"I believe that student
exchanges and summer study programs are a very powerful way
in which we can shape global understanding and cooperation.
What Tony and his Foundation have done is really great. The
hospitality of the people of Gjilan is amazing. Kosovo is a
very rich place to learn and to study and even just to
visit. For me, being a co-instructor of this course has been
a very enriching experience. Our students - both foreign and
domestic - have also been super good!"
Dr. Gianfranco Brusaporci
BPP 2015 Co-Instructor
Assistant Professor at the University of
National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria
"Participating
in the Balkan Peace Program is one of the best decisions a
student can make. Individuals are thrown into a beautifully
unique world, abundant in culture and history. Within a
short three weeks, an individual will be exposed to a
plethora of themes and realities, not only specific to
Kosovo or Albanians, but to the international community as
well. As a student you will be awarded with an on the ground
understanding and perspective of how international programs
and diplomacy are executed. My personal experience, as an
Albanian-American, was somewhat of an emotional roller
coaster. The program encouraged and facilitated personal
growth and development. I left Kosovo with a new awareness,
not only in international relations and diplomacy, but with
Albanian culture. I would highly recommend this program to
all students, not just those pursuing studies within these
fields. It was truly a rich and rewarding experience. It was
the first time I had visited Kosovo, but I can assure you it
will not be the last."
Nikolin
Turtulli
Michigan State University, USA, BPP 2015 Participant
"Through
the Balkan Peace Program I got the highly valuable
possibility to experience a post-conflict society. Now that
I am writing my Bachelor thesis I have faces and personal
histories to the conflict parties. This gives me a deeper
and more practical understanding of my topic. Besides, I
made some great new friends and got the chance to travel
through a beautiful region."
Mascha Schadlich
University of Bremen, Germany, BPP 2015 Participant
"The
Balkans Peace program was, in short, an enriching
experience. The things you can learn through intimate,
firsthand contact, host-families, and friends, is very
different than what you'd get in an conventional classroom.
You learn all about the intricacies and nuances of a culture
that is neither totally strange nor totally familiar, but
loaded with a sense of tradition and memorial that is still
(for me) very hard to grasp. It was an incredibly experience
to listen, to wonder, and to absorb the lives and voices of
my Kosovar friends. I come out of it with a deep sense of
what it means to exist through conflict, live through
nation-building, and struggle with identities. On top of
this, the sense of hospitality and friendship among Kosovars
in impeccable, and for this I hope to visit again someday."
Kevin Holowack
University
of Alberta, Canada, BPP 2015 Participant
"The
Balkans Peace Program provided myself, along with many other
international students, the unique chance to acquire insight
into a predominantly overlooked area of the planet.
Returning home, I encountered the same volume of queries
into just from where exactly it was I had returned. However,
instead of grudgingly racing through my usual geographical
descriptions, I found myself ranting on about not only where
Kosovo was, but how, why, what, and who it was. This marked
change was only a shallow indicator of my growth... Living
and breathing the Kosovo lifestyle served to open my
ignorant first world eyes to an entirely separate state of
human affairs. I am better for it, and truly consider the
Balkans Peace Program one of the greatest journeys of my
young life."
Kane Mullen
University of Alberta, Canada, BPP 2015
Participant
Some
Pictures:
Mind you that between the program staff and participating
students, thousands of pictures have been taken. In what
follows, we will only be able to present of few of these
pics...
A moment from daily lectures with co-instructor,
Dr. Brusaporci
Cheers to another successful and fun
day... right by the campfire.
A visit at the Adem Jashari Memorial
Complex
Dinner time, during one of the out-of-town
tours...
At the Newborn Monument in Prishtina
At the Drini River spring during the Tour
of Kosovo
Student pose in front of the Skenderbeu
Monument
Ambassador Jan Braathu of Norway addresses
the BPP 2015 class
With Mr. Jamison (third from right, front
row) of the
US Embassy after his address to the BPP 2015 class
With Mr. Gnocchi, Deputy EU Special Rep to Kosovo,
during his address to
the BPP 2015 class
With Mr. Korqa (fourth from left, front
row) after his address to the BPP 2015 class
Visit at the Kosovo Ethnographic Museum
At a meeting with
the Association of the War Veterans of KLA
in Gjilan
Inside the Gadime Cave
Beach time in Albania
Castle of Shkoder, Albania
Castle of Kruja, at the National Museum of
Skenderbeg, Albania
At the Mother Teresa
Cathedral in Prishtina
Time for a picnic in the beautiful nature
of Kosovo
From left to right: Tony Bislimi, Rector
Syla, Vice Rector Tosumi, and Halit Bislimi, Executive
Director of TBG Foundation hand out
certificates of completion to the graduates of BPP 2015 during the closing
ceremony
Closing Ceremony Picture after
certificates are handed out
Kosovo media cover the activities of BPP
2015 - ZERI Daily Newspaper article is shown in this pic.
TBG
Foundation 
