries se turizmit ne qytetin historic te Janjeves qe perfshin qytetare te etniteve te ndryshme, me qellim qe Shqiptaret, Kroatet, Romet, Ashkalite, Boshnjaket dhe Turqit te fitojne mundesi te ndryshme per te fituar nga nje vend pune. Perveq qe kemi hapur qendren per informata te ndryshme per vizitore i lokalizuar ne zemer te qytetit, grupi jone ka trajnuar dy familje te ndryshme specifikisht per ofrimin e sherbimeve te ndryshme per vizitore, si p.sh. fjetjen dhe pergatitjen e ushqimit. Se shpejti do te keni mundesine te keni qasje ne web-faqen per turizmin ne Janjeve, por ne nderkohe mund te na gjeni ne faqen tone ne Facebook, si  ‘Janjeve’ ne Instagram dhe @janjevo/a ne Twitter.Gjithashtu, nese jeni te interesuar t’i shihni disa fotografi  te mrekullueshme, te pacipa ose dhe  fotografi emocionale te fotografuara nga vet femijet vendas te ketije qyteti, mund t’i gjeni ne web-faqen e projektit tone ne www.hellojanjevo.com.E cantat specifike per yoga?Ato perbehen prej materialit reciklues te punuara nga grate e nderrmarjes tone sociale. “ SaPune,” ne fshatin e Srbobran, ne qytetin e Istogut.  Ne menyre qe keto gra te kene mundesi te jene pjese e projektit tone, femijet e tyre duhet ne cdo menyre t’i vijojne mesimet e tyre ne shkolle.Cantat dhe produktet tona te tjera, duke perfshire edhe stolite e ndryshme dhe sapunat, jane tash  ne sherbimin tuaj ne dyqanin tone online ku ofrohen shitje elektronike edhe per individet qe jetojne jashte Kosoves.Ne ndihemii krenare qe cantat tona prej materialit te pelhures tani shiten edhe ne supermarketet e Meridian ne rajonin e Kosovoes, dhe sapunat tone tani mund t’i gjeni edhe ne dyqanin e mrekullueshem “Thjesht” ne Gjakove. Ne gjithashtu kemi filluar nje project i cili perfshin punimin e cantave me materialin e leshit.Ne Peje,  ne jemi duke i mbeshtetur nje grup te perjashtuar te grave te prodhojne karfica dhe magnete prej kapakeve te birave te perdorura. Nese deshironi te porositni nje sasi me te madhe te ketyre produkteve, duke i perfshire edhe cantat, mund te kontaktoni grupin tone per te kryer porosine.
Perveq ketyre aktiviteteve, ne  gjithashtu organizojme edhe ngjarje te ndryshme mjedisore te Green Drinks,  punojme fuqishem me qellim qe te promovojme trashegimine kulturore te rajonit te Kosoves, punojme ne vazhdimesi ne regjistrimin e femijeve Rom, Ashkali dhe Egjiptas ne shkolle, plotesisht mbeshtesim komunitetin e Fushe Kosoves duke i ofruar  ore per periudhen para dhe gjate shtatezanise, fizioterapi per femijet me nevoja speciale, si dhe forma te ndryhme per kujdesin e shendetit.Nese deshironi te mesoni me shume, atehere ekziston mundesia te beheni vullnetare ne organizaten tone ose vetem t’a shihni punen tone (ashtu sic beri Ministri Austrian i puneve te jashtme!).Asgje nuk do te ishe e mundur pa kontributin e pandalshem te vullnetareve tone. Ne fotografine mund te shihni disa prej neve te cilet kemi marre pjese ne maratonen per mbledhje te fondeve (i kemi kaluar 140 kilometra me vrap).Nese deshironi te beni nje donacion te vetem ose edhe donacion mujor ashtu qe te behet i mundshem vazhdimi i projektit tone, ju mund te perdorni butonin e PayPal ne web-faqen tone ose te kryeni donacionin ne  ne menyre direkte ne llogarite tona bankare te Anglise dhe te Kosoves (detajet jane te cekura me nalte).I falemnderojme donatoret tone per punen e tyre:

Ambasada Finlandeze ne Prishtine, Ambasada Amerikane ne Prishtine, Save the Children, Fondacioni i vellezerve Rockfeller, Hope and Aid Direct, Livelink Kosova, Vullnetaret e United Nations, Progami i zhvillimit te United Nations.Dhe gjthashtu i falemnderojme donatoret individual dhe privat ne Kosove, Angli, dhe vende te tjera te globit qe vazhdimisht me ane te zemergjeresise se tyre dhe mbeshtetjes se plote e bejne te mundur suksesin e ngjarjeve tona.