The cooperation established between the Orthodox Albanian youth and young people from Kosovo who came to Albania in 1999 has followed a particular tradition over the years. Apart from the camps, which are of both an educational and fun nature, for the children of the Kosovar families a close cooperation has been attained with the teachers from some of the schools where the camps are held every year. The teachers from Kosovo also have the opportunity to be part of a training on teaching children with contemporary methods.
2013 marked the twelfth year that, with the permission of the Education Department of Malisheva, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, through the Central Children Office and dozens of volunteers offered summer camps in six schools of this municipality. These camps were held in Banjë, in Begaj, in Drenoc three camps, and in Caralluka e Poshtme.
The camps, which lasted four days each, were held between August 5 to 25. These camps were attended by about 1400 children aged 5-13 years. The theme of this year’s camp was “Smart Choices”. Each day children had the opportunity hear a strong message about making choices. On the first day they learned that wise choices bring happiness in the present and in the future. On the second day they learned that wise choices shape character, and on the third day they heard the message that wise choices are moral choices. Children spent a pleasant time participating in various games, songs, dances, group discussions, and art and craft projects. They were divided into age groups and each part of the program was appropriate to their age.
One of the days of the camp was named after the Olympic Games. Groups competed among themselves to see who was the fastest and most decided to finish the race. The camp ended with a festival, which was prepared by the children. They revealed their skills in the areas of creation, recitation, in singing and dancing, and entertained all the attendees. At the end of each feast, the respective school director thanked the Orthodox youth group from Albania for organizing these camps. The children and the parents gave their good impressions of the camps and said the children learned a lot during the activity. They closed the event with the hope of organizing other programs in the future.
