Ups and Downs

This entire experience, but especially working on my final project, can only be described as a roller coaster. Things with my final have gone from super exciting to emotionally draining to hopeful to uncertain and all the way back again. There have been days that I’ve started out thinking I would have to change my topic that have ended in me smiling ear to ear planning the next day’s work. There have also been days where things have finally started to come together that end in me stressing out about what direction to go in.

At this point, my story is going to focus on Semra and her sisters. Semra is a girl from a Bosnian family living in Fushe Kosova. She and one of her sisters, Elsa, participate in the Girls’ Club program at the Ideas Partnership, in addition to attending public school. Her youngest sister, Xhevahire, is going to start school this year so Semra and Elsa are helping her prepare. I found this relationship to be really interesting and after speaking with Meredith, decided to focus the story on that.

Frustrations With My Final

To be good storytellers, we have to communicate well. Well working on my final project here in Kosovo, I have learned just how important this is.

Throughout this project, I have been at the mercy of my subjects and my connections to them. I have had quite a few contacts ignore me or give me unclear or inaccurate information. Although I do not believe this has been intentional, it has been extremely frustrating to deal with. I have learned to send all of the information to these contacts right from the start to avoid confusion as much as possible. It has also been important to contact people multiple times, probably more times than necessary, in order to make sure plans stick.

Unfortunately, I do not think my final will end up being anything close to what I had hoped for. Right now, the story is somewhere in the Girls Club Program. I think I will either be working to focus onĀ of the girls or I will be working with the Little Teacher’s Program. I am hoping to be able to pull together something I am still proud of.

The Ideas Partnership

I have visited the Ideas Partnership twice now, on July 6th and July 8th, to get things set up for my final. On the initial visit, I met with Burhan, who was one of the Newborns subjects in order to make connections at the center. Burhan was able to introduce me to one of the managers and several volunteers. At this first meeting, I explained my project and my goals. I came out of this meeting feeling very optimistic as I found out about a “girls’ group” that takes place on Saturdays at the center. The girls are all from RAE communities and many of them are not enrolled in public schools.

For my second visit, I had planned on going to this Saturday program to photograph and also meet with some of the girls to try and find a subject. One of our Kosovar friends, Asllan, came with me to translate (THANK YOU). I had a few technical and logistical issues that prevented me from shooting a lot, but I accomplished my main goal: find subjects.

The program is split into two classrooms, one with younger girls and one with older girls. I spent time in both but chose to talk to the older girls more. Three of the girls, Mirjeta, Vlora, and Semra, were very eager to answer questions and had interesting things to share. I am especially interested in working with Semra, as she wants to be a teacher and has already started helping out with the younger kids at the Ideas Partnership.