Impressions from our volunteers at the Summer School

They came from Belgrade, Kruševac and the Netherlands, took days from their annual leave, and spent them with children on Šar Mountain. The volunteers at the Kosovsko Pomoravlje Summer School were there for all the things that do not always show up in photos and videos.

So far, you have mostly seen what we did with the children at the Summer School: workshops, trips, games, walks, quizzes and talent evenings.

But there is also a big part of everyday life that rarely makes it into the frame.

Someone needs to help in the kitchen, assist with showers, find medicine when a child has a stomachache, be there to provide first aid, or comfort a child who is missing home. Someone needs to go with the children to a workshop, lend a hand whenever needed, play with them, laugh with them and share in their joy.

Our volunteers were there for a large part of that work this year.

Nikola and Tijana Rakonjac are originally from Kraljevo and live in Belgrade. Đorđe Novaković also lives in Belgrade, Ivana Jovanović came from Kruševac, while Sonja Gurbaj from the Netherlands spent part of her annual vacation in Štrpce for the second year in a row.

Each of them chose to spend their free days with the children.

Two Days That Made Them Want to Stay Until the End

Nikola Rakonjac came for just a few days, without any great expectations. As he says, he simply wanted to feel the love and energy that the Summer School carries.

But after just two days, he knew he wanted to stay longer.

“When you feel even a tiny fraction of that love after those two days, you simply want to stay until the very end.”

In the everyday lives of children from Kosovo and Metohija, he recognized something very different from the picture that most often reaches people outside the region.

The news, he says, usually focuses on the darkest side – suffering and the feeling that there is constantly some kind of state of emergency. Instead, he found people who live their lives, raise their children and do their best to make their childhoods happier and more carefree.

“The main reason I am here is to find myself in this oasis of meaning, surrounded by so much that seems meaningless.”

“Next Year, and the Year After That, For As Long As This Lasts”

Tijana came with Nikola.

Until then, she had followed the work of the Humanitarian Organization Kosovsko Pomoravlje through her husband, but had never been directly involved. This time, she wanted to come along and support something he had already been committed to for some time.

Two days at the Summer School were enough to make her want to come back. Not just next year.

“Next year, and the year after that, for as long as this lasts,” she said at the end of her stay.

What surprised her most, she says, was the amount of love, peace and beauty among the people gathered around the whole story.

“It is something you really have to experience, and something you truly need to be a part of.”

The Children Started Calling Him “Teacher”

For Đorđe Novaković, this was his first camp experience with children.

He arrived expecting a warm, family-like atmosphere and a few days on Šar Mountain. He left wanting to stay longer next year and contribute even more through his knowledge and skills.
During the Summer School, the children gave him a new role of their own. They started calling him “Teacher.”
Of everything he experienced, what stayed with him most was their gentleness, tenderness and kindness.

“The way they treat older people is truly uplifting. It refreshes you and reminds you of what a genuine approach to another person should be.”

Đorđe says that he does not usually have many opportunities to work with children, which is precisely why this experience was so unique for him.

From Kruševac to Be Part of Something Good

Ivana Jovanović has been coming to Kosovo and Metohija for some time. During her visits, she met many people and wanted to become involved in something good being done here for children.

She says she could hardly wait for the Summer School.

Although working with children is not her profession, she quickly noticed something important: none of the volunteers waits for someone to tell them exactly what their job is.

When help is needed, everyone steps in. When the children need someone, everyone is there.

“When you arrive and see all of this, it somehow feels like the most natural thing in the world, and you simply become part of it.”

Ivana has five children. After what she experienced at the Summer School, she would like to bring them with her next year.

Her children have never been to Kosovo and Metohija.

From the Netherlands, Spending Vacation Days with Children

For Sonja Gurbaj, this was not her first visit. For the second year in a row, she chose to spend part of her annual vacation in the Netherlands in Štrpce and at the Summer School.

She says she is motivated by the love she receives from the children, the energy she feels here, and also by the desire to leave something of herself with them.

This year, that included a workshop on good manners. She wanted to introduce the children to etiquette through humor and play, so that they could immediately put what they learned into practice.

A few days later, she noticed that the children were increasingly saying “here you go,” “please” and “thank you.”

“Thank God. If that was my goal for this camp, then I truly succeeded.”

Sonja does not take home memories alone.

Throughout the year, she tells the people around her about the children, Kosovo and Metohija, and the people she has met here. Through her stories, she has already inspired some people to help, send a gesture of kindness to the children, or even consider coming themselves.

And in Štrpce, She No Longer Feels Like a Guest.

She already has friends here whom she can drop by to visit and have a coffee with. She says she no longer feels like she is coming somewhere unfamiliar, but rather to a place where she knows people and knows she is welcome.

There When They Are Needed

The role of a volunteer at the Summer School cannot be reduced to a single task.

It means helping in the kitchen and at workshops. Putting on a bandage when someone gets a scrape. Finding medicine when a child has a stomachache. Helping with showers. Having a conversation when someone is homesick. Playing, joking, cheering, and being there for everything that comes with spending a day with nearly forty children.

Some of these things appear in photographs. Most do not.

But they are precisely what makes it possible for the children to spend seven carefree days learning, playing, making friends and enjoying the Summer School.

Our volunteers came to help make that possible. And judging by what they told us at the end, they left Štrpce carrying much more than memories of a few days spent on Šar Mountain.

They took home new friendships, a special connection with the children, and a desire to return.

And perhaps that is the most beautiful impression they could have left behind.

 

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