|
Reaction from Hamide Latifi after Kosova Claims Independence from Serbia - February 2008
Urime Pavaresia!
Yesterday, 17 February 2008, the Kosova Parliament has declared the Independence of Kosova. Symbols of the new state of Kosova have been approved and the constitution is being drafted.
The mood in Kosova yesterday was celebratory. In minus 13 celsius degrees weather, thousands of people -- women and men, old and young -- could be seen celebrating in the streets and in restaurants across Kosova’s cities. They were singing, dancing, holding the Albanian national flag and flags of the allies -- USA, UK, Germany and others, who helped Kosova not just during the conflict, but also continued helping in rebuilding peace and stability and security for all, and most important creating new perspectives for Kosovars.
The celebration helps us overcome some of the pain and suffering endured as Kosovars during the conflict. Yesterday, there were tears of joy and happiness, but also tears and sadness for those who could not survive the conflict and were not with us in this big moment.
Also Kosovars remembered and missed at this historical moment their leader, former President Mr. Ibrahim Rugova, who led Kosovars and was an architecht of the Kosova strategy towards its independent status. He died 2 years ago and is known as the “Gandhi from Kosova” having also won many peace prizes in the world.
All day yesterday I have received phone calls and emails from staff and women in the program and from graduates who have sent to me best wishes for Kosova independence.
This is a moment for Kosova to cherish. I see a promising future for Kosova though there is still work to be done for a strong Kosova democratic state to be formed and for gender equality issues to be addressed.
The challenges for Kosova right now include:
- Keep peace and security for all
- Implement a state of law to protect human rights
- Create an environment for full participation of the all Kosovar citizens, women and minorities in particular
- Improve education
- Secure investments in the economy to create more jobs.
As of right now, Kosova has been recognized as an independent country by: Afghanistan, USA, Great Britain, France, Turkey, and Albania. Recognition of the newest country in Europe is continuing. We will keep you updated on progress. In the meantime, the best thing supporters can do right now is send a card or note to their sisters in Kosova and congratulate them on Kosova’s independence.
Ways you can show your support:
If you sponsor a woman in Kosova, send a message of congratulations to your sister.
Urime Pavaresia! (means Congratulations on your Independence)
Send a message of support through our web site to the women of Kosova.
Or make a donation in support of the women of Kosova and in support of Kosova’s Independence.
Kosovo Country Director Hamide Latifi's Trip to Rwanda
December 2006
It is December and in Kosovo it is the middle of winter. I am writing this letter from Rwanda, however, and here it feels more like late spring or early summer—fresh and comfortable.
Looking outside, the lush landscape gives the impression that everything in Rwanda is flourishing, from the bushes and trees to the women in our program. Once I scratch beneath the surface and speak with some of our participants, I realize that all of the blooming flowers are, in many cases, decorating the harsh Rwandan reality, where women are struggling to overcome impossible poverty and injustice. Still, women and men alike are fiercely determined to rebuild their country into something they can be proud of.
I visited our rights awareness and job skills training classes. How badly these women want to be there! I wish you could see it for yourself. Some of the women walk for hours to attend class, often carrying their babies on their backs since they cannot afford childcare. One baby was only five days old! The women sit together, making baskets with the kids still sleeping on their backs. The women look after each other and each other’s children with so much care and love, never complaining, determined to use this opportunity as their way out of poverty, isolation and marginalization.
I spoke with several of the women as they made their baskets—used for everything from carrying products to and from the local market to storing food—for the first of three days that week. One of these women was Vestine. My brief encounter with this young woman has expanded my small world and reminded me of the incredible power of determination.
Click here to read complete text of Hamide's letter from Rwanda.
Country Director Hamide Latifi’s Journal
June 2005
Today it is six years since NATO intervened with ground troops in June 1999. Six years ago I was one of the one million refugees who fled Kosovo. As NATO ground troops entered, people started to return in massive amounts, although there were no homes to which people could return. I was part of those enthusiastic people to come back at the first chance I had. I rented a car and drove all over the country. On both sides of the road there were burned houses, dead dogs, cows and other animals laying in the streets. A lot of destroyed vehicles, both civilian and military, were on both sides of the road. The smell of the dead animals in the summer time can be imagined. Instinctively, I was expecting to be stopped by police patrol at every corner, as I was used to being stopped before, ten times in one hour drive. But this time this was not the case. I find it hard to conceptualize that I was not stopped even after four hours driving.
I have always liked June because I was born on June 22. I was also married in June, and since then there have been 26 years of my good marriage, I am happy to say. My daughter was born in June, and I came back home from being a refugee in June as well. So June in a way wakes me up. I can not avoid going back and forth in my memory, remembering the most significant moments of my life, sometimes painful ones.
Country Director Hamide Latifi’s Journal
March 2004
Until March 17, 2004, I believed that violence, injustice and terror were slowly being replaced by peace and reconciliation in Kosovo. I, and other citizens of Kosovo, have spent so much time and energy on the reconstruction of our country. We can not believe that the violence and destruction of these past three days has happened to us. I wish that this was a bad dream, but unfortunately that is not the case. It is like planting your land, and as you wait for it to harvest it is taken from you.
I find myself asking questions. How did this happen? Why were more measures not taken to prevent this tragedy? Why have we allowed people’s anger to be directed towards destruction? These and many other questions come from me and others like me who have invested their lives in finding a better future for Kosovo. I do believe, and I will always believe, that Kosovo has a future. This is not just a wish, but something that I know most Kosovars want and will work to guarantee. We have worked for too many years, in spite of continual hardship and poverty, to give up now. The last five years in particular are testament to the will of Kosovars.
|
