It is so hard to adjust to these 37 C here in Skopje, from the 12 C in Glasgow. This is one of the things that we miss about Glasgow together with the fact of being the biggest national delegation at a world wide conference.

Anyhow, CIVUCUS youth and CIVICUS world assembly were our occupation from 16 – 21 June in Glasgow. We got the great opportunity as part of the Leap of Faith Together project to participate and talk about world issues that are shaking the world stage, and deserve so much attention.

The event addressed the question of people, participation and power as three main pillars of discussion and debate, space for sharing experiences and knowledge.

From 16 – 18 June we attended the youth assembly were more than 200 delegates from more then 75 countries in the world participated in the conference through different methods as a way of exploring the questions of health, poverty, equality and climate change. This was only a warm up for the main event, the world assembly. There, the number of delegates and countries participating has doubled. Participants with diverse backgrounds, representing organisations that work on local, national and international level combined with people that represent governments and corporations, was a perfect ground for a very fruitful discussions.

All four LoFT teams finally got the chance to meet each other and share the implementation and the idea behind LoFT to the rest of the participants. We even got the chance to present LoFT to one of the equality sessions, which resulted as putting the focus on our project at the closing ceremony of the youth assembly. We did a great job there guys.

Hereby I would like once more to officially thank the British Council for giving us this opportunity.

Photo and video coverage will follow very soon. By then here is a picture with the LoFT members (present at the conference) together with a well known worldwide activist and political figure Mary Robinson. In addition I put a video that was shown at the conference, and serve as way to think how we can change societies. Enjoy

Remember the photography exhibition on the theme – youth influence?

Well, more than 300 Euros have been raised as a result of the work and vision that the young and talented photographers showed during the photography workshops. Their work has been exhibited at the photography exhibition “Youth Influence” from 06 – 12 March 2008 in Skopje.

One of the main aims of the LoFT project is to make a positive impact in the local communities and show that young people’s actions really can make a difference.

With the money raised we have bought 14 specialised books and a laminating machine for the children with visual impairment from the “Dimitar Vlahov” High School in Skopje. On May 14^th we officially made the donation.

Remember: “Think Global, Start Local”

After five days in Romania, we are finally back to normal and ready to share our experience with you guys. Well changing 2 planes and waiting 5 hours for the next flight can be fun. We confirmed that by opening a kinder garden centre at the Budapest Airport. Ok, ok we didn’t manage to fill all the forms for a legally established business, and we didn’t manage to get paid but at least we were entertaining two children and of course ourselvesJ. We landed at Cluj, and group of people was waiting us outside. OMG this has to be the LoFT Romania team…and tdmm, several guys from the team ready to give us an unforgettable stay in Cluj. Day by day, activity by activity, starting from mountain walking, bbq, working at the local centre for disabled children, cooking traditional food (if you consider macaroni as traditional Macedonian or Romanian food: P), debate on multiculturalism wow plenty of activities ha? This wasn’t all. At the final evening both teams hosted intercultural show, where we were representing ours and other cultures as well, then doing some traditional dances etc. It was very successful event I must admit. The departure day came…. We were very sad for saying goodbye, but not for long since there is a possibility to see all four team in June in Scotland. In the meanwhile enjoy with the photos and some videos of the exchange.

Here are the three video clips showed at the exhibition.

Video that shows the life of the children with visual impairment in Dimitar Vlahov Special School.

Video that shows how we, the young people influence positively in the community, by organizing and participating in a music workshop.

Overview of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian visit to Macedonia.

We are very happy to say that our main event, the photography exhibition” Youth Influence” went with huge success.The exhibition started with an opening speech by the coordinator of the project Andreja Bogdanovski, saying a short info about the project. Mr. Ivan Blazev said more on the photography workshops and the experience he had while working with the group. One of the many highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Youth Influence video clips to the audience, which were made with the support of the independent youth film media production Cre8ive8. The main part followed, many people donated money for the school for visual impaired children Dimitar Vlahov in Skopje, thus investing in better educational resources. We had a good media coverage as well. Two of the national televisions were present at the exhibition. It is worth mentioning that HMA of the Republic of Slovenia in Macedonia participated in the event as well.

Great success for all of the LoFT Macedonia team. Without their enthusiasm and hard work this wouldn’t have become a reality.

What the others say about the exhibition (in Macedonian)

http://chkrap.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post_07.html

From 6 -12 March 2008, at the Cultural Centre Tocka in Skopje you can find the actual results of the project. 25 photos will be exhibited showing how young people influence. The photos are taken by the participants of the photography workshop.The opening is on 6 March at 2030h, at the Cultural Centre Tocka (blvd “Kliment Ohridski 15, Skopje).

The exhibition has a charity element. By buying photography or a postcard you invest in better educational resources at the school for visually impaired children, Dimitar Vlahov in Skopje.

We have hosted the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina from 20 – 25 February. The main aim of the visit was to create a short movie clip that show how young people influence. For that purpose we have had a film making workshop with Cre8ive8 youth film production. But this wasn’t everything we prepared for them. We continued with discussions about the implementation of both projects, and also we shared our experiences about the influence that the young people have in both countries. We have visited the school for visually impaired children Dimitar Vlahov where we had a music workshop with Mr. Damjan Temkov. In 3 hours time we were all playing the traditional Macedonian song- Jovano Jovanke. Finally we had a time to visit the old part of the city.

Have a look at some of the videos we have taken during the visit

On Sunday 27^th January we had our first photography workshop together with Ivan Blazev, a professional photographer. All of the selected participants were there. Our team mates Stevica and Ivanco did the ice breaking games and also informed the participants about the concept of the project. Afterwards, Ivan started with his work, explaining and discussing with the participants about the impact of the photography in the society and the types of photography.

We have three more meetings together

Dear all,

We are glad to inform you that the participants of the Youth influence workshop have been selected.
All accepted participants will receive an e-mail and a call with further instructions.

Accepted applicants:

1. Zorica Petkoska
2. Vladimir Petrusevski
3. Aleksandar Bogdanoski
4. Elena Gjeroska
5. Elena Prendzova
6. Emilija Dimic
7. Frosina Ilievska
8. Gjorgji Trpeski
9. Goran Gajduk
10. Gorica Tapandzieva
11. Iskra Gerazova
12. Ivana Trajanovska
13. Dimitar Stojanovski
14. Naum Doksevski
15. Martin Okolikj
16. Krenar Kjoku
17. Lazo Zdravev
18. Ljubinka Aritonovska
19. Ljupka Trajcova
20. Lura Polozani
21. Risto Bojcevski
22. Slobodan Stefanov
23. Vesna Ilievska
24. Vesna Mitanoska
25. Viktorija Bacvarova
26. Virdzinija Risteska
27. Gjorgji Orovcanec

Yours,

LoFT Macedonia Team

Dear all,

The application for the photography workshops is now closed. Thank you for applying.

The results of the selection will be posted on the blog as well as at your mailboxes not later than 20 February 2008.

Yours,

LoFT Macedonia