Monday, December 5, 2016

International Volunteers' Day


Happy Volunteers Day everyone!
Please check out our video about experiences of some volunteers sent and hosted by CID. :)


Experiences in Tabanovce

In the framework of my EVS-project about Acceptance and Tolerance, for about one month now I have been working in Tabanovce refugee-camp. I spend three-four days in a week in the camp with LEGIS-team, that has been working in the camp since the beginning of the so-called crisis. The refugee camps are the result of Macedonia closing its borders in March 2016 and hence blocking the route for migrants to pass from Greece to Serbia and from there on to EU countries. Since March a couple of hundred migrants are stuck in the camps in Gevgelija (in the south of Macedonia, on the Greek border) and in Tabanovce. The migrants who have chosen to seek asylum in Macedonia, have recently been admitted to transit centers in Skopje where living conditions are slightly better. However, the majority of the people in the camps do not want to seek asylum in Macedonia as their plan is to continue to Germany or to other Western European countries where they might have family- or other ties.

Tabanovce refugee-camp is located around 10 kilometers from the town of Kumanovo, on the Serbian border, by the village of Tabanovce. The official number of persons in the camp is considered to be around 60, of which almost half are children, but on top of that there is a constantly evolving number of migrants staying in outskirts of the camp who, depending on day, are or are not allowed to enter the camp to receive food and other humanitarian aid. The majority of the people in the camp are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Lots of them are families, but there are also some unaccompanied minors. Alongside LEGIS, many other NGOs work in the camp daily (Red Cross, UNHCR, UNICEF, MYLA, IOM, Helsinki Comittee, La Strada...). The entries and exists are strictly controlled and only persons holding a permit can entry the camp.

Concretely, what we do with LEGIS, is that we bring food-packages that then are distributed to the people in the camp by Red Cross, organize activities for children and adults and just “hang around” to talk with people and help them with what ever they might need. Currently we do not have any officially planned activities in the camp, we rather work according to needs and demand of people; when we go to the camp I usually have in mind what kind of activities I would like to do with the children that day; however I might end up doing something completely different. The activities vary from drawing, doing crafts and photographing to language lessons and physical activities like playing football or learning acrobatics. One activity I did that children were really exited about was writing letters to their friends and family members in other countries. Most of them wrote to their relatives in Germany and even added photos in the envelops. I sent all the letters that children could provide an actual address for. With adults, doing activities is harder because it is difficult to find meaningful activities that they would be interested in – after all, all they want to do is to continue their journey to Western Europe. Our role as volunteers is not to force them to do anything they do not want to, instead what we can do is to talk and listen to them and help them with issues they might have. Sometimes we manage to gather adults to play table-tennis, football, do jewelries or to learn languages – anything that makes the time that is so long to pass even a tiny bit faster.

The migrants in the camp live in containers and many NGOs have their own in which they organize activities. Currently the camp is quite empty compared to how it used to be and the facilitates seem to be quite all right. The biggest problem is that many people have spent up to eight months without freedom of movement in the camp; the people are not allowed to leave the camps in Macedonia, which makes the conditions prison-a-like. The children can not go to (proper) school and the adults can not work, visit cities or keep up in almost anyway with normal way of living. That also keeps them separated from the Macedonian society, not having any contacts with Macedonians, apart from those working in the camps, and not knowing much about the country despite having stayed here almost for a year. People are very frustrated because no one knows how much longer the situation will last.

Personally the issue that concerns me the most is the conditions of those not being able to live in the camp. Nobody really knows the reason why some people can stay in the camp and some can not. Many seem to think it is a question of country of origin; some people are considered refugees and some are not, even though legally speaking nobody is a refugee at that point and in any case being a refugee has nothing to do with ones country of origin as the refugee-status relies (or should rely) on individual persecution. Anyhow, even though the majority of the migrants not having access to the camp has this last month been from Northern African countries, recently there has also been Syrian migrants amongst them and even some families. It is somewhat ironic that for the migrants inside the camp the conditions are comparable to a prison, but for those outside, the conditions are even worse; sleeping in the “jungle” (forest), not having a guarantee of food or any other humanitarian aid on a daily basis and facing violence both by the police and the smugglers. The situation is really absurd because there are not much options for these individuals; borders are closed making it really difficult to cross to Serbia or to go back to Greece, even though some of them might have temporary residence permits there. Therefore for some of them the only choice is to stay in Macedonia where they are not welcome in the camps either. Even working with them as a volunteer is very complex because of certain rules in the camp and hence any little thing like distributing food, charging a phone or just having a conversation with them feels like a little victory – which is ridiculous, because having a conversation with someone should absolutely not be considered illegal. On top of the other challenges these people are facing, it is getting very cold in Macedonia and temperatures going down to -10 degrees celsius in the night makes it urgent to resolve the situation.

I do not deny that sometimes it is very frustrating of not being able to do anything about certain situations in the camp and to collaborate with people who have very different views about how to work in these kind of situations, what is right and wrong and how you should talk about refugees and migrants, for example. But despite all that, working in the camp is also lots of good moments both with children and adults. Seeing children's smily faces when arriving to the camp and seeing them exited about the activities proposed are one of the greatest moments of my days in Tabanovce. Having conversations about life, hearing stories of different countries and having moments of laugh with people are always such a delight. And it is not only about giving or “helping them” (a term that should be banned anyway), it is also about learning from them, sharing with them. In the same way that I am interested where they come from, what are their plans and dreams for the future, they want to know who am I and where I come from. I might be able to teach them English or French but I have also been able to learn some Arabic – and trust me, the children are very excited when they get to be teachers! I think it is very important for everyone to keep in mind that the migrants are not only “poor victims”, just as much they are not “potential criminals”, like media tends to picture them - but individuals just like anyone else looking for a safe place to live, who has a huge potential in them if they are just let to use it.

*all the photos taken by the Children in Tabanovce in November 2016 



Open Doors 4 Social Inclusion

Finally, last Sunday 27th November, the final event presenting the results of our EVS projects took place in the MultiKulti social center.

Rural development and Acceptance and tolerance have been the topics of our projects, and we wanted to share with the public our two months experience.

In furtherance of this objective we organised a photo exhibition, a human library and a public debate.

Everybody was invited, at 3 o'clock MultiKulti opened its doors for the public. The photo exhibition was comoposed by photos taken by the kids from the Tabanovce refugee camp and photos showing portraits and initiatives of people living in rural areas. The "huaman books" shared their stories and we had an animated moving debate about migration and about the future of the rural areas in MK.
see you for the next event, we let you with some pictures of the day :)
















Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Weekend in Kavadarci!

Zdravo!

Saturday we took the opportunity to go to Kavadarci (in the south of Macedonia) with our coordinator, he used to live there and we wanted to meet people from rural areas for our project. It was also nice to discover the city and our coordinator's previous employment with the youth organisation, CreACTive.

How is the best way to meet local people? We spent the saturday night in local pubs and had the chance to meet other international volunteers (EVS, Peacecorps...) and local youth workers.

Understanding rural life is not always easy, so on Sunday we went to Marena, a little village near Kavadarci to visit and meet Vancho a local farmer who lives with his mother in a house in the countryside.

Their welcoming was perfect, they showed us the house and the garden, gave us an interview and invited us to eat and drink homemade rakija and ajvar, what more can we ask for :) ?


Under a beautiful blue sky, we walked to find the CreACTive farm, a 500 square meters land run by the association, where local youth and international volunteers work together, and can discover the permaculture techniques, eco-construction principles, composting and other environmental values.

Perhaps in the future the youth from Marena and Kavadarci could bring these ecological techniques to the rest of farmers and habitants in the area, it would be great.


Back in town, we returned to the pub for a meeting with one of the youth involved in the CreACTive projects, he told us about his experiences and we shared a good moment.

Intense weekend if we can say, but we enjoyed it. We love to meet new people and discover new places, and it was very productive for our 'coming soon' photo exhibition.

The trip back from Kavadarci to Kumanovo allowed us to have some rest. Our coordinators version of a direct bus, it wasn't. We stopped for 45 minutes in Skopje! but finally we made it.

Counting the days until the next discovering trip around Macedonia, we think it wont be before the end of our EVS period, which is almost over :(

Hope to see you around!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Artistic workshops in the Staro Nagoričane School

In the framework of our Intercult'rural project we are organising artistic workshops with the 8th grade students from the Staro Nagoričane School.

Every monday we visit the school and propose artistic and creative workshops to the kids. Normally based in the idea of recyclart, we are showing them how different materials can be reused in a creative way giving them a “second life”. 

During this workshops we can also practise with them the concepts learned at wednesday's english lessons! From our point of view, it seems like they enjoy these activities.


This week the children have learnt how to make recycled paper, where the paper is coming from and which are the consequences when we waste it!


Two weeks ago they made halloween decorations (re)using toilet paper rolls and soft cardboard boxes like cereals or cookies boxes, and last week they created recycled boxes from milk and juice tetra-paks :)



See U next monday for more creativity!

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Some of our social life :)

Hello everyone!

Tic-tac, tic-tac...we are already in the middle of our EVS (even more)!! Time flies when you're having fun... our mission is going well, like we said in posts before, we enjoy going to the school in the rural area, and the activities in MultiKulti are evolviong positively :)

But not all is work!! We are enjoying our life in Kumanovo... cafes, pool, walks: who said you can get bored in this city ;)

And also....sports! Yesterday we went to the local Sports Hall to see a Balkan League match between Kumanovo and Kojub.



 During the match the ambiance was great, Kumani ultras have lots of energy! 


Finally the Kumanovo team won 84 - 76 after an equilibrated match, at half time they went to the locker rooms with one point of disadvantage, 40 - 41, so Bravo guys! 

We let you with a photo from our weekend in Thessaloniki (amazing city!), this one we will be in south Macedonia meeting people for our rural development project :)

Till next time!


Monday, November 7, 2016

My first week in Tabanovce

In the village of Tabanovce, around 10 kilometers from the city of Kumanovo, there is a refugee camp in which currently around 120 migrants live. Most of them have been there for months without any freedom of movement. The situation is the result of Macedonia closing its borders in March 2016 and hence blocking the route for migrants to pass from Greece to Serbia and from there on to EU countries. Since March a couple of hundred migrants are stuck in camps in Gevgelija (in the south of Macedonia, close to Greek border) and Tabanovce. The migrants who have chosen to seek asylum in Macedonia, have recently been admitted to transit centers in Skopje where conditions are slightly better for them. However, the majority of the people in the camps do not want to seek asylum in Macedonia as their plan is to continue to Germany or another Western European country where they might have family or other ties.

Last week, as part of LEGIS-CID co-operation (to know more about what LEGIS is doing with the refugees, follow them on Facebook!), I (finally!) get to visit Tabanovce with LEGIS local volunteers and staff twice; Thursday was mainly about seeing around but Friday I spent several hours in the camp and get to talk to people and play with the children. The entries and exists of the camp are controlled and only persons holding a pass can entry. The camp itself is a in a sort of a field practically in the border of Serbia, close to the railway station and some private houses. The migrants live in containers and many NGOs have their own containers in which they organize activities like games for children, sports for adults, language lessons etc. Currently the camp is quite empty and the facilitates seem to be quite all right. The biggest problem is that many people have spent up to seven months in the camp so they are very frustrated of the situation; they are kept almost like prisoners without freedom of movement, without being able to work or go to a proper school (about half living in the camp are children) and no one knows how much longer the situation will last.

People who are not used to work with migrants and refugees often think it is something scary or really hard psychologically to visit refugee camps or transit centers. And yes, hearing the stories of their journeys can be really tough and it definitely is frustrating not being able to help them achieve what they want. But the truth is, people are rather similar no matter where they come from and what their situation is; when spending time with them you often end up talking about everything and nothing like with anyone else. The children enjoy running around, playing games, drawing and painting, like children do all over the world - but these kids seem to be particularly happy about the activities as there is not endlessly to do in the camps and because it helps them to forget about the situation even for a while. And that is what we as volunteers are in the camps for. :)



Paintings by children in Tabanovce 2016





























Jannika

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Friday, October 28, 2016

Immigrant, Refugee or a Foreigner? Catch the right terms!

When talking about migrants, minorities and other vulnerable groups, the use of right terminology is very important. But people who are not so familiar with these terms get easily confused between migrant and immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker, national and foreigner... To help you out with this struggle, let me explain you some of the most important terms:
  

Migrant / Immigrant / Emigrant

Migrant is a person who was born in a foreign country, as a foreigner (regarding the current host-country) and who has crossed a border to live in another country. Often used term immigrant emphasizes the host-country's point of view, where as emigrant can be used by the country of origin. To take the whole process of emigration and immigration into consideration, and not to forget that migration has consequences for both countries (plus for the transit countries!), it is preferably use the globalizing term migrant.
For example, if Abdou migrates from Senegal to France, he is an emigrant in Senegal and an immigrant in France, but globally we can call him a migrant.


Refugee / Asylum-seeker

Often people get confused with terms migrant and refugee and seem to think that being a refugee is somehow better than being a migrant. In fact, everyone who moves from a country to another is a migrant, where as those who try to seek asylum are also asylum-seekers and only those who get granted asylum (according to UN's Convention Relating to Refugee Status) are refugees. However, all of them are migrants and not being able to obtain the refugee-status does not mean that those migrants would not have serious reasons having left their countries. Currently many NGO's have chosen to use the term refugee when actually talking about migrants/asylum-seekers because of the term migrant's pejorative echo in many people's minds.
For example, if Mehmet moves from Afghanistan to Sweden he is a migrant. If he seeks an asylum in Sweden, he becomes an asylum seeker. If the asylum grant gets approved he becomes a refugee. However, he remains still a migrant as well.


National / Foreigner

The pair of words that also creates confusion is national and foreigner and they can be mixed up with the term immigrant too. National is someone having the nationality/citizenship (passport, right to vote etc.) of a country. Foreigner is someone not having these rights, even if he lives in the country. As opposed to immigrant, this is a status that might change; when a person immigrates to a country, he usually is a foreigner in that country, but in some years he might become a national. However, he remains always an immigrant – that status does not depend on nationality.
For example, if Alexander from Macedonia moves to Italy, he is an immigrant in Italy and most likely a foreigner. If after five years of living in Italy he manages to acquire Italian nationality, he becomes a national. However, he is still an immigrant.
Also, a good thing to note is that nationality legally speaking does not have anything to do with one's ethnic origin.
For example, most Albanians in Macedonia are Macedonians by nationality and Albanians only by their ethnic origin.   


Jannika

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Games of the World

Ready to play!

On Tuesday we organized an International Games Night in Multikulti. The event was organized rather on a short notice but despite tha more than 10 participants joined us. We had brought with us Jenga, Backgammon, Chess, Triomino and some card-games, but we were very happy that some children brought their favorite games also! In the end we were even learning some traditional dances all over the world - quite a successful night, we would say. :)


Triomino required some concentration.. but when the boys got, they couldn't stop playing! 
Jenga is always lots of fun!
Uno was brought by one of the participants and we all loved it!
Imagine a spoon, an egg and having to walk under the table.. the fastest team wins!

Our next activity is going to be a World Café (language exchange) tomorrow, friday from 17 to 19 at Ultra Caffe in Kumanovo. Join us and come to practice your English, French, Spanish... skills, teach us your language or just come to have fun and meet new people. See you tomorrow!