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V icesmagazine

November, 2011

Having spoken with many local young-sters in Skopje and Macedonia during previous trips and my current stay as volunteer, I have heard a magnitude of different fu-ture plans, hopes, dreams and expecta-tions. From the of-ten-heard cravings to travel and live in other countries in Europe; starting your own business in Macedonia;

The Voices in my Head // Verschwende meine Jugend by Koen

Што се однесува до запознавање на нови луѓе, младите во Македонија се исти како и сите останати, посакуваат нови искуства, нетрпеливи се да запознаваат луѓе од цел свет, си бараат свое катче во Универзумот. И повеќе од јасен е слоганот- “Патувањето е мед за мислата”. Токму овие две компоненти, младоста и патувањето се инспирација за програмата “Европски волонтерски центар” или “Млади во акција”.

Teë huajt në Shkup by Martina

Përderisa ne rri-temi, ne duhet të marrim vendime për ardhmërinë tonë, njëra prej tyre është se ku do të vazh-dojë arsimimi jonë. Ka shumë mundësi,ne mund të vendosim për të shkuar në univer-sitetin lokal ose mund të zgjedhim për të shkuar në atë të kryeqytetit. Pa marrë parasysh se çfraë do të vendosim, ne duhet ti marrim në konsid-eratë anën pozitive dhe negative.

ЕВС во Eвропа од Силвиа

One big family and three generations of women by AntonellaThere’s no better way of comparing the life of children in Macedonia today and in the past than to go and ask your neighbour. Once, long time ago, I saw a film in which young university students had to take an exam on a scientific subject. They had studied hard, but the majority could not answer the last question: “What’s the name of the cleaning lady in this building?”... Everyday, we volunteers pass by and shop at a greengrocer’s in the corner of the square next to our house. But how many of us know the name of the salesclerk? How many of us stopped to talk with her about her family?

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“Volunteers Centre Skopje” (VCS) is a non-governmental youth organization created in 2005 by former EVS volun-teers. The main goal of the organization is to give non-for-mal educational possibilities to the young people, in differ-ent fields, on local and international level; to promote the idea of volunteerism and to connect young people without reference to their nationality, religion, political, economi-cal or social status. We are putting effort to develop a mul-ticultural civil society, to reinforce the existing democratic structure, to enhance the affirmation of young people through their individual abilities and skills, and to connect the young people with the purpose of their closer coopera-tion.

Voices Magazine is a project of VCS and it is created to provide more opportunities for young people to get to know other countries and cultures, as well to promote volunterism, non-formal education programs and active involment.

ContributorsAntonella NuvoliAnouk CrapsSylwia GorskaSanja PaunovskaElena PetrevskaSara FantovaKoen ter HeegdeMonika AshtalkoskaMartina LozanoskaDesignAntonella Nuvoli Sylwia GorskaPublish By Volunteers Centre Skopje

EditorialCONTENT

The Voices in my Head // Foreigner in Skopje

The ‘90s in the heart of mediterranean sea

Recipe for Social LifeMy tango experience

One big family and three generations of women

EVS in Europe We are all Kukutza

° Manaki brothers’ 32 European Youth Capitalѕ

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Office address: Emil Zola 3-2/3www.vcs.org.mk+389 2 277 20 95+389 2 277 20 95

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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The theme of this autumn edition of VOICES is ‘Youth’. Obviously a topic too large to fully cover in just one magazine, but here we use it as a ‘coat-hanger’: addressing it in diverse articles about hopes and dreams of different generations, growing up on the countryside or in peripheral cities and many others. Since this magazine is made by and for young people in Skopje (and Macedonia) we figured that portraying local generations and visions of the future would always be (at least) interesting and raising questions about (y)our own youth and future. Another motive for this theme is that within cer-tain generations of EVS volunteers there are always age differences. Moreover an extended period of voluntary work in another country makes you better equipped for future life, studies or jobs. That’s basically the whole reason the European Union supports a separate and independent youth program and provides these opportunities for us. Contact Volunteer Centre Skopje if you would like to help us making VOICES, contributing (or translating) articles, pictures, drawing, discussions or insights.

Having spoken with many local youngsters in Skopje and Macedo-nia during previous trips and my current stay as volunteer, I have heard a magnitude of differ-ent future plans, hopes, dreams and expecta-tions. From the often-heard cravings to travel and live in other coun-tries in Europe; starting your own business in Macedonia; studying in America and so forth. Every generation has different visions of their and their offspring’s fu-ture. Your grandparents had a vision of what they wanted for their (grand)children; your parents had a vision for them-selves and for you. Pri-orities and expectations change over the years and in different genera-tions. Since I personally still haven’t got a laid out

The Voices in my Head // Verschwende meine JugendEditorial

by Koen ter Heegde by Koen ter Heegde

plan for, let’s say the next five years, the concrete-ness of some of the plans of the young people I speak with surprises me. Maybe (probably) this is something that I like to avoid thinking of. In the last ten years I always preferred living from day to day and not knowing where I will be the next year (and not remembering where I was last week). Now that my EVS in Skopje is running to and end, I am somewhat forced to plan ahead -having no house, job or money in The Netherlands- and coping with the constant questions and pressure coming from the ‘home-front’. My friends send me job vacancies on a regular basis, that I read, think about, but I didn’t apply for any. This off course doesn’t say that I don’t have

dreams or visions for the future. Perhaps I can be a promoter of a small music venue, or man-age bands or do the PR/promotion for a group, venue or organization. I have some experience in different fields, a master degree from university and a strong idealism about youth work and the cultural sector. On of my personal motivations for coming to Skopje as a volunteer was to allow myself to think about the near future, which I did on many occasions, but it hasn’t led to concrete plans. With one month left in this country I will have to force myself to make some. Any help or discussion is much appreciated.

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Since my brain cannot function without linking everything to songs and music I here present you the soundtrack to the article you have just read, and maybe even some of the articles in the rest of the magazine. Please note that there are thousands of songs dealing with this theme (there are whole lyri-cal genres based upon it), these are just some per-sonal favourites, in no particular order.

- DAF – Verschende deine Jugend (“Waste your Childhood”)- Rue Royale – Parachutes and Lifeboats- Iron and Wine – Upwards over the Mountain- Arcade Fire – Wake Up- Belle and Sebastian – Dog on wheels- The Undertones – Teenage Kicks- The Veils – Not Yet- The Gaslight Anthem – Great expectations- Blur – Country House- Pulp – Disco 2000- The Rakes – 22 Grand Job(And half of the discography of Bruce Springsteen, but …)

5 Random Personal Favourite Movies about growing Up-Herr Lehmann (2003 / Leander Haußmann )-Where the Wild Things Are (2009 / Spike Jonze)-Almost Famous (2000 / Cameron Crowe)-Let the right on in (2008 / Tomas Alfredson)-The Breakfast Club (1985 / John Hughes)

As we grow old we have to make decisions about our future, one of them is where will continue our education. There are many options, we can decide to go to the local university or we

can choose to go in the capital city. No matter what will decide, we have to consider the positive and the nega-tive side.

For those that decide to go in Skopje it is very important where they will live. There are two options you either rent an apartment whit friend or go to the dor-

mitory. It is very impor-tant in which one you will get in. students usu-ally apply in the ones that are closer to the faculty they go to or to the ones that are in better shape. But if you are a fresh-

man there isn’t much to choose, you will live in the one that is available. If you decide to go in the dorms you must be pre-pare to meet whit differ-ent kind of people and to be able to communicate whit everyone in an civi-lized way because you don’t have much choice, everyone in there are different and come from different places form the

country. One of the ad-vantages is that you pay rent in which is includ-ed bills and food. And you also meet all sorts of people and that will use you in the future. If you decide to rent, you should be prepared for the upcoming chal-lenges. You will have to find an apartment that is suitable for you, eco-nomically and to be in a good location. There are also rent, bills and food, you have to take care that everything is on time, so you’ll don’t have problems. But one of the perks is that you have more privacy and you get to live whit someone you know.

There are a lot of dif-ferences between local students and the ones from the up-country. Local students can’t al-ways understand the others. After all they have all the advantag-

Foreigner in Skopjeby Martina Lozanoska

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es from living at home. Not much is changed for them; they still have the same surrounding, the same friends and the same problems as be-fore. It is much better to come home from school and your mother made lunch, or when you get up in the morning and your only obligation is to go to school and study. When you are alone you have to do everything for yourself. You are the one that has to thing whether you eat home or go out, whether you save money and don’t go out tonight, bills and rent. These are some things that can be very stressful when you are eighteen. Even the night life is dif-ferent. They don’t have the same habits. Local students usually go to cafés and then to the clubs, as the others have private parties and then they organize some sort of group going out. There are some sorts of clubs in the dorms where the students organize parties and everyone is invited. Local students

usually go to these par-ties just of curiosity or if they know someone from there. When you come from a different city you can be a little confused. Sud-denly, you are in en-vironment where you don’t know anyone and you can’t adapt to the new surrounding at first. It is hard to be away from the people you know and love. You have to learn to

take care of yourself and to depend on anyone. As you adapt to the new situation you will learn that it is not that bad to be by yourself. Not eve-rything is as scary as it

seems. You have made new friends and learned how to function with-out someone telling you what is right or wrong. But whit freedom comes and great responsibility, you can’t just relax and whatever you want. Now you are responsible for your choices and mis-takes. You can’t just have fun without thinking about the consequences. Not everything is the

way you imagined when you came. Some stu-dents can’t afford just to go to school and study, they have to find a job if they want go get through the month or to afford to

go out and party like the others. Students that go away to study don’t just get a de-gree and go home. They also learn to how to sur-vive in the unknown. The fact is that everyone knows everything when you live in a small town, and every move that you make is watched and jugged. It is safer when you know what is expected from you and what you shouldn’t do. But when you come home after studies you realize that everything is changed. You are treated differently because you act differently. You have learned not to worry what everybody thing of you and learned that you are who you are. Even your parents treat you differently, now they look at you as an adult and expect to act like one. But the real ques-tion is how to ménage to combine all that you learned and all that you become? Something is for sure; you are not the same person that you were when you left. Your

priorities have changed. And your goals are dif-ferent. Going away for studies is a life changing expe-rience. That is a way to shape your personality and to learn your lim-its. You meet all kinds of people and make friends that will last for life. You learn how to behave in unknown surrounding and how to adapt to eve-rything that life brings you. It is one of the most important parts in a men’s life. Everything you’ll gain it can be use-ful in the future. Every experience teaches you to something, and you become a better person. There is nothing that you will change; even the

bad memories are good because they are yours. There is one thing that you should keep in mind, note everything is what it looks like at first. You have to make boundaries how far will you go and what is the purpose that you came for. There are some of us that got lost along the way, but you learn from other people mistakes not just your own.

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Përderisa ne rritemi, ne duhet të marrim vendime për ardhmërinë tonë, njëra prej tyre është se ku do të vazhdojë ar-simimi jonë. Ka shumë mundësi,ne mund të vendosim për të shkuar në universitetin lokal ose mund të zgjedhim për të shkuar në atë të

kryeqytetit. Pa marrë parasysh se çfraë do të vendosim, ne duhet ti marrim në konsideratë anën pozitive dhe nega-tive.Për ata të cilët vendo-sin të shkojnë në Shkup,

Teë huajt në Shkupështë shumë e rëndë-sishme se ku do të jeto-jnë. Ka dy opcione:ose merr një banes me qira me shokun ose mund të shkosh në konvikt. Është shumë e rëndësishme në cilën do të shkosh. Stu-dentët zakonisht apliko-jnë në ata të cilët janë më afër fakultetit ku studijo-

jnë, ose te ata të cilët janë në formë më të mirë. Por nëse je një student/e, nuk duhet shumë për të zgjedhur, ju do të jetoni në atë banesë që është në dispozicion. Nëse ju vendosni të shkoni në

konvikt, ju duhet të jeni të përgaditur të njofto-heni me njerëz të llojeve të ndryshme dhe të jeni në gjendje të komuniko-ni me ata në mënyrë të civilizuar sepse nuk keni shumë zgjedhje, të gjithë atje janë të ndryshëm dhe vijnë nga vende të ndryshme. Njëra nga avantazhet është se ju paguani qira ku janë të përfshira faturat dhe ushqimi. Gjithashtu ju do të njoftoni të gjitha llojet e njerëzve dhe kjo do të ju shërbejë në të ar-dhmen. Nëse ju vendosni të merrni banes me qira, ju duhet të jeni të për-gaditur për sfidat e ardh-shme. Ju duhet të gjeni një apartament që është e përshtatshme ekono-mikisht për ju dhe të jetë në një vend të mirë. Aty hyjnë faturat dhe ush-qimi ku ju duhet të jeni të kujdeshëm që çdo gjë është të rregull dhe në

kohë, kështu që nuk do të keni problem. Por njëra nga përparsitë është se ju keni më shumë liri dhe mund të bashkjetoni me dikë që e njifni. Ka shumë dallime ndërmjet studentit ven-das dhe atij jashta saj. Studentët vendas jo gjithmonë mund ti kup-tojnë të tjerët. Para se gjithash, ata kanë gjitha avantazhet nga të jetu-arit në shtëpi. Jo gjithçka ndryshon për ata, sepse ende e kanë rrethin e njëjtë, shoqërinë e njejtë dhe problemet e njëjta si më parë. Është shumë më mirë kur kthehesh nga shkolla dhe e ke gati darkën të përgaditur nga nëna, ose kur duhesh të zgjohesh në mëngjes, detyra jote është vetëm të shkosh në shkollë dhe të mësosh. Kur je vet, duhesh të bësh gjithçka për veten.Ti je ai/ajo që duhesh te mendosh se a duhet të hash brenda apo jashtë, a duhet të shpen-zosh para për ti paguar faturat dhe qiranë. Këto janë disa gjëra që mund të jenë të vështira për ju kur jeni në të tetëmbëd-

hjetat. Edhe jeta e natës është e ndryshme. Ata nuk i kanë zakonet e

njëjta. Studentët vendas zakonisht shkojnë nëpër kafe dhe më pas nëpër klube, ashtu si të tjerët që kanë ahenge private dhe pastaj ata organizo-jnë një lloj të grupit për të shkuar jashtë. Ka disa lloje të klubeve nëpër konvikte ku studentët organizojnë ahenge dhe gjithkush është i ftuar. Studentët vendas za-konisht shkojnë nëpër këto ahenge vetëm për kureshtje ose në qoftë se e njohin dikend nga aty. Kur ju vini nga një qytet tjetër, ju mund të jeni pak të shqetësuar. Papritmas ju jeni në një ambient të

ri ku nuk e njifni askënd dhe nuk mund të adap-tohesh menjëherë me

rrethin e ri. Është rëndë të jesh larg njerëzve që i njeh dhe i don. Ju duhet të mësoheni të kujdeseni për veten dhe të mvareni nga çdokush. Përgjatë përshtatjes me rrethin e ri, ti do të mësosh se nuk është edhe aq keq të qenurit vetvetja. Jo çdo gjë është aq e frikshme sa duket. Ju keni bërë miq të rinj dhe keni mësuar se si të funksiononi pa ju treguar dikush se çfarë është e drejtë apo e ga-buar. Por me lirinë vjen edhe një përgjegjësi e madhe, ju nuk mundeni vetëm te relaksoheni dhe të

by Martina Lozanoska

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bëni gjithçka që dëshiro-ni. Tani ju jeni përgjegjës për zgjedhjet tuaja dhe gabimet. Ju nuk mund të keni argëtim pa men-duar për pasojat. Jo çdo gjë është ashtu siç e keni paramenduar kur keni ardhur. Disa studentë nuk mund të përballojnë që vetëm të shkojnë në shkollë dhe të mësojnë, ata duhet të gjejnë punë nëse duan që ta kalojnë muajin apo nëse duan të dalin dhe të kënaqen si të tjerët. Studentët qe shkojnë jashtë për të studijuar, jo vetëm që e marrin diplomën dhe kthehen në shtëpi. Ata gjithashtu mësojnë se ti të mbijeto-jnë në panjohuri. Fakti është se të gjithë dijnë çdo gjë kur ju jetoni në një qytet të vogël, dhe çdo lëvizje që ju bëni shifet dhe gjykohet. Është më e sigurt kur ju e dini se çfarë pritet prej jush dhe çfarë nuk duhet të bëni. Por kur kthehesh në shtëpi pas studimeve ,e kupton se gjithçka ka ndryshuar. Ju trajto-heni ndryshe, sepse keni vepruar ndryshe. Ju

keni mësuar që mos të shqetësoheni se çfarë mendojnë të tjerët për ju dhe keni mësuar atë se ju jeni ky qe jeni. Edhe prindërit tuaj ju trajtojnë ndryshe, tani ata shikoj-në në ju si një i rritur dhe presin të veprosh si një i tillë. Por pyetja e vërtetë është ajo se si ti kombi-nosh të gjitha ato që i ke mësuar dhe çka je bërë? Diçka është e sigurt,j u nuk jeni i njëjti person që keni qenë kur jeni lar-guar. Prioritetet e juaja tanimë janë ndryshuar dhe qëllimet e juaja tani janë të ndryshme. Duke shkuar larg për studime është një ndry-shim në përvojën e jetës. Kjo është një mënyrë për krijimin e personalitetit tuaj dhe për ti mësuar kufijtë e juaja. Ju njofto-heni me gjitha llojet e njerëzve dhe krijoni sho-qëri që do të zgjasin deri në fund. Ju mësoni se si të silleni në një rreth të panjohur dhe si të për-shtateni në gjithçka që ju sjell jeta. Kjo është njëra nga pjesët më të rëndësishmë në jetën e njerëzve. Çdo gjë që ju

do të fitoni mund të jetë e dobishme në të ard-hmen. Çdo përvojë ju mëson diçka dhe kjo ju bën një njeri edhe më i mirë. Nuk ka diçka që do të kishit ndryshuar, edhe kujtimet e këqija janë të mira sepse janë të tutë. Një gjë ju duhet ta mbani në mend, jo çdo gjë është ashtu siç duket në fillim. Ju duhet ti bëni kufijtë se sa larg do të shkoni dhe çfarë është qëllimi që keni ardhur. Ka disa njerëz prej nesh që e kanë humbur rrugën, por ju duhet të mësoni nga gabimet e të tjerëve dhe jo vetëm nga ato të juajat.

How was childhood in a small village of Sardeg-na? Tales of everyday life without mobile phone, internet and cinema, when still it was possi-ble to survive without all these things.Usually when people ask me “Where are you from?”, instinctively I would say “From Sarde-gna”. But often I should explain “One of the big-gest islands in the Med-iterranean Sea... No, it’s not in France, that’s Corse... No, there isn’t mafia, that’s Sicily”.. Un-

The ‘90s in the heart of mediterranean seaby Antonella Nuvoli

fortunately sometimes I simply say “Italy”, that’s also a truth confirmed by my passport. But when people hear Italy, they begin to think of Rome, Venice, Milan or Turin, and their reaction is “Italy? Cool!!”. I’m Sardinian and for Italian people Sardegna is cool only in summer because loads of famous people, from the enter-tainment and political world (as you may know, in Italy there is a strong connection between showbiz and politics...), kings, queens and mon-eybags from all over the world fly to Costa Smer-alda (in the north-east of the island). Most of them stay in Porto Ro-tondo or Porto Cervo, prudently avoiding to put their feet in the un-known part of the island. The “must” is to be there, to show themselves with their yacht and drink

champagne in Briatore’s Billionaire disco. Tell-ing other people “I spent my summer holidays in Sardegna” means that you’re cool, rich, glam-ourous, fashionable. But it’s a completely different story to spend autumn, spring and winter there as well...I lived my childhood there, in a small village in the heart of Sardeg-na. Me and my two sis-ters shared everything: we studied in the living room together and when finished we went to the

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street to play together with the other children

of the neighbourhood. There weren’t any mo-bile phones in the ‘90s but it wasn’t difficult to meet each other in the village. We just had the phone at home and in one of my friends’ house they managed to lock it so that children couldn’t use it.Living in the ‘90s in the mountains also meant also that sometimes, but especially during Christ-mas holidays, when we could go to sleep later to watch a movie, for sure there was a power cut and we had to ask our cousins from another town to know how the film ended. There was no cinema in my village and still

there isn’t one. The first time in my life I went to

a cinema was one week be-fore my 15th birthday. We organized an e x p e d i t i o n with all of our friends to a different town to watch one of the biggest

critical and commer-cial successes, Titanic... There weren’t armchairs, but only wooden and not-at-all-comfortable chairs. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the epic mo-ment: we were in a cin-ema!!Remembering my child-hood means remember-

ing the Fiat Uno Bianca.

During these years, my mother used to drive this Fiat Uno Bianca all along the winding streets of northern Sardegna. At the same time, in It-aly there was a criminal organization called “The gang of the Uno Bian-ca” that from 1987 until 1994 committed a lot of crimes and also killed 24 people. Before every criminal action, they used to steal one Uno Bianca (every time they stole a different one) be-cause it was a very popu-lar make of cars. Fortu-nately, they never went to operate in Sardegna and our car was safe! With the time, me and my sisters developed a

special ability to rec-

ognize the roar of our Uno so that we knew in advance when mum was arriving and we had enough time to turn off the tv and start to pre-tend to study.There were some clothes shops in the village (now there are only a few... crisis’ blame!), but in my family there was the ritu-al to go to the city before Christmas and Easter and dur-ing sales in Jan-uary and July. These kinds of journeys were real odysseys: all of us in our car, the smell of petrol that for sure would kill the stom-ach of one of us, forcing my mother to stop the car and let us throw up in the middle of nowhere.. Then, we would run to check as many shops as human beings can visit in one afternoon, trying clothes in a hurry and going back home tired and happy. We did the same also for the den-tist and the oculist, but back home we were tired

as always and sad (new braces or glasses are not as exciting as new trou-sers or new coats...). In the neighbourhood there were a lot of shep-erds and we used to go to one of them to buy fresh milk every morn-ing. I mean like Heidy, but at least not directly from the cow..Sundays were special

days: we went to the church with our new clothes and after that we had lunch in one of the grandmothers’ house (there were turns in or-der to avoid useless fam-ily arguments) to meet the cousins from the other towns. During the summer, the meet-ing point for the family was the big house by the Coast of one of my aunts and there we met our

cousins from Rome that spoke with a “weird” accent and sometimes they didn’t understand Sardinian... Yes, they arrived from a differ-ent world, that world that people in Sardegna call “Continent”, known in the rest of the world as “Italy”.. As usual, we went to the beach in the Uno Bianca, all oily and sticky from the suntan cream and heat because, as you can imagine, our car didn’t have air condi-tioning.Nowadays things are a little bit different and life in the middle of Sardegna in the ‘90s can seem boring, but I regret nothing. There’s hap-pyness also in the small and simple things of life.

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Human Beings are social animals, and the tenor of our social life is one of the most important in-fluences on our mental health. Without positive durable relationships, both our minds and our bodies fall apart. In recent years the world went forward so its change us all and the young gen-eration, to which they belong, and pull me in that world, which for us is as unknown wave. We have a big change in this modern age, and that is how grow and develop chil-dren in this centu-ry. With globaliza-tion increasingly evolving technology ,and the computer is a phenomenon of the 21st century. When I walk back to my childhood, I feel positive vibration, life was filled with the

spirit and rapidly rising bursts of warm thoughts, much companionship, carefree. The girls most of the time spent playing Lastik, Dama, Lepcin-ja, Narodna before the

building. Outside, dur-ing the lunch I could hear the voices of moth-ers, who invited to eat. But we were rapt in our games pretended not to hear and hiding just

not to be at home. And then careful mother was coming outside and gave us a sandwich. Our time was filled maximally with different activi-ties from cultural events

through to sport-ing activities. All the time with my friends I went to stay with each oth-er. The boys from all quarters gath-ered and played different games, most popular were kaca dzandar and dzamlii. They went to play game (fliperi), some-times gathering in groups and stole any fruit from the fields of neighbors, if they stole corn, they burning fire,

and with pleasure will bake and eat. We did not have computers, mo-bile, play station, or 100 TV channels , we had friends and went to play outside. I must men-

tion that we had a great respect for our parents, the elderly and of course teachers. We knew just to recognize evil. In our time we lived in a social society, where most of the time we spend with our friends, I feel that

closeness, the shy glanc-es of passion and pre-meditation for life, sur-mountable confusion in careless spending, lived hours, wandering along the paths we crossed. While I wrote the essay, accidentally went to see my mom, who did a pin-dzur and just came one neighbor. It began to discuss about her grand-children aged two to five years. While, they were in visiting their grand-

mother, all of the time, they spent on the com-puter, playing games without a break of about 5 hours, and knew to turn the computer al-though they cannot read Latin. She was surprised how children spend

their time. Children are now being modified in any form, it’s like loos-ing that connection, the friendship. There are no longer fights and playing in the street, only tech-nologically advanced nation on earth .When they pass by me in my building, do not say good afternoon. I must mention my friend who is a professor, and she always complains and hook from their stu-

Recipe for Social Lifeby Monika Ashtalkoska

dents, and their inso-lence, lack of behavior and respect. This simple and mechanical life that leads a meaningless wis-dom, crushing a work-ing intelligence, morality and respect as to be lost in empty abstractions of life.According to a survey one in ten now suffers from a clinically recognised mental health problem, and UNICEF report on “childhood well being” found out that out of 21 nations across the de-veloped world, British children are the unhap-piest. A damning survey by the National Con-sumer Council report-ed in the Mail, revealed that children who watch too much television and spend hours on the in-ternet are “greedy and unhappy”. We have come to believe that 21st cen-tury children are differ-ent from children in the past that they can get by with less parental time and attention skip stag-es in their development and cope with pressures and emotional burdens

18 19

children shouldn’t have to cope with. The world spins faster and faster—or maybe it just seems that way when an email can travel around the world in fractions of a second—we mortals need a variety of ways to cope with the result-ing pressures. We need to maintain some sem-blance of balance and some sense that we are steering the ship of our life.

There are a lot of ways of expressing yourself; one of them is through danc-ing. Dancing is a very sensual way of moving your body to the rhythm. Especially tango danc-ing, this way of dancing comes from Buenos Ar-ies and Montevideo. It has influence form Eu-ropean and African cul-ture and first was per-formed from slaves and lower- class people. There are a lot of dance studios in Skopje that give classes for this kind of dancing, but there is one group that is not like the others. They call themselves “Tan-go Gang”. This group

I would suggest A recipe for Social Life: Get Fun, Get Creative, Get Together

Ingrediens:One fine day of the week

Grab a few friends of your choiceBuy a large band of 1 m

Go to a place that is convenient for playing, often it is done outsideDirections:

Dial up to all friends and collect them before buildingTwo people hold a band with your finger in the middle

A third friend can start jump on the bandsSubstitutions:

This is a robust recipe and, therefore, can easily handle substitutions of most any kind: day of week, time of day, venue, activity, number of people involved,

etc.Just be sure to stick with the key ingredients: get social, get together & get

creative.

of people started met-ing spontaneously; it all began when two tango players came from Slo-venia. Now they exist for five years and organ-ize all kinds of events. It is an open group and everyone is welcomed to join, all you need is passion for dancing and open mind as the mem-bers say.They invite dancers from abroad ones a month and organize some kind of workshops. Danc-ers came from Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Aus-tria and Argentina. They give free dancing classes and organize Milonga, which is a different style

of tango dancing; it uses the same elements as Tango and requires a relaxation of legs and body. The movement is faster and there are no pauses. It is much more “rustic” way of Tango.Usually there are no in-structors, they dance as they listen and they are learning themselves. They meet in various locations because they don’t have a studio or an office. This is a way to stay free in the spirit of Tango; also they are try-ing to avoid bureaucracy because it can ruin the main purpose, as they say. They perform original Tango and improvise whit the dancing and the music. Every mem-ber is trying to find its own way of dancing and expressing and they try to help each other to do that. Their only urge is passion and love towards the music. In this way

My tango experienceby Martina Lozanoska

20 21

they express emotions that are well hidden, and this is one of the reasons why they don’t charge for the lessons. You can’t charge someone for ex-pressing them self, as they say. They have chosen this way of organization be-cause they don’t believe in existing prices for

doing something you love, because there are no prices for freedoms. How can you charge something that you re-ally enjoy doing?Improvisation is the main key of their work,

they move like a well organized group be-cause they understand each other and their se-crets came to life trough the dancing and Tango. Every member is equal, there are no leaders and there is no hierarchy. The ones who are there from the beginning and the ones that came yes-

terday have sane place in the group. This group is one of a kind for now they want to send a message to the young people that being involved in something like this can be very satis-

fying and fun. It is better to do something like this whit your free time than to sit home in front of a computer or TV. You get to meet a lot of people that share your interest and goals in life. Tango can take away your mind of your problems and for a few moments during the music is playing you fill like you are able to do anything you want and be anything you want. There is no better way to relies yourself and fill the passion inside you. If anyone is interested in trying to do this kind of performance, the group can be found in many cafes in Skopje. Every Thursday they organize beginnings lessons in “Magor” café from 19- 21h and 20- 22h. Also, parties are organized in “Magor” café every Monday from 21- 24h, café “Fan” 21- 24h on Thursday, and “Tem-ple” café from 21- 24h on Friday. You can also contact them on Face-book as Tango Praktika info group.

There’s no better way of comparing the life of chil-dren in Macedonia today and in the past than to go and ask your neighbour.

Once, long time ago, I saw a film in which young university stu-dents had to take an exam on a scientific subject. They had studied hard, but the majority could not answer the last ques-tion: “What’s the name of the cleaning lady in this building?”... Every-day, we volunteers pass by and shop at a green-grocer’s in the corner of the square next to our house. But how many of us know the name of the salesclerk? How many of us stopped to talk with her about her family? When we decided that the new edition of Voic-es had to talk about youth Macedonian peo-ple, their childhood

and their hopes, I asked myself where to find a youngster for an inter-view. Later that night, going back home in the same street as always, I realized that the child I was looking for was un-der my nose. Or even bet-ter. I had in front of me 3 generations of women of the same family with thi-er past and present ex-periences to share. And so, in the warmth of the heater inside of the fruit shop, after four months I

discovered the names of the women from which I daily buy the food. Edalhaida and her doughter Marija have run this shop together since 2001. They told me that many years ago eve-ryone in the country had a job, there were a lot of factories in Skopje and this helped to have an easier life. Now people have to manage every-thing inside of the fam-ily and pay to feed them. Edalhaida, 52 years old,

One big family and three generations of womenby Antonella Nuvoli`

22 23

learned the trade of a hairdresser’s and worked in this field for a while, but later changed and for 16 years she worked as cleaning lady in a mu-

seum in the city centre. Her daughter Marija, 31 years old, is married and a mother of two chil-dren. When I asked her which dreams she had in her childhood, she an-swered that she would have liked to be a teach-er. Actually, she started to study that but then life took a different path: she got pregnant and had to leave the school. Marija said this with dreamy eyes while look-ing happy to her eldest daughter. When I asked her about her daughters’ future and whether she

wanted them to contin-ue to work in the family business she said no, in no way. Her dream is for her daughters to contin-ue to study and, with a

little bit of luck, it would be great if they could go to live with their aunt (Marija’s sister) that cur-rently works in Switzer-land. The children were there with us: Bissa, 11 years old, that tried to par-ticipate in the conversa-tion and from time to time said some words in English, and Haidi, 8 years old, ready to go to karate classes. They are two nice and happy sis-ters, very similar despite the three years that sep-arate them. Their child-hood is peaceful: they go

to school in the neigh-bourhood and after that they are busy with ka-rate classes and dance. Bissa and Haidi, unlike their mother and grand-mother, had the possibil-ity to travel abroad and visit Montenegro, Ser-bia, plus a lot of excur-sions with the school to Ohrid, Struga, Vevcani, Krushevo. The two sis-ters, as every other child in the world, have their secret wishes and maybe in the future they will be able to fulfil them: Bissa wants to become an ar-chitect and Haid a pho-toreporter. This is the meaning of an happy childhood: to dream, to imagine the best for the future, to daydream. There will be a time to start struggling to realize everyone’s de-sires.

Нема подобар начин од споредба на

животот на едно дете во Македонија

денес и во минатото, прашувајки го соседот.

Еднаш, долго време наназад, Јас

гледав филм, во кој младите студенти од универзитетот,

требаше да полагаат испит по научен

предмет. Тие студираа тешко, но многумина од нив

неможеа да одговорат на последното

прашање: Кое е името на чистачката во школото?... Секој ден ние волонтерите,

одиме на ќошот на плоштадот, близу

нашата куќа во пиљара. Но колкумина од нас го знаат името

на продавачката? Колкумина од

нас застанале и разговарале за

нејзината фамилија?Кога се решивме дека во наредниот VOICES магазин ке зборуваме

за младината на Македонскиот народ,

нивното детство и нивните надежи, се запрашав себе си,

каде да најдам млад дечко или девојка за

интервју. Покасно истата вечер, на пат кон дома во

истата улица како и секогаш, видов дека детето кое го барав беше на височино

некаде под мојот нос. Или уште подобро,

имав пред мене 3 генерации на жени, од иста фамилија со нивните минати и

сегашни искуства за споделување. И така,

под топлината на радијаторот внатре

во пиљарата, после 4 месеци ги открив

имињата на жените, од кои купувам секој ден

храна. Едалхаида и нејзината ќерка Марија, ја имаат

пиљарата уште од 2011 година. Тие ми

кажаа дека многу години наназад, во Македонија секој

имаше работа, многу фабрики работеа во

Една голема фамилија и три генерации на жени од Антонела Нуволи

24 25

While meeting new people, young people in Macedonia and from other countries, I may say that we are all the same, open for new ex-perience, eager to meet new people from all over the world, learn new things, search for our own place…Obvious things as much as the slogan “travelling board-ers your mind”. Those two things, youth and travelling were used as an inspiration for start-ing such programme like European Voluntery Service or the Youth in Action.Such programmes of-fer young Europeans the chance to make a real difference to the world – and to their own lives. The European Volun-tary Service (EVS) pro-vides young Europeans with the unique chance to express their personal commitment through

unpaid and full-time voluntary activities in a foreign country within or outside the EU. In this way, it seeks to develop solidarity, mutual un-derstanding and toler-ance among young peo-ple, thus contributing to reinforcing social co-hesion in the European Union and to promot-ing young people’s active citizenship. Learning for life!Everything looks nice on the paper, and the perspective of living for a while in new country is for sure very excited but how does it look in real? Is such experience really useful for young people or maybe it is an unnec-essary break from their normal life? I decided to check the feelings of people who has just fin-ished their projects and come back to their home country. Are their feel-ings and enthusiasm

about EVS the same as at the beginning? Do they regret anything? Let’s check their stories.

A Spanish EVS Story by Ivana Trajanovska from Macedonia

Hace 1 año fui a Es-paña… Ups… I’m sor-ry, you actually speak/understand English?! Well, a case like you was very rare to find during my EVS stay in Spain. This fact was causing me problems at first but with the time I started loving it! I could learn Spanish fast and practice it in any situation. And actually, it was one of my main motivations to do an EVS.So, a year ago, with my life packed in one back-pack, I arrived in Lorca – a small city in the south-east of Spain. (Lorca is also known as ‘The city

EVS in Europe by Sylwia Gorska

Скопје и дека тогаш живеачката била

многу полесна. Сега луѓето мораат сами

да си менаџираат внатре во нивната фамилија и да се

борат за егзистенција. Едалхаида, 52

години, на времето била фризерка, но подоцна скоро 16

години работела како чистачка во музејот

на градот Скопје. Нејзината ќерка

Марија, 31 година, е мажена и е мајка на две деца. Кога

ја запрашав какви и биле соништата кога била дете, таа

одговори дека сакала да биде наставничка.

Всушност Марија почнала да учи за наставничка, но

животот ја однел по различни патеки:

затруднила, па морала да го напушти

школото. Марија го соопшти ова гледајки

со зажарени очи наспрема постарата

ќерка. Ја прашав исто така за иднината

на нејзините ќерки и дали истите би ја

продолжиле работата во пиљарата, таа веднаш одговори

со НЕ. Нема шанси. Нејзиниот сон за нејзините ќерки е

да, тие студираат и кога ке завршат да одат и да живеат во Швајцварија,

каде што живее и работи нивната тетка (сестрата на Марија).

Децата беа тмау со нас. Биса, 11 години, која

се трудеше да ја прати нашата комуникација и од време на време туку ке кажеше по

некој збор Англиски, и Хаиди, 8 години, спремна да оди на

карате часови. Тие се две прекрасни среќни сестри, многу слични. Нивното детство беше

мирно – Тие одеа на училиште, а потоа на

карате и на часови за танцување. Биса и Хаиди, нажалост за нејзината мајка и баба, имаа можност

да одат во Црна Гора, плус на огромен

број на ексурзии организирани преку

училиштето во Охрид, Струга, Вевчани, Крушево... Двете

сестри, како и многу други дечиња, имаа

тајни желби, кои можеби во иднина ке им се исполнат: Биса сака да стане

архитект а Хаиди фото репортер.

Ова е значењето на едно детство: да се сонува, да се имагинира

за најдброто на иднината, дневно да се сонува. Ке

дојдат времиња кога ке зпочнат да се

реализираат сите овие желби

26 27

of the Sun’ because of its more than 320 sunny days a year.) I got intro-duced to my flat-mates - 3 other EVS volunteers, my tutor, my colleagues, my Spanish teacher... to the neighborhood, the city center, the monu-ments, the market, the bars… It was all new to me but I was easily se-duced by the view of the palm and orange trees all around, the smell of the sea that was near, the taste of the Mediterrane-

an food and the siesta-fiesta life-style.I was happy to be a vol-unteer sent by Kreaktiv

and hosted by Cazalla Intercultural. The two organizations were pro-viding me the needed support and training before, during and af-ter the 9 months of my voluntary service. Ca-zalla Intercultural is an organization that works at the social education and social awareness in the areas of immigration and multiculturalism, youth and human rights. My tasks were varying from organizing events,

contacting international partners and designing promotional materials to teaching kids English, developing a radio emis-

A Hungarian EVS Story by Marjan Angelovski from Macedonia

My EVS project started in April and finished in October this year in Hungary. I was part of the project title „Differ-ent culture on the same wavelength”. I worked with other volunteers from all around the world on the radio, the project was about „Lan-guage lesson”: the vol-unteers speak in their mother language. They talking about a topic that they chose and they speak in their mother tongue.”Point of View”: the vol-unteers speak about se-rious topics (for exam-ple: youth policy, school system, exchange pro-grammes, environment, intercultural dialogue, 2010 the European year of the combating pov-erty and social exclu-sion) with each other in English language with Hungarian translation. “Free”: the volunteers

speak about free and youthful topics (for ex-ample: habits, marriage, “Our trip in Europe”) with each other in Eng-lish language with Hun-garian translation. They say about their opin-ion about these kind of topics. “Experience the world”: the volunteer

make radio interview in their mother tongue or English language. They usually speak with fa-mous people. For ex-ample: famous bands and politicians. Next to things above, collect-ing information, making reports and interviews, editing and presenting the programme - includ-

ing the technical task as well.When I went on EVS I was 25 years old and I just graduated “Faculty of Political Science” and post-graduated “Faculty of International Secu-rity”.I decided for to go on EVS project because of

the radio. I am very in-terested about music and about the global politics, and my radio show was about that. I worked on several radio stations in Hungary as a radio pro-ducer and resident DJ in several clubs in Hun-gary, and for me it is the best experience I ever had in my life.

concerts and cinema, Madrid, new music and dances, living library, radio experience, Mal-lorca, biking, amor, mu-seums, hitch-hiking, Barcelona...

sion and helping the af-fected people of the big earthquake that hap-pened in Lorca in May.I would like to encour-age every young person to consider doing a Eu-ropean Voluntary Ser-vice since the only re-quirement to participate in the program is to be at the age of 18-30. And the list of what you can get out of the program is very long. Here is a part of the content of my list: a new language learned, many dear international friends gained, a new country explored, valu-able job experience, a new culture met, Grana-da, new skills, improved attitudes, Valencia, be-coming more independ-ent, improved cooking skills, Seville, work with kids, Malaga, diving, video making (http://w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m /atch?v=yYlN7G5UfgE),

28 29

I was so excited when I arrived to Hungary but at the same time I had many projects on my mind about the music and so many interviews with artists and bands from Europe, because I was a promoter and manager of several Euro-pean bands. So I started the first week promoted the new songs and al-bums from them. It was about global promotion and I am very proud be-cause of that.My project lasted 6 months and for me it was just enough, I used the time as best as I could. I still working with the radio stations in Hun-gary, my show “Music Wonders” is broadcasted in several radio stations in Budapest and Nyír-egyháza. I have so many projects to realize in the future. I will work on them in other countries in Europe, middle East, and in Macedonia.While coming back to Macedonia, I worried whether I would be able to find another project but fortunately I found

one. Macedonia is 20 years in transition, it is wonderful and sad place in the heard on the Bal-kans, If you have some projects that you want to work on it, it’s a little bit difficult, we’re small country but I hope after my second project I’ll be back in my country, I am Macedonian and I am proud of thatEVS helped me a lot be-cause I collaborate with the others radios in Eu-rope and in the Mid-dle East, now I am part of several radio stations with my show “Music Wonders” translated on several languages (Span-ish, English,Hunagrian,Sloavkian,Porugeese,Macedonia,French etc.)My plans for now…? Af-ter Europe my plan is the Middle East, because I studied politics I would like to work on a politi-cal project with the ref-ugees and with the mu-sic in the background. Nowadays I am working with the EVS volunteers in Skopje on my radio show “Music Wonders” on “Chanel 103” (Kanal

A Macedonian EVS story by Justyna Golecka from Poland

Why you decided to go on EVS? At what peri-od in your life you were while going on EVS?Before going on EVS I graduated my study in pedagogic and I was al-ready working for one year. I was not satisfied with my job so I decided to use the chance and try something new and also improve my language skills.

What was the most im-portant for you when choosing the project? Place, programme or organization? For me personally the most important was the

organization. I tried to find out about the host organization as much as it was possible.

First impression – was it like you expected?I didn’t expected too much, and first impres-sion was not so great - mess in the apartment, coldness at the place where I was supposed to work. But what was the most important – people were very nice!

Was it difficult to come back?Not at all!! I was missing my family and friends and I think that the months spent in Mac-edonia were just enough

103) from Skopje best underground station on the Balkans. I would like to invite all volunteers to participate in this radio project because it is mul-ticultural radio show, they can speak in their language, they can play music from all around the world because the main words of this show is “Listen without preju-dice” with so many jin-gles about the world, war, freedom and about the daily life and a lot of interviews from musi-cians and politicians I am using now the ex-perience from EVS, I think if you’re good in something and if no-body gives you a chance in your society, you just have to take a risk, go out and try, I am dream-er and now I know the dreams come true.Definitely I would rec-ommend EVS to all the young people! For them is better if they choose the project that they want to work on it not only the country, this is not a job even not a pro-ject this is our life, our

background for the fu-ture.As for tips for people go-ing on EVS…Don’t be selfish with the other volunteers, you must be ready to share the flat and your office together, work in team and go!

and it was high time to go back and start a new period in my life.

What kind of worries did you have at the end of the programme?Since my project was very long sometimes it was hard for me to mo-tivate myself so I was afraid how I would man-age to stay until the end. I was also worrying about my future after finish-ing the project. I knew I would have to find a job and it was a bit scary and full of doubts.

Has EVS helped you somehow? Maybe after EVS you have other vi-sion of your future?

30 31

For sure it helped me to improve my English, meet new people, cul-ture and country. Macedonia still sounds interesting and a little bit exotic for many people. I still don’t know whether it will help me in my fu-ture but international community is nice any-way and maybe can be also helpful, well I really believe it can.

What are your plans now – ideas, worries?Now it’s high time to find a work but this time for money not for free, that’s the reality.

Would you recommend EVS to others?Yes! Yes! Yes!

What tips you would give to a person going on EVS?Make your own plan and don’t wait for the others

We can’t speak about the history of Rekalde, neighborhood of Bilbao, without speaking about Kukutza, because Ku-kutza has always been connected with this neighborhood and their people. Rekalde had some needs and the city hall didn’t give enough help, so the neighbors of Rekalde took the initia-tive and started to fill up the cultural needs. The history of occupation in Rekalde always has being present. Rekalde hadn’t got civic centers, places were young peo-ple could met, work-shops for children or for old people. There wasn’t any cultural center. And after this Kuku-tza appeared, a group of young people, with dreams and a lot of en-ergy decided to change this. Kukutza is an oc-cupied social building. And this is used to do

with the realization and don’t expect too much!!!

social activities, to cre-ate any activity that is done for other people. The young people from Rekalde, hadn’t got their own space, and they felt it necessary to have a place managed by the young people of Rekal-de, to develop their own projects and cultural needs. With this Kuku-tza started. But the place that we know now, isn’t the first Kukutza, before this there were another two buildings but one only dream. The police and the city hall over-throw the first Kukutza

with all the material and things inside. The sec-ond one was overthrown when they found out that inside the building there was cyanide. The owner get a fine, but nowadays the cyanide is still inside the building. In 1991 lots of kilos of cocaine were found in-side the building of Ku-kutza III. The building was supposed to be of a company that exported construction material. The boss of this compa-ny disappeared, and the building was abandoned. After seven years in

We are all Kukutzaby Sara Fantova

32 33

1998, some young peo-ple of the neighborhood enter in the building and occupied it. When the people from Kukutza arrived to the building it was destroyed, there wasn’t electric cable… They fixed all; they put all they had to build an amazing place full of dreams. The whole building were 6000 me-ters, and this requires

maintenance and a lot of work. These thirteen years, they have helped the neighborhood; they have organized, juggling festivals, the youth day, concerts, dancing work-shops, theatre, circus, crafts for old people, workshops for children,

conferences, debates, informatics workshops, mechanic workshops, recitals of poetry… They also had a vegan dinning room, a library, a climb-ing wall, free clothes for the people that haven’t got money to buy them. Kukutza filled up the empty place that the in-stitutions left in Rekalde. Kukutza was of everyone and whenever a decision

had to be taken, all the people could show their opinion and everyone had a vote. Once a week the people from Kukutza and other organizations met to speak about the progress of the build-ing, new activities, com-plaints… Kukutza wasn’t a way

of getting rich, the peo-ple used Kukutza be-cause they like danc-ing, theatre, they like to help the neighbor-hood…It wasn’t a place where young people met to drink and smoke, it was a cultural place, it was a place where you could do whatever you wanted, were you could developed your dreams, a place to help people, a place to learn and to en-joy, it was a place to met people of all social class-es and backgrounds. The entire neighborhood was so happy with this place that there weren’t complaints. But the 21 of Septem-ber, the city hall gave the eviction and demolition order. Because a con-structor named Kabisa s.a. bought the ground and wanted to construct there. This company, had corruption problems before under another name. The city hall, said that the ground cost 6 millions, but after, it was found that the ground really only cost 2 mil-

lions. The city hall only wanted to get the biggest amount of money that it was possible. The next day, the neigh-bors of Rekalde got the chance to go to the court, and ask for the stop of the demolition. But the judge didn’t accept the petition of the neighbors and approved the demo-lition order.The police, behave very badly with all the citi-zens, since five in the morning a lot of people went to Rekalde, people from all Bilbao and the surroundings, to sup-port Kukutza. The po-lice department sent all they had, very old cars, vans, water tanks, gum ball guns, gas… They attacked every kind of people; kids, mother with kids, old people… They didn’t care who was in front of them. They broke into shops, and hit people who was sitting peacefully.Those three days were three horrible days of sadness and fights. With the end of this building

the police and the city hall ended with a lot of bricks, but the dreams and the expectations of this young people are kept in the hearts of all the people that one day dreamt with being part of a better Rekalde and a better Bilbao.

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Nuk mund të flasim për historinë e Rikaldes,një mahallë e Bilbaos ,pa folur për Kukutzen për shkak se Kukutza çdo-herë ka qenë e lidhur për këtë mahallë dhe njerëzit e sajë. Rikalde kishte disa nevoja e ud-hëheqësia e qytetit nuk i jepte ndihmën e nevo-jshme kështu që fqinjët e Rikaldes morën ini-ciativën dhe filluan ti përmbushin nevojat kul-turore. Historia e okupi-mit në Rikalde çdoherë ka qenë prezente. Ri-kalde nuk ka pasur qen-dra shoqërore,vende ku njerëzit e rinj mund të takoheshin, punëtori për fëmijë ose për njerëz të moshuar. Ska pasur as-një qendër kulturore.Dhe pas kësaj Kuku-tza u shfaq, një grup i njerëzve të rinjë me ën-drra dhe shumë energji për ta ndryshuar këtë gjendje. Kukutza është

një banesë e okupuar shoqërore. Dhe është e përdorur për të bërë ak-tivitete shoqërore, për të krijuar çfarëdo aktiv-iteti për njerëzit e tjerë. Njerëzit e rinj nga Rikal-de nuk kishin hapsirën e tyre dhe e panë të nevo-jshme të kenë një vend që do të udhëhiqet nga të rinjtë e Rikaldes për të zhvilluar projektet e tyre dhe nevojat kulturore. Me këtë Kukutza filloi. Por vendin që ne e njo-him nuk është Kukutza e parë, para kësaj kanë qenë edhe dy ndërtesa tjera por me një ëndërr. Policia dhe kuvendi i qytetit e konfisuan Ku-kutzen e parë me gjitha materialet brenda saj.Të dytën herë ka qenë e konfisuar kur ata morën vesh se brenda ndërtesës ka lëndë helmuese, por helmi është ende brenda ndërtesës. Me 1991 në ndërtesën

Kukutza 3 u gjetën shumë kilogram kokai-në. Ndërtesa kinse duheshte të jetë e një kompanie për eksport të materialeve ndërtimore.Shefi i kësaj kompanie u zhduk dhe ndërte-sa u braktis. Pas shtatë vitesh më 1998,disa të rinjë nga mëhalla hynë në ndërtesën dhe e okupuan. Kur njerëzit e Kukutzas arritën në ndërtesën ajo ishte tërë e shkatërruar, nuk kishte kabllo elektrike…Ata rregulluan gjithcka ,ata vendosën gjithçka që patën për ta shëndruar në një vend të mahnit-shëm përplot me ëndr-ra. Gjithë objekti kishte 6000 metra dhe kjo kërkonte mirëmbajtje dhe shumë punë.ëeto trembëdhjetë vite ata i kanë ndih-muar mëhallës, kanë organizuar festivale të zhonglimit, ditën e të

rinjve, koncerte, punë-tori për vallëzim, teatro, cirqe, tubime për njerëz të moshuar, punëtori për femijë, konferenca, de-bate, punëtori informa-tive, punëtori mekanike, recitale të poezisë…Ata gjithashtu kanë pasur një dhomë vigane për ngrënie, një librari, një mure për ngjitje,rroba falas për njerëz që nuk kanë para që ti blejnë, Kukutza i plotësoi ven-det e zbrazëta që institu-cionet e Rikaldes i lanë.Kukutza ishte e gjithëve dhe kurdo-herë që mireshte ndonjë vendim,çdokush jepte mendimin e tij dhe kishte një votë. Njerëzit e Kukutzes dhe organi-zatat e tyre takoheshin njëherë në javë që të fla-sin për progresin e ob-jektit, aktivitete të reja, ankesa…Kukutza nuk ishte mënyrë për tu bërë i pasur, njerëzit shfrytë-zonin Kukutzen sepse donin vallëzimin, teat-rin, donin ti ndihmonin mëhallës…Nuk ishte vend ku të rinjtë mblid-hen për të pirë dhe për

të pirë duhan,ishte një qendër kulturore, ishte një vend ku mundeshe të bësh gjithçka që don, ku mundeshe të zhvil-losh ëndrrat e tua, një vend për të ndihmuar njerëzit, një vend për të mësuar dhe kënaqur, një vend për të njoftuar njerëz nga gjitha pra-pavijat dhe shtresat so-ciale .E gjithë lagja ishte e lumtur më këtë vend saqë nuk kishte asnjë ankesë.Por më 21 shtator kuv-endi i qytetit dha urd-hërin për rrënim sepse një ndërtues me emrin Kabisas.e bleu truallin dhe donte të ndërtojë aty. Kjo kompani ka pas-ur edhe më herët prob-leme korrupcioni me një tjetër emër. Kuvendi i qytetit ka thënë që trual-li kushton gjashtë milion por me vonë u konstatua se trualli kushton vetëm dy milion. Kuvendi i qytetit vetëm donte që të fitojë shumën më të madhe të mundshme.Ditën e ardhshme fqinjët e Rikaldes fituan shan-sin që të shkojnë në gjyq për të kërkuar ndalesën

e rrënimit. Por gjykatësi nuk e pranoi peticionin e fqinjëve dhe e miratoi urdhërin për rrënim.Policia u soll shumë keq me gjithë shtetasit, qysh prej pesë ora në mëngjes shumë njerëz shkuan në Rikalde, njerëz nga e gjithë Bilbao dhe rrethi-na për ta përkrahur Ku-kutzen. Departamenti policor dërgoi gjithë çka kish pasur, automobila shumë të vjetër, kami-one, tanke uji, revole me municion prej gume, gaz…Ata sulmuan çdo lloj të njerëzve, fëmijë, nëna me fëmije, njerëz të vjetër,…Ata nuk kishin dert se kënd kanë përpa-ra. Ata hynë nëpër shi-tore dhe sulmuan njerëz që po rrinin qetë.Ata tre ditë ishin ditë përplot mërzi dhe luftë. Me fundin e kësaj ndër-tese policia dhe kuvendi i qyteitit prishen shumë tulla, por ëndrrat dhe pritjet e këtyre njerëzve të rinjë janë mbajtur në zemra që ëndërrojnë në të ardhmen të jenë pjesë e një Rikladi dhe Bilbao më të mirë.

Ne gjithë jemi Kukutzaby Sara Fantova

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In October we had the great possibility of par-ticipating in the most important film festival in Macedonia. Bitola wel-comed us with its harsh weather and its cosmo-politan atmosphere.Here are the reviews of some of the films that we watched and liked.

La prima cosa bella (english title: The First Beautiful Thing) (Italy, 2010)The director Paolo Virzì set his last film in Livor-

no, a provincial Tuscan city, to tell the story and the troubles of an Italian family. Bruno, a teacher of philosophy now liv-ing in Milano, has to go back to Livorno to spend some time with his dying mother. For him this also means to return to the ‘70s, when he was a child, and to live again the collapse of his family’s harmony due to his mother’s ar-tistical inclinations. This retrospective analysis of his childhood allows him to finally under-stand his unpredictable mother and following his own way of enjoy-ing live. From the same director Tutta la vita da-vanti (english title: Your whole life ahead of you), Caterina va in città (eng-lish title: Caterina in the Big City), Ovosodo, My name is Tanino.

The Boy Mir (United Kingdom, 2010)In 2002, shortly after the beginning of “Opera-tion Enduring Freedom” launched by Ameri-cans and British special forces against the Tali-ban, the documentary film-maker Phil Grab-sky went to Afghanistan to film the effects of the war on civilians. At that time, Mir was 8 years old and lived in the caves with his family in a state of extreme poverty. The director decided to fol-low Mir’s calamities: as the film progresses, Mir

changes. Day by day, he becomes aware of the situation of his family: he stops going to school and starts to work in the mines. This is an aston-ishing portrayal of life during a decade of war in Afghanistan in which Americans and other allies’ presence did not improve the situation of the people. From the same director Heavy Water: A Film for Cher-nobil (2006) and Escape From Luanda (2007).

David Wants To Fly (Austra/Switzerland/Germany, 2010)The director and at the same time main char-acter, David Sieveking is following his idol Da-vid Lynch, trying to find out the source of his in-spiration and his genius. He discovers that David

Lynch is a devoted fol-lower of Maharishi Ma-hesh Yogi, guru of the Transcendetnal Medita-tion sect. The film does not give simply answers. It touches the funda-mental questions of sprit and creation. It hard to believe that a creator of such priceless mov-ies like “Twin Peaks” or “Lost highway” could get so easily caught up in this kind of ideology. On the other hand what’s wrong in it if it gives him inspiration and helps to create great movies? Where is the truth and the balance?

The Turin Horse (Hun-gary, 2011) reż. Bela TarrWinner of the Golden Camera 300 for “the

32° Manaki brothers international cinematographers FIlm festival’ by Antonella Nuvoli & Sylwia Gorska

outstanding ability to capture the difficulty of human’s life and the power of the film rolls to inbuilt all the nuances between black and white in the wondering above the sense and nonsense of human existence with the film camera”. It is not an easy film, long, with almost no dialogues or fast action. However the beautiful raw images and hypnotic music will stay long in your mind.

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January 2011: the city of Antwerp proudly cele-brates the beginning of a year full of youth initia-tive. Antwerp obtained the title of ‘European Youth Capital 2011’; a title that allows the city to show off youth policy and create a sustainable youth structure. There is space for new ideas and new projects that involve young people and can function as an example for other cities in Europe. The Euro-pean Youth Capital was an idea of the European Youth Forum , which firstly elected Rotterdam (The Netherlands) as European Youth Capital in 2009. Considering I come from a city close to Antwerp, I must say that I myself was aware that Antwerp is this year’s European Youth Capital. I saw the official opening and

some actions of young people in the street and on national television. I must admit I only knew about it when it had al-ready started. With this idea in mind, I decided to conduct short inter-views with people from all over Europe. I won-dered if they had ever heard of the concept of the European Youth Capital, if they could im-agine what it meant and what they would like to do if their cities where to be the European Youth Capital (EYC). I also asked them about the place of EVS volunteers in this project.

Lola (Velika Plana, Ser-bia, 18), a local volun-teer in Velika Plana, has never heard of the EYC, but she thinks it is a city in Europe where the big-gest number of young people live or where the biggest youth organiza-tion is settled. ‘If Velika Plana were to be EYC I would invite all local bands and organize some concerts with beginning musicians.’, she says. She would also want to in-volve as many people as possible. According to her, theatre and cooking workshops would attract a lot of young people. EVS volunteers could help coordinating sev-eral events.

Felix (Berlin, Germany, 31), a very active volun-teer on local and inter-national level, also does not know what the EYC is. He believes it is the idea of creating a vir-tual capital of all young people who feel Euro-pean who have things in common. If it were up to Felix he would not elect Berlin as the EYC due to the fact that there are already a lot of activities for young people, such as a carnival of cultures. He would suggest his city of origin: Hamburg. ‘Different countries could represent different bands and music styles. People could gather in a big stadium, being lured there with music and street theatre as in ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’, the fairy tale of the broth-ers Grimm. They could sing and play a collective song.’ Felix illustrates his ideas. Youth around the country could gather in that city coming by train and through hitchhik-ing. Social media and flash mobs should con-

vince other people to come and join.EVS volunteers could promote the idea of a EYC. But he emphasiz-es that the main goal is that European citizens participate. The volun-teers could promote the idea of a European spirit of collaboration and re-spect among the Euro-pean citizens.

Liviu (Cluj, Romania, 27) has to think a while before answering the first question. ‘Can I use Google?’, is his first re-spond after a few min-utes. I have to refuse. He then connects the EYC with Brussels, being the European capital.Liviu would invite all the schools, universities and NGO’s to Cluj if it were to be EYC. The EYC could

promote EVS, the Youth in Action Program and volunteering in general. He would not organize a movie festival, arguing there is one already in his city. Instead he would like to gather young people through sport ac-tivities. He thinks a lot of people would participate in these activities. Thea-tre and a Music festival are also an idea, but they already have that too in Cluj. He claims that one will have to be original to step out of the estab-lished activities. It is im-portant to have people from different cultures; that is why Liviu thinks EVS volunteers can be an asset for the EYC.

Ana (Zagreb, Croatia, 24) thinks that the EYC

The Wonderful World of the European Youth Capitalby Anouk Craps

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is probably the capital city of the Youth in Ac-tion program, although she is not sure what city it would be. In Za-greb she would like to organize meetings for the European youth, in-cluding workshops with musicians and creative workshops. One of the goals would be getting to know young people from different countries throughout Europe. ‘Parties should be part of it as well!’, is the last, but not the least important activity she would like to organize. ‘It speaks for itself that EVS vol-unteers would have a big part in this’, says Ana. ‘They could help or-ganizing the events and promote volunteerism. At the same time they could improve the image of volunteerism.’

Velichka (Karlovo, Bul-garia, 21), who gained quite a lot of experience within the Youth in Ac-tion program, imagines the EYC as one concrete capital in Europe where youngsters dispose of several institutions. In Karlovo young people could organize work-shops to include disa-bled and disadvantaged young people. They could raise awareness of the problems of the lo-cal community trough non-formal education. People could gather in language groups and practice in a non formal way. Several street ac-tions should draw the at-tention. Velichka would like to connect the EYC with learning oppor-tunities for young peo-ple. ‘Extra courses and trainings could help the youngsters improve their skills and provide them some practical experi-ence’, Velichka explains further. Making young people more responsi-ble would also be one of the aims of the EYC. As a future EVS-volunteer

in Slovenia Velichka is convinced that EVS vol-unteers can contribute to this project. ‘They can start the intercultural dialogue and exchange their, cultures, ideas and skills. According to the interest of the EVS vol-unteers they can also or-ganize some events.’

Maria (Braga, Portugal, 24) is a volunteer for the Red Cross in Braga. She is well aware of the concept of the EYC. ‘The idea was created a few years ago. The aim was to strengthen relations between the European institutions and the lo-cal community.’ Accord-ing to her the European Youth Capital seeks to promote the active par-ticipation of young peo-ple in several initiatives on European and local level, while encourag-ing them to contribute

for building better so-ciety. She says the pro-ject also increases young people´s positive aware-ness of other cultures.Maria knows that this year Antwerp has the opportunity to stream-line its culture, develop-ing many activities and projects related to young people. ‘My city will be the European Youth Capital next year and I would like to organ-ize some actions such as training courses, ex-changes, and meetings.’ Maria would like to pro-mote Portuguese cul-ture, language and crea-tivity and furthermore increase the opportuni-ties for young people to experience culture and to develop their talent and creative skills. She thinks that is very impor-tant to involve the EVS program, because the volunteers can develop new skills and the local communities can ben-efit from them. There-fore, the volunteers will have the opportunities to enhance their knowl-edge of their countries,

languages and cultures, by participating in sev-eral activities, because this project supports dialogue and intercul-tural meetings between young people with dif-ferent backgrounds. The volunteers can also carry out different initiatives.

Gjorgji (Skopje, Mac-edonia, 23) is a local vol-unteer in Skopje that has a lot of international ex-perience. He thinks that the EYC is one particu-lar city that can be the capital of youth actions for one year. He suppos-es that in that city the young people will be a priority for that city dur-ing that period. He be-lieves that a lot of things for young people could be organized in Skopje. The young people could

organize great outdoor activities such as theatre plays, flash mobs, con-certs and sport events and maybe even some debate and public speak-ing competitions. He says it is important to include EVS volunteers and other international volunteers in Skopje. It will add an international touch at the event. The volunteers will enthu-siastically support the project because accord-ing to Gjorgji they are al-ways very positive about these kinds of projects.

More information on Antwerp, European Youth Capital 2011: http://www.aeyc2011.be/en/

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