Syndicate: [Balkansunflower-list] update 16

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

Balkan Sunflowers Update # 16

Volunteers
Currently Balkan Sunflowers has a lack of volunteers. Please apply.
Specifically, we need:
Macedonia - 3 week volunteers starting Sept 3rd or Sept 24th
Albania - 6 week volunteers starting Sept 3rd and onwards
Kosovo/a/a - 4 week volunteers starting any date now.!
We also need medium and long term volunteers to fulfil more of a
co-ordination role for all three
countries and for the international office. Details available from
applications@mir.org.

Who is doing what
Macedonia

Shutka
We are doing seven classes English, organising children-activities,
dance-classes and art,
games at the playground.

Cegrane
Photography-workshop, esp. meant for young women, a camp newsletter, we
work closely
together with the local NGO, ADI, Association for Democratic Initiatives,
English lessons, visiting
families, children-activities together with other NGO's.

Kosov@
The volunteers are working in Pristina, Peje and Gjacova with the
Kosovarian Youth Council, on
children¥s programmes, on playgrounds, in schools, a city park doing
cleaning actions, better
insulation for public buildings and sort out permissions and mine awareness
education. Even
squeezed into one sentence it is still too much work for the volunteers there.

Albania
Five summercamps started this week in different locations in Albania, with
small teams of Balkan
Sunflowers international volunteers working alongside the volunteers of the
local organisers.
Despite the heat the volunteers managed to make children play, sing and
forget their thirst.
And after these have finished we are beginning more long term community
building work and
education work in schools - more detail to follow.

United States of America
Balkan Sunflowers US is becoming legal! The coordination team in the US is
currently working
on obtaining a legal non-profit status of the US part of this blossoming
initiative. The team is
doing that - among others - for financial reasons (to make life easier
sourcing grants and other
donations). Meanwhile, the US BSF server has started to work. The team has
e-mail addresses
and the web site is under construction. Katarzyna from DC will be the
person responsible for
processing application forms of US volunteers. As one of US Coordinators,
she's been doing this
to some extent anyway :-)

Germany
Danae visited the international office last week to get to know personally
the folks she has had
on the other side of the telephone line for the last 3 months. She will
come for a visit again next
week to work on a fund application for a long term initiative to suport the
Tetovo Youth Information
Centre.

The international office (the typist is kind of reluctant to say
coordination office, after a discussion
with Danae on what coordination means and what it involves) made another
public presentation of
BSF, with slides from Ramona, and speeches from most of the office team,
with a too short
speech from Danae about the projects in Macedonia.

Finally the international office received the first and second phone call
from the team in Pristina.
>From the second phonecall the most important information unfortunately went
somewhere to
phone heaven, but not to the office. Such is the difficulty of
communication with Kosovo/a at
present!

Training
On Aug the 12th, US BSF has the first training session for prospective US
volunteers. This event
will take place in New York City as some of our vols fly to Europe from
this city. With a brief
history of Balkan Sunflowers founding, projects and accomplishments,
history of Balkan
conflicts, information on dealing with war trauma, practical issues like
travel, accomodation, work
in the field.

Fundraising
After some linking and writing Marilou was successful with a grant for
44.000 DM  from the
Dutch Refugee Council for projects in Kosov@. A friend and supporter of the
international office
carved and then auctioned a huge wooden sunflower sculpture raising 2400 DEM.

Finances
The international office managed to collect quite some debts since the
existance of Balkan
Sunflowers (around 7000 DM) and is now looking for people to guarantee those.

Ideas and Plans
>From 15 Sept. 1999 - 15 March 2000 we want to go on the road with a mobile
"Mine and Weapon
Awarness campaign" in Albania with video films, theatre plays with local
pupils, creative writing
training, sport and more creative activities,-non violent conflict
resolution training, Mine-,
Weapons- and UXO's awereness building.

Together with War Child, Albanian Youth Council, Amurt and some other help
we want to build
up community centers and community activities all over Albania in poor
parts of cities. As well as
continue work with refugees in Albania, clear is that more will stay in
Albania than most
organisations thought.

In Stenkovec 2 (refugee camp in Macedonia) we would like to work in a
Children-home nearby our
office/apartment. In Shutka we are looking for another place to do the
games and lessons, as the
number of children (and the noise) is growing everyday.

In Kosov@ Balkan Sunflowers wants to do long term projects dealing with
reconciliation

A friend of the Belzig office offered to make a video on Balkan Sunflowers,
equipment and skills
are sorted. In case it gets finished any time the video can be of course
used for fundraising,
training and public relations, but we need approx. 2000DEM to finish this.

Thank You
Thanks to Volker for the computers, Antonius for the Sunflower, Bill and
Madjana for the auction,
all auctioneers for their participation, Ruediger for an article on Wam,
Connection and Zeitpunkt
(and Leila) for articles on BSF and again Volker for driving all the stuff
down, and theÃ? attractive
female translator' for helping him through customs.

List of Needs
Long term volunteers, including two highly stable, sensitive and mature
individuals, for projects
with traumatised people in Kosov@

The international office team could do with an experienced fund-raiser,
working in the office or
elsewhere, with good communication lines to the office.

A laptop computer for the international office to be able to continue work
when not in Germany.
Toner cartridges for HP 5MP for the international office.

Miscelleaneous

WE ARE MOVING FORWARD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) :-) :-) (US
Balkan Sunflowers Team in their
internal update)




for the co-ordination team, Belzig, Germany

-----------------
Latest info about the Balkan Sunflowers:
http://www.balkansunflowers.org
apply as volunteer: http://www.mir.org/dataform

our bankaccount always needs feeding:
Accountnr:      160 160 1
Accountname:   Balkan Sunflowers e.V.
Bank            Oekobank Frankfurt (Germany)
Blz             500 901 00

Tel: +49-33841-30670
Fax: +49-33841-30671
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