When I decided in December 2006 to try to apply for an internship with this visionary, cool-sounding NGO, I had no idea what that would entail, nor where it would lead me. Finally, instead of tossing around a range of half-baked ideas like coordinating an Art day, a youth camp and making surveys and natural path signs, we settled on one pilot project for the summer of 2008 – building a waterfall trail. Through my college, Colgate University, I got a grant from Arthur Watson Jr. Fellowship, which got me to Pristina, and made it possible to rent an apartment in Peja, and sustain myself and a couple of volunteers at the waterfall site for a few weeks. Additionally, it served to buy many necessary tools and some construction materials. Never before had I found myself buying shovels or picking the right kind of chisel; watching heated up haggling in Albanian over the sand price and helping to load a truckload of most random tools and food on the back of a small Suzuki jeep. That jeep – I think it deserves a separate blog entry, since it was, inseparable from its driver – was the source of many of my adrenalin rushes and philosophical thoughts about the relativity of life.

Building the waterfall trail grew to be a project much larger than I, and perhaps any of us, had expected. I don’t know why I imagined that drawing up a couple of signs and putting them up in an easy terrain, and perhaps building a foot-bridge should some little brook be in our way would hardly keep us busy for a month. Maybe it was the Balkan attitude “it’s going to get done, don’t worry about it, shall we have a coffee first?” that I should have been prepared for, but it surprised me that preparation works and getting acquainted with the region took a week (not a day or two). Soon, I learned that everything should happen in its due time and that behind this relaxed attitude, the Kosova Albanians embody absolute dedication to the work as well as willingness and skill to do it properly, while cherishing the connection to their native land and pride to be helping with development of the region. I spent three weeks in the beautiful Rugova mountains in the village Reke i Aleges along with Fatos Lajci (director of ERA and cameraman) and 4 other hard-working men, so that we could be close to the waterfall site and work from the morning till the dusk. With help of couple of volunteers who joined for a few days, we engaged in digging, gathering the stones and chiseling them into the right shape, mixing mortar and building protective stone walls and solid bridge pillars. Building a stone wall is like a puzzle, there is fleeting pleasure in finding the fitting piece and daubing it into place with a SWOOSH sound and a deep satisfaction in seeing the completed block that immediately becomes a part of nature-scape, ready to withstand the onset of melting snow in the spring and the power of many cubic meters of rushing water.

There was not time to install the education trail signs, but our team has built the most solid bridges over the stream I have seen in any natural park or reserve (and I have visited tens of them in half a dozen different countries). A transport truck could pass over them, had they been wider. I found I could not do much of the woodwork like cutting thick boards out of huge logs with a chainsaw, transporting the heavy ground logs (nothing less then grown spruce trees without branches) for the bridges by man power or fixing the walk-boards with a drill. So I happily took up filming, taking documentary photographs or some traditionally female duties like preparing food (I had broken enough stereotypes by then). By the time of my scheduled departure day, the project work was still in the middle. There were three bridges and most of the trail work done, but still three more to go and a quite monumental stone staircase to be finished. Though during my month in Kosova, I had many challenges to deal with and it was time to move on, I did not want to leave to the Czech Republic, nor go to Spain or back to the US, I just wanted to stay. I wished to experience a little more of that strange vertigo, to keep living on the edge and to strengthen my connection to the local people who had opened their hearts to me. It did not really make me sad not to see the work to its end though, because even now that the trail to the first waterfall is finished, we are still not done, we are on the way to take the path further, to build more bridges, to continue with sustainable development and to see people appreciate their unique natural environment.

Having done my homework prior to arriving in Kosovo in July 2003 – including a close reading of the dire warnings on the Canadian Consular Affairs Bureau website – I may have been forgiven for believing that my plane had taken a wrong turn somewhere over the Adriatic and missed the landing strip outside Pristine altogether. Where was the chaos? the ethnic tension? the remnants of war?

My time in Kosovo was a quick lesson in the difference between the reality on the ground in a foreign place and the sensationalized image created by a story-hungry media. Yes, Kosovo had numerous post-war issues to tackle. Yes, in some places, a tension remained and KFOR military men maintained regular patrols. And yes, remnants of war were visible in burnt-out buildings and freshly engraved headstones. But you had to seek those things out. And for the record, if I wanted to find chaos or violence or good story about an uncertain future, I could find that in the projects of any Canadian or American city, too.

There was so much more to it than the few articles we could dig up in the news. Nobody talks about the incomparable generosity of the locals in Kosovo. About how they would take you into their homes, feed you, and offer to sleep on the floor so that you could sleep on a bed. About how they would spend days proudly showing your around their cities and villages and mountain valleys without any hidden agenda or expectation of compensation. It’s rare to find stories about Kosovar Albanian’s near-obsession with America and Americans (something impossible to find anywhere else in Europe today) – from the American flags hung up in passing cars to the three story poster of Bill Clinton overlooking Bill Clinton Boulevard in the capital. Nowhere are there articles about the gorgeous high-alpine wilderness areas forming a ring around Kosovo, or about the valiant efforts of a dedicated few to save them.

For those considering traveling or volunteering in Kosovo, I can assure you it’s nothing like you read in the news, and that you won’t regret the time you spend there. Just don’t be surprised if you end up staying longer than you anticipated. 

  

Welcome to ERA group’s Weblog!  Environmentally Responsible Action (ERA) group is a small NGO located in Western Kosovo.  We are promoting and increasing environmental consciousness, awareness, and responsibility amongst the youth and populace of Kosovo in order to protect our natural and cultural heritage.  We cooperate across borders and with international partners.  We were even founded by a combination of internationals and locals.

 During our environmental and educational initiatives that involve international interns or volunteers, we are often faced with the same challenge.  The challenge of explaining the situation in Kosovo, and what it’s really like here.  This is a result of the turbulent and complicated history of the Balkans.  It has allowed for the perpetuation of the negative image abroad of Kosovo (and other southeastern European countries) after the wars of the 1990’s.  Much of what is seen or heard on the news today is sensational and not based on reality and the experience of living on the ground.  Those that visit Kosovo, and travel southeastern Europe, learn the truth and make their own judgements based on their experiences.  They will tell you of the amazingly beautiful mountains, the rich historical culture, and continual hospitality of every local they meet.  It not often that you will find someone who hasn’t fallen in love with some remote village, community, or city in the Balkans.  I know that I did.

This website targets those that are thinking of traveling, working, living, or volunteering in Kosovo, and nearby countries.  It is in response to the negative imaging of Kosovo, and other Balkan countries, that is presented world wide by the media.  Let experience think for itself.  Ask the internationals that have traveled here, and who currently live and work here for their perceptions and experiences in Kosovo.  We want to introduce you to one of our favorite places on earth, and highly recommend you to visit here.

Thanks,  Ellen Frank (USA)
living, working and loving it in Kosovo since 2003