It's Always Sunny in Macedonia

Went to Macedonia for the second time in 12 hours (for those playing along at home, today marked the 18th stamp in my passport. Over half (10) have been made within the last week. By Friday I will have 4 more, bringing my total to 22... might have to be renewing the passport sooner than I thought) The event today was a sports day, which meant bracket style football (soccer) matches until one team wins it all. Teams were made up of 5 boys each, ranging from 5th to 8th grade-ish. A lunch would be served, then the women would do their part of the competition, which was a running race. We should be done by mid afternoon.

This morning I wake up here in Vranje and the first thing I notice is the rain. Llots of it. And cold. So I wear my long sleever and prepare for the worst, forgetting that yes, It's Always Sunny in Macedonia. We get to Macedonia after making an unexpected stop to pick up a last minute entry to the program (this school had vacillated for weeks) and it's sunny. And hot. And I don't have my bag. With the sunscreen. So I pull up my collar to shield my neck a bit, though you can tell I got some serious rays. Keep forgetting that I'm still kinda in the Mediterranean..
But we can't start now because the group from Kosovo is stuck at the border crossing. So we wait some more. We start after noon, so we feed the kids, then take one group to play their three games to one field (read: basketball court) and the other group stays on their basketball court... err field. Mostly goes smoothly (even though tensions run high at one point over the fairness of the ref - think NBA) Get the kids back, play the final match (home team wins, which caused chaos) Gave out trophies and started to leave. Border crossing back was a nightmare as they closed all but 1 lane for cars, so the normally 35 minute trip home took 1.75 hours. Took a shower, started to feel the (sun)burn, and now feel quite good about going to sleep early. Tomorrow I meet the other International NGOs focusing on Economic development, re-register with the police (which I do again Friday after staff meeting in Skopje), and actually sign the lease for here rather than just assuming the cash and rakija sealed the deal...

Serbia at Sunrise

What I did this morning at quarter to 5:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IaNWbFoxbMXSA&notag=1

http://www.b92.net/eng/

http://www.b92.net/eng/ is the main source for info on Kosovo and Serbia, and much of the rest of the Balkans. I read it pretty religiously (especially when insomnia kicks in), so if you are interested in what's happening in my neck of the world, or if your Lunestra just isn't cutting it, take a look* :)


*It's really not that bad. But then again, since I basically live this at the moment, my judgement may, in fact, be skewed slightly.

I got my work cut out for me.

Im working on a simple enough project - research free trade zones, figure out what the various kinds are, and if it is worthwhile for the municipalities to pursue them.

Thats the main focus. In theory.

In reality it's like everything else, I've got a million other things to do, and just jump and try to get them done. I'm the official native speaker of the Vranje and Gjilan offices, so whenever there are reports being written I get to edit them for grammar and work with the author to explain why I am changing everything. I also get to set up technology things such as Skype for the team members. I am assisting with the sports day in Macedonia on Tuesday, and providing logistic support for finding and setting up the new offices here in Vranje that we will be moving into sometime this summer.

So what does my week look like, you ask?

Monday - talk to the police about how the border crossing will work, because I am crossing to Macedonia later on for a late luncheon, and will be back after work hours and therefore will not be able to register again before I leave early...

Tuesday - as there is the sports program with youth from all over the region - Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia - and of the various ethnic groups - Serbs, Albanians, maybe even Roma. That will be an all day event too, I assume.

Wednesday we meet with the various International NGOs and I'll get some contacts about economic development, start setting up meetings.

Thursday is mostly open, though I may meet with an NGO Davor's Father works for.

Friday is back to Skopje for staff meeting.

My daily schedule typically involves lots of reading (I have about 5 inches of papers to read) and lots of coffee drinking. Meetings are very low key and often involve coffee and food. Everyone bends over backwards to be nice, completely contrary to the media perception. While it's always good policy to keep an eye on valuables, crime is very low here. I was told it's especially low against foreigners, as my landlord and landlady would take it very personally if someone were to steal something from me. So unless you are stupid and talk politics to drunks or leave money on the table, you have very little to worry about.

Last night I visited Davor and his family. Much of the evening was spent drinking rakija, the local brandy that is made everywhere (I think Davor's wife's cousins made this, as it came out of a plastic bottle) and talking about America, Serbia, Pop Culture, watching silly movie clips, and just having a really great time.

Today is reading day, even though I have the day off. I want to get more accustomed to what is going on, how EWI works in the region, and what I can do in the time I have here. I may be going off to Italy while I'm here, as they are providing me with a week to just explore so I don't work too hard :-P

First Trip to Kosovo

It's about an hour and a half to Gjilian, and entails two border crossings - once in Serbia, then a 5K drive to Kosovo Border. This is the DMZ-like section between the two. We take a cab driven by an ethnic Albanian to Gjilian to facilitate the border crossing. Each crossing requires me to hand over my passport, get my name recorded, and in some cases gives me a card that I have to surrender upon leaving (much like my police card here in Serbia). Because Kosovo is still Serbian (for now, that might change in June), I don't have to re-register every time at the police station here when I go to Kosovo, only for Macedonia.

Gjilian is very beautiful. The buildings are old, like in Serbia, but there is a bustle of activity, like people are getting ready for the day when investments will come to Kosovo. I met with some American Soldiers stationed with the KFOR, or Kosovo Force, who are working with EWI. I also met some UN contractors as well. Massive Thunderstorms caused power outages before we left, but still, it was a very wonderful day. Also, apparently the newest joke around the office is "What are you sinking about?" Look for the video here

Now, after a long day of traveling and shopping for food, I'm ready for a break. Tomorrow I meet with my site manager for dinner and to discuss the finer parts of the project.

On Renting an Apartment

Perhaps the first thing one notices in a foreign country is the way business transactions are handled. After a great dinner consisting of a "meat plate" (which, for those not familiar with Balkan cuisine, means meat, meat shaped into sausage link like bundles, meat on a stick, and meat stuffed with more meat and cheese), I spent the first night in the office (there is a spare bedroom in my office area, so it's not quite like camping). The next morning I registered with the local police (which I must do each time I leave the country, so I'll be a familiar face there) and went to look at my flat. Located minutes away from the office, it is on the top floor and has two balconies. After fierce negotiations (including allowing the landlady, who is as old as my grandmother, to keep some things in the refrigerator and access to the flowers on the balcony to water them, in return for them bringing a new TV to the flat - I didn't have the heart to tell them I don't know what the TV says anyway) we sealed the deal. This was done by me handing over the full two months rent and them giving Davor, my contact at EWI, and myself a shot of the local moonshine. This went over well, especially since it was 11:30 AM. Still, it was customary, so when in Rom... err Serbia...

"You're Going Where?"

...said my mom the first day I told her my internship was in Kosovo. Some of you may know the background of why I'm going to spend 10 weeks in the Balkans, but for those of you just tuning in, here's what's going on. I'm a grad student at the Clinton School of Public Service. One of our requirements for graduation is to work in an international capacity. Due to my penchant for saving the world, I chose to do conflict transformation work in Kosovo. So Monday, May 21st, 2007 I fly from JFK to Skopje, Macedonia (with a quick layover in Budapest) to get to Serbia directly to the north.

Here's what my site sent me:

Brief background to EWI and the GPKT Project

For 25 years the EastWest Institute (EWI), a European-American ‘think and do tank’, has operated long-term projects that aim to reduce tensions and promote dialogue and mutual understanding in critical locations around the world. Since its founding, EWI has committed itself to strengthening dialogue and to building a culture of conflict prevention by entrenching co-operation among and between different groups and communities.

EWI’s cross-border co-operation project in Kosovo, southern Serbia and northern Macedonia has been working since early 2003 works towards the core goals of conflict prevention and community development in the four border municipalities that comprise the ‘GPKT’ micro-region – Gjilan/Gnjilane (Kosovo), Presevo (Serbia), Kumanovo (Macedonia) and Trgoviste (Serbia). In addition to collaborative work with municipalities and central-level governments on policy and economic development issues, the project targets civil society through several cross-border and multi-ethnic Working Groups – the GPKT Education Committee, the GPKT Youth Council, the GPKT Women’s Working Group and the GPKT Media Working Group.

Please visit www.ewi.info and www.gpkt.org for more information.

General note

The current situation of political instability surrounding the final decision on Kosovo’s status will obviously impact on the progression of the GPKT project, currently in the middle of it’s second phase (December 2005 to May 2008). While EWI cannot guarantee that the activities outlined below will be possible, at this stage (May 2007), it appears very likely that the outline of responsibilities should be possible, and that although caution and flexibility will be needed, activities should be able to continue. However, the intern should be prepared to face a situation where this work outline is not possible due to political developments, and in such a situation EWI commits to identifying a new role in consultation with the intern and to supporting a flexible approach in order to help ensure a positive work experience over the internship placement.

A. Internship Outline

At the time of wiring, in May 2007, it seems clear that a combination of the following responsibilities would comprise the intern’s work with the GPKT team over the summer of 2007. Namely, a combination of more general support, which would also provide insight and involvement with varied programme activities, and a more specific personal research project which the intern could ‘make their own’:

§ General support to ongoing activities – assistance in various areas, including:

– Help with report writing and editing. As a native English language speaker, this will be helpful for colleagues on the team, and would include assisting with drafting activity reports of specific events or workshops, and also editing or commenting on longer policy brief type of papers.

– Help with planning and organising policy discussion meetings such as roundtables. This would be part of the process of policy research noted above, and would include input into agenda and participant list development and a role at the event.

– Help with fund-raising. This would include work with the youth working group on fund-rising proposals, part of their efforts at self-sustainability. It could also include input into larger strategy development for EWI in terms of commenting and inputting into concept papers for programme fund-raising.

§ Support to research and integrated development work – there would be a chance for a more specific ‘mini project’ type of activity for the intern. While EWI undertakes or commissions policy research on key issues identified as relevant to the project activities, there is also space for shorter ‘situation analysis’ type of short research pieces, which would aim to collect the facts and indicate potential policy directions for further exploration. Two key potential topics which would benefit from such analysis are:

– Higher education and vocational education in the micro-region – the key dynamics and potentials associated with these issues in terms of conflict transformation and cross-border co-operation.

– Free trade zones – the potential benefits on the ground for local communities versus the upcoming process towards European-associated free trade areas and regional tariff agreements.

For both of these pieces, first steps would be a basic ‘status quo’ info collection, which would then link with data we gathered on labour market and business needs from local businesses in summer 2006, and would be complemented by additional desk research and interviews with key informants. We would also remain open to considering alternative topics of particular personal interest to the intern for similar assessments, although their relevance to ongoing EWI initiatives would obviously have to be considered.

B. Qualifications / Requirements

Required qualifications for this internship would be:

§ Experience (either practical or covered as an area of study) of and/or genuine interest in the thematic area for internship confirmed with EWI (e.g. education, women’s issues, economic development / municipal development, youth, media etc.).

§ Experience and understanding of the sensitivities surrounding multi-ethnic activities and initiatives.

§ Understanding of the political and conflict dynamics in the Balkans region.

§ Common sense, patience and sensitivity

§ Equipment – a laptop and mobile phone (the EWI team can help with purchasing of a local SIM card for project-related communication).

§ For research-related internships: Ability to collect information from a variety of sources (in-person consultation will be important, as well as assessment of a range of written material), analyse and produce intelligent and well-informed conclusions and recommendations. Ability to work without substantial support or supervision.

§ For community-work related internships: Ability to work as part of a multi-national team, and good communications skills.

Desirable qualifications for this internship would be:

§ Experience of thematic area for internship (confirmed with EWI) on a practical level.

§ Experience of the Balkans.

§ Experience of living in field conditions (poor communications/transport, lack of amenities, etc.).

§ Language skills – Serbian, Macedonian or Albanian, would be a huge advantage.

C. Placement

The intern would be based in the EWI office in Vranje (Serbia), have a work space and access to EWI’s office facilities, and the support of the staff member working there; regular travel would most likely be required to Kosovo and Macedonia, and the intern would engage with staff in all three EWI offices (Vranje-Serbia, Gjilan/Gnjilane-Kosovo, and Skopje-Macedonia). The intern’s supervisor would depend on their area of work, but ultimate supervision/management would be provided by Chrissie Hirst, the GPKT Project Manager, who would be on hand for induction and subsequent support - facilitation of contact-building and work planning, discussion of progress and monitoring of delivery, etc.