Help Empower 300 Women in Kosovo through Education

September 11th, 2009 Prishtina, Kosovo- The foundation has been laid for the next step in Women for Women, International’s (WfWI) mission to empower women in conflict and post conflict areas. The groundbreaking for a new Women’s Opportunity Center (WOC), took place in the urban city of Pristina in Kosovo. Said the Country Director for WfWI, Hamide Latifi, “In America where new buildings seem to pop up over night, the idea of a groundbreaking may not seem worthy of so much fanfare, but in a country such as Kosovo, whose independence is younger than 2 years, and where women are completely isolated from the outside world, having a Women’s Opportunity Center is a dream few of us can even imagine.” With over 20,000 Kosovo program graduates and hundreds more added every year, the WOC will serve as a training location for the core WfWI program, as well as a center for continued education and assistance for program graduates. Currently the Women for Women, International- Kosovo core program serves 9 municipalities and 33 communities across the country. The core training consists of twelve months of vocational and life skills training, financial and emotional support and an opportunity to meet regularly in supportive Women’s Groups. WfWI has developed programming and infrastructure that teaches women survivors of war the skills to become economically self-sufficient and active in their communities. The curriculum is specifically designed to address political activism, social empowerment, economic self-sufficiency and psychological and physical health.

Besides housing the core curriculum, the WOC will serve as a community center for current participants and graduates alike. For a small membership fee, graduates will have access to a variety of business advisory services, including business development, loan application assistance, job placement, and continued microfinance education. In addition the WOC will provide leadership and other opportunities to continue to help program graduates become economically self sufficient and active citizens within their communities. Now these innovative programs will have a permanent home.

Working pro bono, architect Sharon Davis, of the Sharon Davis Design Studio, is utilizing her extensive experience in sustainable design and urban renewal to create the new home for WfWI-Kosovo. Construction began in the summer of 2009, and a grand opening is expected in early 2010. The design uses passive airflow to keep cool in the summer, and heavy insulation and southern exposure windows to keep warm in the brutal winters. Natural gas, a far more environmentally sound fuel than common traditional wood and coal burning, will be used to heat the building. An internet café will be housed within the WOC for participants use.

Ultimately, the Women for Women, International’s Women’s Opportunity Center in Kosovo will serve as a permanent safe haven for women to gather. It will provide a center of steady activity, learning, and commerce in the community, and a source of support for the women of Kosovo.

Kadire is 40 years old, she lives with her husband and three children: two sons Osman (22), Shpetim (16) and a daughter Ardita(19), they all are attending school but the chances to fulfil their school needs are very small because they live only with husband’s salary who works as a guard in Feronikel Factory in Drenas. She lives in a small house with five family members in two rooms.

She finished secondary school for laboratory technician and one year of High School, but she interrupted her studies because of the overall political and economical situation in Kosova. Education is unfulfilled Kadire’s dream.

Kadire’s life has been marked by tragedy like every Kosovar woman. Before the war she was married to another man, who was murdered during the war. At the time of his death, she was hospitalised in Peja, because she had problems during her pregnancy. This was during the Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing, of which she was made victim when the Serbian medical staff at the hospital tortured rather than helped her (along with three other Kosovar women in her wing).

Kadire recounts this experience: “In one morning a nurse came with an injection and the only thing that I remember what she said was It is time for delivery. It was not yet delivery time for any of us but the nurse administered that injection anyway, and within 12 hours we had all aborted. It was one of my hardest moments in my life. The hospital staff had been told to leave the hospital and to execute all Kosovar patients who were present in the hospital.

“In that evening we got organized and four of us escaped from that hell. I still can not believe how we managed, I only know that it was midnight and we took a taxi and we traveled to Montenegro, because the whole city was empty. While I was in hospital I was informed that my husband was killed.”

In Montenegro she found her family and she was transferred as an urgent case for cure in Asllan Rusi-Don Bosko camp in Albania. She received medical treatments and the worst thing was that she realized that she can never get pregnant anymore due to consequences of the torture in Peja Hospital.

Kadire tells the story of her experience in the camp: “While I was in camp there were also three orphans. I thought by myself God what happened with those kids. I started to get to know them every day more and more and to take care of them as much as I could. Shpetim was only 6 years old. It was the only heart-warming thing compared to what I suffered, I knew that my husband died, I lost my child and I knew that I couldn’t have a baby anymore, so at least I could do something for those kids who were alone. Their mother was killed during the war while father took them to their relatives for taking care of them. They had fled as refugees to Albania together with their relatives, but I couldn’t understand why they were still alone”. Kadire said with tears in the eyes.

After three months all returned to Kosova and Kadire was still communicating with the children. They had developed an attachment to her—they constantly wanted to be close to her, and due to their desire. They were reunited with their father, and he and Kadire fell in love and have decided to get married.

Kadire speaks on this new chapter of hope: “It is a long time being together, we have blessed life with my husband, I also consider his kids as mine, I had never in my life told anyone that they aren’t my children, I always try to by them good things because I don’t want to let them think that I don’t care for them just because I am not their natural mother.”

Our Country Director for Women for Women International—Kosovo, Hamide Latifi, says the following of Kadire: “I can say that Kadire is very special woman, she was very active during manual sessions, she debated with other women in group. She was a good example for the group, she initiated and organised an excursion for a group of 90 participants.

Kadire talks about the experience: “This trip was incredibly exciting and satisfying for them, as for many women it was the first time touring their country Kosova and visiting those places and they were thankful to me for organizing and giving them a chance to see a god side of our living country. I have achieved this by being WfWI-Kosova participant because this program has helped me to be more aware on realizing that we can do something for ourselves, we just need to work on what we want.”

Kadire attended customer service & sales training, she wrote 4 letters to her sponsor. She used sponsorship funds for kids’ clothes, she liked every part of WfWI program, the topic which she most-liked was “ Economical Value of Housework”, in which she learned the value of women’s contributions in the home, even though this is not customarily counted as ‘work’ in formal sector economics. She thanks her sponsor and the organization for enabling this program.

While Kadire was in WfW program she also has attended training in “Family Health Education” supported by “Kryqi I Kuq” (Red Cross). After she finished training she has started to make different activities as a trainer and by helping women with women’s health, including breast exams for cancer. During June, July and August of 2008 she has organized trainings with 3 women groups of different ages in Drenas, where were present also WfWI-Kosova participants, and with 3 students groups of secondary school, where were held different topics such as wellness, family violence and they also had identified some domestic violence cases and together with her colleague they have transmitted this concern to local authorities in meeting that they had with President of Drenas Municipality and Director of Women Accommodation House Naime Sherifi. Kadire has also mobilized a group of 120 women from Drenas to get enrolled in WfWI-Kosova program and also she met some women from Novoberda and she informed and encouraged them to be enrolled in WfWI-Kosova program.