MaK runs a children’s Summer Club for children in the Podujeva area every year. All children are welcome. Led by experienced teachers, the summer club involves a team of volunteers from the UK and Kosova. In 2009 we reached 80 children based in one school and the Peace Park. By 2011 this number had increased to 500 in four schools. In 2013 we introduces tennis, dance, music and had a Great Adventure…… By 2015 local Kosovar leaders greatly outnumbered the 16 leaders from the UK. We left with a pioneering MaK tennis programme in place, a MaK Club set up aiming to meet weekly and we had helped establish Podujeva Skate Club.
Ruairi O’Connell, British Ambassador to Kosovo, who visited Summer Club in both 2016 and ’17 paid MaK the ultimate compliment by writing, “People ask me if I am optimistic about the situation in Kosovo. The thing that makes me optimistic about the future, is seeing Kosovo’s young people making that future. As British Ambassador, I am proud that Manchester Aid for Kosovo helps them do this.”
Find out more here: the MaK Summer School Experience,
August 2017
Rrezarta Mulolli, aged 21, Chemistry Student, Prishtina, Kosovo
It all started with a feeling of insecurity, thinking: will I be good enough and what will people around me think? Is this what I should be doing? But the strongest thought was the quote, ‘You’ll never know without trying’. Back then I didn’t think I would do this for this long. Never thought it would be a personality developing event in my life.
Being a summer club leader helped me grow up. Back then I was a 15 year old teenage girl who was just waiting to see how the real world is. Back then all what mattered was having fun on those hot August days. I can’t say I liked it immediately, I can’t say it was breathtaking since the first moment. I can’t say that I knew what I was doing. But one thing I knew for sure was that it was what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
6 Years later, I still have the same enthusiasm, I still count back the 351 days until the next summer club. I’ve seen girls and boys growing into young ladies and gentlemen. I’ve seen spoiled kids turn into responsible teenagers. I’ve seen the most sincere smiles and the deepest tears.
I didn’t need to get paid for this because at the end of the day the greatest salary you can get are those little faces smiling at you and all those kids shouting your name, with love, all around the city. And in our case that means more than 300 kids. I’ve been called the ‘best friend’ of some kids whose names I never quite learned, the best leader to my team’s kids! I’ve been told that I am the most beautiful thing they can find. And all that being said by kids under 10. Being a summer club leader means listening to laughter for 2 weeks and wiping away lots of tears on the last day. It means hugging hundreds of kids whom you may never see again. It means having your room full of handmade gifts and cards from those kids.
Being a summer club leader for me has been the most valuable adventure. It helped me to learn to be me.
Summer club – for me – means forever lasting friendships, committed hard work and never-ending joy. And how can it be better than experiencing this within the MAK family?
All I can say now is: “It was worth it”.
August, 2015
Tom Elliott-Walker, aged 16, school student from Hawick, Scotland
I first heard about MaK through my older sister Emma who had taken part in the summer school the year before and had come back buzzing with enthusiasm about what they were doing and the people involved. I had never taken part in any significant voluntary work and I felt like I should really start giving back to the world and MaK was a great cause to work for.
Our journey to Kosovo took us through France, Italy and Albania and was long, hot and exhausting but also showed me a side of Europe I had not seen before.
Kosovo itself is a beautiful country full of exceptionally friendly people and I am so glad that I listened to my sister for once and chose to come to MaK.
Working with the children has been incredibly rewarding. They seem to really enjoy the activities that we do with them and despite the language barrier, I have found it very easy to form a bond with many of them.
I believe that what MaK does in Kosovo is incredibly worthwhile. Not only do the children love the activities, but the projects also allows young adults (both Kosovan and British) to improve their language, communication and leadership skills and forge international links that can last a lifetime.
Mary Pattinson, aged 19, Civil Engineering Student, London
Upon finding my summer pretty devoid of action I decided to take up Ben on an offer to go to Kosovo however I was severely underprepared for the two weeks I was in for.
I was assigned the role of a leader for a craft activity for the first week and bombarded with eager children. Trying to focus and control kids with tissue paper and glue (and glitter!) was challenging but working with the translators made it infinitely easier, and the locals here are so welcoming and immerse everyone in the culture.
There has not been a moment of boredom, loneliness or quiet at any point during the summer club; the children are always so willing to get involved and care about making beautiful things and have fun that it’s impossible not to succumb to their infectious happiness! The inevitable exhaustion at the end of each day is simply a sign that I have given my all to these children and the endless hugs and kisses received when the crafts and games are over is the sweetest reward, accompanied by the knowledge that the presence of the summer school continues to have such a positive affect in the town.
It is truly eye-opening learning about the children’s experiences and I appreciate so much how committed the people here are to improve their country. The kindness and generosity of the young leaders here and the UK MaK volunteers is overwhelming and I cannot imagine there could’ve been a better way to spend my time or more amazing people to spend it with. I hope this charity continues to receive the support it currently has and that this is not the last time I am involved with these beautiful people.
Memories of a MaK Volunteer August 2013 …….
When a colleague suggested that I should meet up with his friend Pam, a trustee and Treasurer of Manchester Aid to Kosovo (MaK), I had no idea that a quick coffee would turn into a trip to Podujeva. However, after meeting Pam and hearing about her passionate involvement in the community of the North-Western Kosovar town over the last fifteen years, I was instantly interested in getting involved. A flight was booked just days after our meeting, and I was very excited to be a MaK volunteer.
Over the next few months, MaK was never too far from my mind as I trained for the Great Manchester Run to fundraise for the charity, and had a few meetings with Pam and some of the other MaK volunteers. In June, a large portion of the UK-based volunteers got together in Manchester, and it was brilliant to hear the stories and experiences of those that had been to Kosova before, and to be a part of the planning process for the 2013 Summer School.
Skip forwards a couple of months, and the twenty-strong team of volunteers from the UK, France and Australia assembled in our Podujeva base. Upon arriving in Kosova, I wasn’t really sure what to expect as a volunteer ‘Leader’ at the MaK Summer School, but I can now safely say that any expectations I had were far short of the unforgettable experience I had.
The Summer School started with a team meeting involving the international and Kosovar leaders, and we were organised into six groups that would be the source of great rivalry and competition over the coming fortnight! My team was ‘E verdhë’ or, the Yellow team and along with my other English-speaking Leader, Arja, and two Kosovar Leaders, Lorik and Genti, we were responsible for up to 45 children on any day of the Summer School.
A ‘typical’ Summer School day started with team sports and games in the schoolyard, and then a craft activity in the classroom. After a break for the hottest part of the day, the team reassembled each day in the Peace Park where group challenges made up the first half of the afternoon, and sports and crafts made up the second part. The theme for 2013’s Summer School was “The Great Adventure” and each day provided a different task that served to make up an overarching story.
My particular highlight was Pirate Day, which saw us spend a swashbuckling morning making eye patches, swords, telescopes, hooks, and shoulder-parrots out of every craft material imaginable. The excitement of the morning was clearly not reserved only for the children, and Leader and child alike turned up decked out as a motley crew of Captain Jack Sparrows, Pugwashes and Hooks for the afternoon session. After being ‘captured’ and tied to a tree by another ‘pirate’, I was delighted to see e verdhë following a trail through the woods in a bid to rescue me. Once reunited, the team disbanded to follow individual pursuits such as tennis, volleyball, football, music-making and more – still wearing bandanas, earrings, eye patches, and carrying (empty) bottles of rum. Each day wound down with a performance by the Blue Camels (or the aptly named Blue Pirates on this particular day) using instruments of foraged materials, and conducted by the fantastic, John. Seeing the children perform so beautifully using bottles, cans, sticks and stones as an orchestra was definitely a highlight of my trip.
Spending each day with the children was a fantastic way to connect to the Podujeva community. Walking to the school every day, you were never short of a pair of helping hands to carry glue, paint, glitter…(the list goes on), as you were sure to bump into one of your team making their way in. The children more than matched the excitement and enthusiasm of their leaders, and I was bowled over by their creativity and thoughtfulness. Each day spent with the children was a whirlwind of imagination, eagerness, hugs, kisses, and paint-spillages.
Reflecting on my experience now, it is hard to put into words just how much fun I had as a MaK volunteer. It was wonderful to be part of such a varied and enthusiastic team, where friendships were forged and unique experiences were shared. I am really pleased to say that I made some fantastic friendships in Kosova, both from the UK-based volunteers, and the Kosovar team. Having friends who were local to the area meant that we had brilliant tour guides who could show us around during our own time, and meant that we had many invitations for the end of Ramadan celebration, Bajramin. I can’t wait to do it all again next year!
Shihemi vitin e ardhshëm, Kosova… See you next year, Kosova.
Natalie Harrison, MA Public Policy Student Manchester University, August 2013
A volunteer’s account of the 2012 Summer Club
Twelve volunteers from the UK and almost twenty from Kosovo worked together to provide a 2012 high point in hundreds of Kosovar children’s lives. MaK is extremely grateful for support for its educational projects from MPM Charitable Trust, enabling this and other successful and inclusive 2011 and 2012 children’s projects to happen.
Members of ChickenShed Inclusive Theatre Company traveled from London to work with MaK to involve 300 children in the town of Poduejva in a production of Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. The discipline and commitment, displayed by all the the children and leaders, enabled a superb production to be presented twice in the Podujeva town hall square. Acting, singing, dancing, set and costume design involved the whole Summer Club. All children were welcome and this was an exciting first taste of drama for many. The actors were amazed by the confidence and abilities of the Summer Club company and are determined to return to develop this work in Kosovo. They have invited highly gifted 17 year old Florist Bajgora to co-lead MaK’s drama projects.
When not rehearsing, the children and young people were involved in the usual Summer Club activities of sport, art and games on the Manchester Peace Park.
MaK is delighted that some of the Kosovar volunteers are developing into excellent leaders with teaching potential. After the Summer Club, leader Rinna Sheholli was invited to the UK for 2 weeks and underwent a successful teaching experience placement in a highly creative London school. This strengthened her resolve to become a teacher. Athlete Rita Hajdini, a leader from Llapi Athletics Club, was invited to visit the UK to run in the 2013 Junior Bupa Great Manchester Run. Rita came second and returned to Kosova very proudly, having received a silver cup from Kim Collins (2003 100m world champion). Rita’s athletics career started when she won a race in MaK’s 2006 Summer Club /Peace Park Run when aged 7 years old!
Please contact MaK for more information, to donate to our work, or to volunteer.
