9, 10... Home Again
I am back from my visit to Kosovo. I need some time (maybe a few days) to edit and will let you know as soon as I post.
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February 29, 2008
February 21, 2008
At last a CD ROM
Next time you are in Gjilan, Kosovo, I suggest the Viskinet internet cafe. They have CD Rom drives in the computers.
So I will attach some photos from Gjilan, the town, and Shurdahn School.
More to come, I will wait to process more film when I return to Minnesota.
Gjilan Kosovo
Today was a great day as a photojournalist visiting the school in Shurdahn Kosovo. The school is located in the mountains outside of Gjilan, near the border of Serbia and Macedonia, or more precisely outside the village of Zegra, Kosovo. I photographed students in Biology and Albanian language classes as well as at recess. I also visited with American soldiers from Minnesota who visit the school once or twice a week, helping with some maintenance of the school and also with Englsih lessons. The students were excited to see me, standing as I (or the teacher) enters the class. They say hello, one boys says, "What's Up?"
They are all learning English and some were eager to practice the language. I also visited with the school director and on this day, the inspectors from the Kosovar governement were visiting. With help from the English teacher, she translated. They made Turkish coffee for all, including myself, and offered cigarettes and cookies.
The school is in bad condition and in need of repair. The governement wants to close it but the director, of 26 years, says no, they need this school. There is no other school in the area. So it remains open and with heat from wood burning stoves in each class and water stained ceilings and walls, education continues.
At recess the children play soccer. It is madness. These children, both boys and girls are tough. The boys also like to arm wrestle. They have two ten minute breaks, and 15 minutes for lunch. Most children do not bring any food and none is offered at the school. There are two school sessions. The morning students attend from 7:40 AM to 1:40 PM then another shift of students arrive.
I travelled by bus from Gjilan to Zegra, then took a taxi to Shurdahn.
Shurdahn was all Albanian people however, in Gjilian there are some Serbians. As an American it is almost impossible to recognize the difference. Albanians can see the difference in the face.
I hope tomorrow to visit with Alabnians.
I will stay tonight in Gjilan. My favorite town in Kosovo, not as big as Prishtina and I feel the locals are more connected, a more intimate town.
I am shooting film and will have a roll processed today and a CD made from the roll. I will post a couple photos tonight.
My health is well and I feel respected.
Tomorrow I meet with an Albanian translator and learn more about the town of Gjilan where he is from. -END
Kosovo, photography, photojournalist, Independence, Prishtina, Pristina, Gjilan, Zegra.
February 19, 2008
Kosovo and Kosova
The coffee in Kosovo, or Kosava as Albanians spell the name of the world's newest country, is fantastic.
More to come when I find time and can gather what I think.
February 07, 2008
Photojournalist to Kosovo
I am off to Kosovo this February, 2008, to photograph Kosovo's declaration of independence. I will also be in Skopje Macedonia and make a stop at Camp Bondsteel (Bond-Steel) the U.S. Military base in Kosovo. If you are seeking photographs from Kosovo, please email me, nate@natehoward.com.
For more information about Kosovo, attached is an article from Reuters, by Fatos Bytyci.
PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Kosovo Philharmonic is rehearsing for the biggest performance in its short history, Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
Only the concert date has yet to be set.
"We have signs it will happen in days," said orchestra director Baki Jashari. "We'll be ready on the 15th."
Guessing the date when Kosovo Albanians declare independence from Serbia is the biggest game in town right now.
Hotels are full of foreign journalists and television crews, while the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has told staff to steer clear of "happy shooting" on the big day, whenever it is.
"I'm so excited to be alive right now, that I can play on the big day," said Jashari. "We will certainly play the European anthem (Ode to Joy) on independence day."
The windows of the rehearsal hall were open and people in the streets stopped to listen. They have yet to hear Kosovo's own national anthem.
Backed by the West but opposed by Russia, the breakaway Serbian province is within weeks, and possibly days, of declaring independence almost nine years after NATO went to war to save its Albanian majority.
One Kosovo newspaper told gamblers this week to bet on Feb. 17 and the Gallery of Arts is putting the final touches to an "Independence" exhibition.
Mother Theresa Street, which leads to the parliament building where the declaration will be read, is a fine pedestrian corso, paved with imported Chinese granite and lined with trees and benches.
The buildings either side have been given a fresh coat of paint to stand out from the grey concrete that fills much of the dusty capital.
FLAG AND SYMBOLS
Still run by the United Nations, Kosovo is without an anthem or a state flag and symbols, and its Albanians prefer the black-on-red double-headed eagle of neighbouring Albania.
That flag was carried into battle by guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army who battled Serb forces under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 1998-99 to end a decade of repression.
It flies from state buildings and homes across the province but is deemed inappropriate by Western powers who want an 'ethnic neutral' flag that won't offend Kosovo's 120,000 Serbs.
More than 1,500 proposals for the flag and emblem have been submitted, and judges have narrowed the choice down to three.
"Ethnic prejudice would not be fair," said Fadil Hysaj, head of the commission deciding on the symbols. The flag should be simple enough for a six-year-old child to draw and should represent Kosovo as a whole, he said.
Mentor Shala and Besnik Nuli, ethnic Albanians, are among the finalists and proposed a Kosovo map in white on a blue background, surrounded by five stars.
Shala said the biggest star would represent Albanians, who account for 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people.
"Our flag should win because it represents the reality in Kosovo and all the people who live in Kosovo," he said. (Editing by Matt Robinson and Robert Woodward)