Neighbourhood 29
Ten Years On
If you were walking down the streets, across the rubbish tip, through the market, by the mosque, along the railway lines or anywhere else in Neighbourhood 29 in Fushë Kosovë/ Kosovo Polje during the summer of 2011, you would have seen the darting figures of children carrying digital cameras just about everywhere. Taking part in the project were eighty children, aged 7-17. They were supported and guided by a team of volunteers from The Ideas Partnership (TIP) an NGO that began working with the community in 2010.
In the years that have passed since this project, TIP have continued to grow their support for the community with numerous projects and initiatives. During 2021, a small team of TIP staff and volunteers decided to look back at the 2011 photography project (www.neighbourhood29.com) to reflect on the last 10 years.
This site reconnects with some of those involved to uncover their memories of that time and discover their hopes for the future.
Meet some of the participants who took part in the project 10 years ago. Scroll down to read their memories and hopes for the future
Arzije Rizahu-Sadiku
Edison Hajrizi
Fidan Berisha
Gani Berisha
Resmije Curolli
Resul Krasniqi
Participants
Melihate Krasniqi
Habib Berisha
"I remember my childhood, being part of The Ideas Partnership's centre, the chance to communicate in English. In appearance, the neighbourhood has changed a lot, the houses are better built, the people are better educated. Now the families give more importance to school. Psychologically, parents are more relaxed with their children."
"The freedom to touch a camera. Back then, but also even now I love photography so much, but I don’t have a professional camera. The positive approach towards the children"
"The neighbourhood has changed a lot, the houses are better built, the people are better educated"
Arzije Rizahu-Sadiku
Memories of the project...
Memories of 10 years ago...
"I don’t live in the neighbourhood anymore [because of having got married], but for the families who live there to have a place where they can go and learn something new, a place where they can play and be educated like other children, because the centre offers this opportunity."
Hopes for the future...
This mirror was erected on the corner as a safety initiative by the group of Young Leaders who meet at TIP’s centre
"It was all different then! The neighbourhood has changed: there wasn't any asphalt. The walls weren't like this... there was a lot of rubbish'
"It was all different then!"
Edison Hajrizi
Memories of 10 years ago...
More of the roads in Neighbourhood 29 have been asphalted in the last 10 years - children no longer arrive at school covered in mud
"The lessons were great at The Ideas Partnership. We were the first generation to start school because me and a lot of my peers hadn't been to school."
"The photographs in the neighbourhood with the other children, cleaning the neighbourhood with friends, and we taught each other not to go without education"
"We taught each other not to go without education"
Fidan Berisha
Memories of the project...
Memories of 10 years ago...
Changes in the neighbourhood...
"There is better lighting, cleanliness, and also a greater desire for school."
Hopes for the future...
"Education, better rights for children and child benefit. No children without education, no dirtiness in the neighbourhood, employment for young people."
There has been an increase in the number of NGOs supporting the community over the last decade, and some new charities registered by members of the community themselves
"Well, it changed a bit: it was bad how it was.... it's changed a little over these 10 years... in the neighbourhood here, the road was changed, The environment a bit... not too much. Basically a little bit changed"
"It was bad... it changed a little over 10 years"
Gani Berisha
Memories of 10 years ago...
Memories of the project...
"we went out with Hysni and Elizabeth and everyone from Neighbourhoods 28 and 29, they put us in photos"
"'If they could change the environment for example - to make it cleaner, build a play-park so the children can play, you get me...not have these bad things when you go out: some dead snake or rats... to have the nicest environment when you go out. Look, my kids shouldn't suffer like I did. For example, when I went to the centre to learn, the first issue was that I was scared of the dogs... The most important thing is that I want my child to be safe"
Hopes for the future...
One of the changes in the last 10 years: a neighbourhood municipal rubbish collection and a bin for every household
"The children, activities, the friendship of that time. New faces, photographing the neighbourhoods"
"Teaching, visiting the neighbourhood, taking off your shoes to go into the centre, being with Elizabeth"
"The children will be more educated"
Resmije Curolli
Memories of the project...
Memories of 10 years ago...
Changes in the neighbourhood...
"The infrastructure, lightning, awareness about education"
Hopes for the future...
"The circumstances for education will be better: better economic conditions. The children will be more educated, have more employment and changes in health."
TIP’s new, fit-for-purpose community centre will open in 2022
"All that I remember is that I was in school, at the centre non-stop, here at Elizabeth’s...active every Saturday. Not a lot has changed, but the roads were paved for example, the lighting, and some other things"
"I was in school, at the centre non-stop, here at Elizabeth's,.. active every Saturday"
Resul Krasniqi
Memories of 10 years ago...
"I hope that it is going to change a lot more. We will think about the future about doing something positive. But, first things first, teach people on the streets how to behave: you know, not to do bad things... And education probably as the main thing, to advance it further, not to neglect it: to be active in education "
Hopes for the future...
Ever-increasing numbers of children are attending school, and families also see the importance of kindergarten - an option that wasn’t available before TIP’s pre-school opened 7 years ago
"I remember it as a much better time. There was so much more respect and love. In the last 10 years a lot has changed, in all aspects, such as in education, training and many other areas. There was much more difference back then for non-majority communities: now discrimination is less."
"I remember I was a girl where I had a lot of desire to go to this project, I was very happy I had friendships that can never be the same again."
"I was very happy: I had friendships that can never be the same again"
Melihate Krasniqi
Memories of the project...
Memories of 10 years ago...
Hopes for the future...
"For my children I think many things will be different because people are becoming more and more aware and growing with that new spirit, to have a good future not like in the past. I would very much like many things to change in my neighbourhood. First, to have a school in the neighbourhood, to have a park for us as a community, a surgery and many other things: not to be overlooked - to be the same as the majority communities."
Over the last 10 years we’ve seen more members of the Neighbourhood29 community taking part in public life e.g. elected to the Municipal Assembly, or even working at Ministry level
"I remember that we were younger and we did not know much. There we learned a lot: democracy and many other things. We learned about musical instruments.... we visited many places we had not been before: we went to see Kosovo’s Philharmonic for the first time, and I remember that was the best experience."
"We had those who didn't have much of a purpose in life, and now they are working for a career."
Habib Berisha
Memories of 10 years ago...
Hopes for the future...
"School and education alike, you know, we have changed our culture: we have made a revolution in many things.... football, music. We have artists that have achieved a lot in music... We had those who didn't have much of a purpose in life, and now they are working for a career. This means a lot has changed....What else? We grew up!"
Changes in the neighbourhood...
"Education for everyone, meaning everyone working, following their dreams... something like this: following your dream, working for it, starting to change the environment and everything. I would like this Fushë Kosovë, the part we live in, to move forward and mix with other ethnicities more. This would bring change."
Project team
Scroll down to meet some of the people who worked on the project 10 years ago.
Elizabeth Gowing
Co-founder of The Ideas Partnership
Memories of 10 years ago...
I remember how nice it was to have got to know the community over the previous 6 months that TIP had been working there, so that when I walked down the street there were always people I recognised and people calling out greetings to me. It felt like a strong community and I felt great that I had started to be connected to it. I also remember the need that was so obvious - children out of school, coming back from rubbish-picking, with their wheelbarrows, and families in homes that weren't properly insulated, and were hard to keep clean. Children with no shoes and babies with no nappies, chronically ill adults with no clean bedsheets.
Co-founder of The Ideas Partnership
Memories of 10 years ago...
I remember how nice it was to have got to know the community over the previous 6 months that TIP had been working there, so that when I walked down the street there were always people I recognised and people calling out greetings to me. It felt like a strong community and I felt great that I had started to be connected to it. I also remember the need that was so obvious - children out of school, coming back from rubbish-picking, with their wheelbarrows, and families in homes that weren't properly insulated, and were hard to keep clean. Children with no shoes and babies with no nappies, chronically ill adults with no clean bedsheets.
Memories of the project...
I loved feeling how people came together from all over the world - volunteers from loads of different countries - Italy, the US, China, Kosovo and of course Su and Paddy and other volunteers from the UK. Complicated planning meetings online as we came up with rotas to make sure that all the children had their turn at going out with the cameras, and there was always a volunteer available. And then the glimpses of life in the neighbourhood that I had never seen, and I could never see. The way an old man looked into the eyes of the child who took his photo would never be the way he would look at me; the shots showing daily life in children's homes that wouldn't be seen by a visitor. Close-ups of dogs that I would never dare to take, and images of things close to the ground that I wouldn't have been near enough to see!
I loved feeling how people came together from all over the world - volunteers from loads of different countries - Italy, the US, China, Kosovo and of course Su and Paddy and other volunteers from the UK. Complicated planning meetings online as we came up with rotas to make sure that all the children had their turn at going out with the cameras, and there was always a volunteer available. And then the glimpses of life in the neighbourhood that I had never seen, and I could never see. The way an old man looked into the eyes of the child who took his photo would never be the way he would look at me; the shots showing daily life in children's homes that wouldn't be seen by a visitor. Close-ups of dogs that I would never dare to take, and images of things close to the ground that I wouldn't have been near enough to see!
I also remember the responses of people being introduced to Neighbourhood 29 for the first time thanks to the children's photos and the website that was created, and the social media posting. Kosovars who live in Prishtina being shocked and disbelieving that this was their country, with comments on social media saying 'this isn't Kosovo'. So the project didn't just bring together people in Kosovo with those outside, but it also brought Kosovars from different communities together.
Changes in the neighbourhood...
There have been physical changes which are all positive - people from the community who live abroad who send back money and have built new homes that are better quality. More NGOs, and some of them run by people from the community, so that there are more sources of support for people in need here. The roads started to be asphalted soon after our photography project which made a big difference to the possibility of getting around, especially in the winter and in the rain. That's connected to a greater engagement of people from the community in public life - one of The Ideas Partnership's former bursary recipients became a deputy minister, another became a member of the Municipal Assembly, and one of our Young Leaders has become another Assembly member. These are powerful voices for the community's needs in accessing services and budgets.
There have been physical changes which are all positive - people from the community who live abroad who send back money and have built new homes that are better quality. More NGOs, and some of them run by people from the community, so that there are more sources of support for people in need here. The roads started to be asphalted soon after our photography project which made a big difference to the possibility of getting around, especially in the winter and in the rain. That's connected to a greater engagement of people from the community in public life - one of The Ideas Partnership's former bursary recipients became a deputy minister, another became a member of the Municipal Assembly, and one of our Young Leaders has become another Assembly member. These are powerful voices for the community's needs in accessing services and budgets.
All of that has contributed to what feels to me like greater purpose and hope. There are still needs, but people generally know the way out of a problem - they know the institutions or civil society organisations who can and should help them. Families are more likely to send their children to school, and with education comes changes in people's (especially women's) access to information and choices. People have seen what is possible in activism and business and I think that is inspiring in seeing a better future.
Thoughts on the future...
I would like all the things that have changed in the last 10 to continue! In particular, I would like to see girls being able to finish their education without the pressure to get married early. That would make a huge change in family dynamics because when a mother is educated then any children she has are likely to have better health and educational outcomes. Research shows that it also contributes to reducing violence in the family, and of course it increases the opportunities for a better income, so then Neighbourhood 29 would be full of more prosperous families. I'd like to see more institutional opportunities for employment - at the very least the legal quotas for jobs for community members being respected - which would also offer more people from the community a regular income. And I'd like to see changes in the health of women, particularly in relation to diabetes and obesity which limit the lives of too many women in the community.
I would like all the things that have changed in the last 10 to continue! In particular, I would like to see girls being able to finish their education without the pressure to get married early. That would make a huge change in family dynamics because when a mother is educated then any children she has are likely to have better health and educational outcomes. Research shows that it also contributes to reducing violence in the family, and of course it increases the opportunities for a better income, so then Neighbourhood 29 would be full of more prosperous families. I'd like to see more institutional opportunities for employment - at the very least the legal quotas for jobs for community members being respected - which would also offer more people from the community a regular income. And I'd like to see changes in the health of women, particularly in relation to diabetes and obesity which limit the lives of too many women in the community.
Hysni Hasani
Volunteer with The Ideas Partnership
Memories of 10 years ago...
I remember in that period when the children came to the activities there was a lot of interest, the parents were interested in what was being taught in the centre, but when I was employed the parents felt more comfortable for their children. We had many foreign volunteers from different places, and I was very happy to work for the first time with children, different activities and visits to different places.
Volunteer with The Ideas Partnership
Memories of 10 years ago...
I remember in that period when the children came to the activities there was a lot of interest, the parents were interested in what was being taught in the centre, but when I was employed the parents felt more comfortable for their children. We had many foreign volunteers from different places, and I was very happy to work for the first time with children, different activities and visits to different places.
Memories of the project...
I remember the photo project with children in the neighbourhood, children whom I saw for the first time, a warm environment for children in the centre, and all kinds of volunteers.
I remember the photo project with children in the neighbourhood, children whom I saw for the first time, a warm environment for children in the centre, and all kinds of volunteers.
Changes in the neighbourhood...
The children have grown up. Some of them are at high school and there are even some at university. There’s awareness of education for almost 80% of parents and children. There’s infrastructure in some neighbourhoods, lighting, a range of businesses in the neighbourhood and more.
The children have grown up. Some of them are at high school and there are even some at university. There’s awareness of education for almost 80% of parents and children. There’s infrastructure in some neighbourhoods, lighting, a range of businesses in the neighbourhood and more.
Thoughts on the future...
For our children, think that it will be different: education, employment, rights at work, justice and equality under the law. I would like to have more employment, education, equal rights for all, housing for all those who have no home, no children begging on the street, no children doing physical labour, everyone to be equal at school but also in employment.
I think the new centre will be a future for the communities: we have never before had a centre with all the right facilities, as a model in our neighbourhoods, and we are impatiently waiting to see it built. It's a motivation for us as staff and the whole community even though we didn't even have it as a dream before, but now it's becoming a reality.
For our children, think that it will be different: education, employment, rights at work, justice and equality under the law. I would like to have more employment, education, equal rights for all, housing for all those who have no home, no children begging on the street, no children doing physical labour, everyone to be equal at school but also in employment.
I think the new centre will be a future for the communities: we have never before had a centre with all the right facilities, as a model in our neighbourhoods, and we are impatiently waiting to see it built. It's a motivation for us as staff and the whole community even though we didn't even have it as a dream before, but now it's becoming a reality.
Su Jones & Paddy McEntaggart
Digital volunteers / creatives
Memories of 10 years ago...
We worked on the Neighbourhood 29 (N29) project in the summer of 2011, it was a new way of doing photography projects for us. Previously we’d worked on similar projects with TIP, but we’d always been on the ground, fitting the work into our annual leave from our full time jobs. But during this project we were working from home in the UK and using remote working techniques 10 years before it became ordinary! At the time we had our fingers crossed that large file uploads from Kosovo could be done every day and downloaded in the UK each evening – things that now seem more commonplace. What we remember most were the generous donations of cameras from friends, families and colleagues, the logistics of getting them out to Kosovo via kind volunteers and the excitement of getting the photos each night after we finished our day jobs.
Digital volunteers / creatives
Memories of 10 years ago...
We worked on the Neighbourhood 29 (N29) project in the summer of 2011, it was a new way of doing photography projects for us. Previously we’d worked on similar projects with TIP, but we’d always been on the ground, fitting the work into our annual leave from our full time jobs. But during this project we were working from home in the UK and using remote working techniques 10 years before it became ordinary! At the time we had our fingers crossed that large file uploads from Kosovo could be done every day and downloaded in the UK each evening – things that now seem more commonplace. What we remember most were the generous donations of cameras from friends, families and colleagues, the logistics of getting them out to Kosovo via kind volunteers and the excitement of getting the photos each night after we finished our day jobs.
We were never short of great photos to select for the best 29 uploaded to the website each day - what struck us was the quality and how varied the photos were. We had wonderfully abstract shots and close ups of textures and patterns that were really intriguing. The kids also captured natural laughter and smiles which were full of joy and they gave us close encounters with many dogs. It was really unique to get a child’s eye view on a place we’d never visited in person. As well as some funny, beautiful and unusual shots, we also saw the how much the community needed and we were pleased that the photos played their part in raising awareness of their situation.
In early 2012 we visited Kosovo to attend an exhibition of the photos and got to visit N29 in person and meet some of the children. It felt like we already knew the place and people so well, we were able to recognise some of the buildings and streets we had regularly seen documented. Meeting some of the families and bringing over donations of clothing, was a lovely way to complete the project for us.
Hopes for the future...
We have continued to support TIP in different ways over the last 10 years and we have followed the progress of their work and the community with great admiration for the changes that have happened. It’s amazing to see all that’s been achieved, we hope that the transformation and good work that has happened in the last 10 years continues to inspire and promote further change and improvement for the next generation.
We have continued to support TIP in different ways over the last 10 years and we have followed the progress of their work and the community with great admiration for the changes that have happened. It’s amazing to see all that’s been achieved, we hope that the transformation and good work that has happened in the last 10 years continues to inspire and promote further change and improvement for the next generation.
Acknowledgements
The above team was helped by the following volunteers to produce this website ten years on.
Sami Gashi
Arta Hiseni
Aria Jupolli
Ert Krasniqi
Edona Kurtaj
Vahide Spanca
Fiona Kapiti
We would also like to offer many thanks to the members of Neighbourhood 29 who joined in this project in 2011 and in 2021.
