PLAY International Kosovo

  Hello, everyone! Have you ever wanted ideas to come to you without much effort?  💡  That everything that comes to mind seems possible to you. When things that seem impassable to others seem to you as an opportunity to prove that everything is achievable and there is no barrier that women cannot break?! ♀️ I know, very difficult to believe, but you will when you read this article, that there is one person that can do these all, and her name is Bardha Uka. Bardha has been supporting the Peda team for a year and a half now, among others by delivering Peda content for the children, youth, coaches, and teachers. No wonder that you might have met her already, and you have had the opportunity to receive training from her. When we asked her what she thinks about PLAY, Bardha said: What I love the most about PLAY is the uplifting energy and the positive values ​​we share every day as a team. Being able to educate young generations through Physica...

As we approach the new year and look forward to 2021, our thoughts turn to new beginnings and new possibilities. And after almost two and a half years leading PLAY International’s work in Kosovo and the Western Balkans, it is also time for me, and the mission, to anticipate new beginnings. I am delighted therefore to be handing over the Head of Mission role to Sara Kalvachova who will build on the amazing work that PLAY does in the region. Closing a chapter is also a great time for reflection and I have been giving some thought to this as I have said my goodbyes to the talented and dedicated team I have been privileged to work alongside in the past few years. So, in this spirit of reflection, I would like to offer my perspective on the role of PLAY International’s sport-based approaches in the development of Kosovo and its neighbours. Inter-ethnic youth work has been the foundation of PLAY's success in the Western Balkans It was clear to me when I arrived in Kosovo in 2018 that PL...

Helping youth and children through activities: The social value of being a volunteer Lipjan / Lipljan may not be the most beautiful city you have ever seen, but it has youth groups among the most active in the country. Home to 57,605 people, this city does not offer many opportunities for them. Nevertheless, the quiet life of the city is disrupted by the activities of a group of young people who are involved in advocacy and awareness campaigns. For these young people who represent the views of the volunteer movement, making sure they advocate these rights and support innovative volunteerism, the Lipjan / Lipljan Youth Assembly has become a home that enables these youngsters to make a difference in their city. One may ask, what is the force that drives these young people to do volunteer work? The answers are easily found among the young people of this city. "I like volunteering. I have always loved it. When I heard that there are organizations in my community that do volunteer work...

                      Lifelong Memories of Amazing Experiences It has been three years since Arbërita crossed paths with PLAY International.  “I feel exiting to go through old memories” she admits “but I don’t get too many chances to share those memories with people.”  Now she lives and works in Finland.  Arbërita's voice comes to me through the Zoom app, but her way of talking and her life gives me the impression that I am talking to a girl who has gone through a sensational life with many experiences. Arbërita tells me that she has had a good day at work and that she is happy to do this interview with me.  Once we discussed about her day, we go back to the start of her experience with PLAY. “I was just 13 when I joined PLAY, and I was the youngest volunteer. At that time, it wasn’t allowed for youngsters under 16 to be part of the project, but seeing how regular I was in all the organized activities...

Partnering with The Ideas Partnership This month we have been thinking quite a bit about our partners and the importance of partnerships to our mission as an organization. As we mentioned in our post “ living up to our principles ” on 5 October, working as a collective is the only way we can make a lasting and deep impact on people’s lives. So we thought that we would have a closer look at a partner PLAY has been working with in Kosovo for almost 10 years now: The Ideas Partnership or TIP. PLAY's 20th Anniversary celebration in October 2019 was also a chance to celebrate our partnership with TIP and others As an organization, TIP is a great showcase for the benefits of a sport for development approach. One of its areas of work involves running Learning Centers to provide education, health, welfare and other services to vulnerable children and their families. With these core activities taking place in a central location inside communities in Fushë Kosovë / Kosovo Polje and Janjevë ...

[Regional Partnerships] Creating change and having a genuine impact on people’s lives is no small thing to achieve. This is why one of the core principles of PLAY’s work is a recognition that in order to make a real difference, we need to work as a collective. Joining our efforts to the work of others in effective partnerships is therefore one of the most important things we can do to create sustainable solutions to society’s challenges.   PLAY's 20th anniversary in 2019 was an opportunity to reflect on the past and the fu ture In 2019, PLAY celebrated its 20th anniversary. In Kosovo, this gave us a chance to both reflect on our achievements and look towards the future and how our work can have even more impact. One of the results of this was a determination to build new, long-term partnerships around the Western Balkans. These partnerships will not be based on implementing a single, donor-funded project, but long-term collaborations to bring sustainability and sustained energy to...

  Hello, everyone! The streets up to our office know quite well the noise created by the bicycle 🚴, which is how he travels to work almost every day, while our office knows him for his always smiling 😃 face and his hairstyle resembling James Dean 👦. This time you will have the opportunity to meet him. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Drilon Bajrami! Drilon joined PLAY this March as an Admin/Finance assistant. He plays a supporting role for the mission’s finance manager and logistician to ensure that PLAY’s accounting records and financial processes and procedures are done successfully.   Drilon loves sports, and when we asked him what he thinks about his job he said: I like being part of a multicultural organization which promotes sports as way of improving education and works toward social change. This is my first time working on projects of this scale, and it has been challenging so far considering the circumstances in which I started working but with the help of the staff, ...