Calling Kosovo

The last fortnight has been one of invisible work - reading, thinking, making my way through a to-do list the length of my arm. One tangible step forward was a conversation with Iliriana Gashi, the Country Director of Women for Women Kosovo, a faction of the international organisation that works to educate and empower women across the world.

In Kosovo, the organisation runs year-long training programmes for marginalised women, often in rural parts of the country. Iliriana told me about the history of the Kosovo division, including how they work independently while under the umbrella of Women for Women International. She also explained how they go about setting up new teaching schemes, from initial scoping exercises to the final graduation and the aftercare which follows. Having a basic understanding of the practicalities of setting up such an organisation - especially one dealing with women from war-torn backgrounds - should prove useful when planning the implementation of my project.

© Women for Women International

I was particularly grateful for her insight into planning context-appropriate vocational curricula: for example, the focus in Kosovo is often on service-based industries such as childcare and tailoring, while in Afghanistan the programme teaches more animal husbandry and agriculture. This further highlighted the need to understand Ceuta as a specific case of production and consumption, something I am looking forward to exploring when I visit the town later in the summer.

© Women for Women International

Our conversation got me thinking about more than just the spatial programme of my project and has already led me to reconsider my implementation plan. Iliriana's suggestions are helping me gain a level of realism, as well as indicating new areas for in-depth research.