CONFERENCE IN KOSOVO – SUMMER 2001
By Jill A. Cerqueira for The Balkan
Times
In December 2000, I was invited
to attend a multi-ethnic conference in Kosovo. It would be the first attempt
to bring the different ethnic teens together in one place to discuss the
future. I accepted, and began work on security issues and the logistics of
housing and transporting teens.
Held in a secure location in central Kosovo, Croat, Roma, Albanian and
Serbian teen-agers met each other in August 2001. Translators smoothed communication
between the youths and soon shy smiles appeared as we practiced conflict
resolution techniques.
One of the tasks was having the teens design and paint a mural on a soccer
pit wall. The youths all drew sketches, voting on the best four. They whitewashed
the wall, and then painted the peace oriented murals. It consisted of the
name "KOSOVO/A" surrounded by flowers, gentle rolling mountains and a quiet
valley; the word "peace" in a dozen languages. As
we finished, I took a photo of all my artists, hands extended and covered
with paint. It was hilarious; they were teasing and laughing with each other.
It seemed they all agreed that paint sticks to hands, no matter what ethnic
group you belong to! It was one of the best exchanges during the conference.
*In the American media, Kosovo is used commonly, not Kosova. This in no
way connotes bias on the part of the author.