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MAK > Projects
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01/09/2009 Podujevo, a municipality of Kosovo, has 23,000 students and a total of 70 computers. The students currently learn Word and Excel. Programming and other aspects of Computer Science is unheard of. This does not bode well for the country's future. As the economy of this war-torn land mushrooms few employees will have skills to maintain the much needed IT infrastructure. Manchester Aid to Kosovo (MAK) has long been involved in education projects. This new MAK initiative aims to increase primary and secondary students' access and interest in Computing in an effort to introduce stability and growth to this new and developing nation.
Help us to equip all schools in Podujevo with computing equipment. With your help MAK hopes to equip all schools in Podujevo with computing equipment and at least 1 trained teacher. Podujevo consists of: - 3 high schools in its town
- 36 primary schools in its town
- 25 primary schools in its villages
Donations in the form of goods, services and/or money would be most appreciated. We need: Hardware Per town school - 45 desktop PCs (with monitors, keyboards & mice)
- 1 server
- 1 Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
- 1 router (48 port)
- 1 toner printer (money to purchase preferred)
- 1 photocopier (money to purchase preferred)
- 1 projector
- Ethernet cables
- Power bars
Per village school - 1 desktop PC (with monitors, keyboards and mice)
- 1 all-in-one printer (money to purchase preferred)
- 1 projector
- 1 ethernet cable
- 1 power bar
Software - Desktop/Laptop Operating Systems
- Server Operating Systems
- Office software
- Programming tools
- e-learning tools
Security Equipment - Money for computer cable locks & security cabinets
Manpower (for a 2 week block between mid-June to mid-July 2010) - Support and Systems Engineers for setup
- Educators to train 60-70 Kosovo teachers in PC maintenance & introductory programming
- Expertise in open source software for schools
- Airline tickets for volunteers
The initial deployment for summer 2010 will focus on completing access to the 3 high schools and 2 primary schools. This would require 225 PCs and 5 servers. Peripheral support devices (printer, projector, etc.) can be donated as such, or alternatively purchased locally providing economic stimulation and ownership within the larger community for the project. Any incremental donation toward our debut installment would be greatly appreciated and recognized.
20/06/2009
Ready for Spring 2010!
In partnership with Podujevo’s ecology group, Ekovizioni, bird houses have been built and installed in the woods of the Manchester Peace Park in Kosovo.
Nest boxes can make a real difference to the success or failure of a breeding species in a given area, especially when accompanied by the regular supply of suitable food and water.
We are really pleased that a variety of bird boxes have been built and installed and there are more to come.
This has all happened less than two months after being given the brief! A huge thank you to Fazli (our fantastic rep in Kosovo) and Rizah and his team of ecology students at Ekovizioni.
It is great to hear that “while we were putting them up today, people crossing by saw the bird boxes and they said 'this is very good and right thing to do '.”
    
Working closely with Ekovizioni, this year will see the start up of a project to develop and install a nature trail on the Peace Park in Kosovo.
For the second year MAK has actively supported the local community in Kosovo in the organization, carrying out, and evaluation of the Great Kosovo Run.
We are proud to report the run was held in the Peace Park in Podujevo on 12th November.
This year four local businesses in Podujevo helped fund the event.
As reported in our Winter Newsletter:
“Helped by local and national media coverage, the run attracted athletes from athletics clubs from all over Kosovo. Hundreds of spectators attended and helped create a great atmosphere, further heightened by the traditional Albanian music and refreshments. We are also pleased to report that all runners made it around safely and without injury. Thanks and praise must go to Mandi Bajgora and the Llapi Athletics Club for their efforts in ensuring the day went ahead smoothly.”
  
For more pictures see the Great Peace Park Run 2009 photo gallery.
We will continue to encourage direct links with the Great Manchester Run (Nova International) to provide the organizers in Kosovo access to specialist advice and support. Keep checking this website for details about the run in 2010!
This year our volunteers visited Kosovo to provide children's summer schools. The aim of the activity was to work with the local teachers to provide fun and educational activities on the Peace Park and on the theme of art and ecology.
As reported in our Autumn Newsletter:
“We ran the Kids Summer Club attracting some 80 local children daily aged 6-16 years. The summer club was held for 7 full days in a local school and on the Manchester Peace Park in Podujevo. Activities included: dance, singing, games, art, craft, sport, jewellery making, a Tshirt design project, nature study and drawing from nature on the Peace Park, enormously popular group parachute games, woodland jogs, football and rounders. This all concluded with a garden party, exhibition, and sports day complete with a crazy hat competition which was kindly judged by Selatin Bogujevci and Enver Duriqi. The Peace Park is dedicated to Selatin and Enver’s families whose personal tragedies were the catalyst to the creation of the Peace Park. The group visited the Bogujevci family grave.”
We donated books on trees, wild flowers, butterflies and insects to the local ecology group Ekovizioni.
 
 
For more pictures see the Summer Trip 2009 photo gallery
The aim of this project is to provide an archive of film and photography to raise awareness about Kosovo and the work of MAK.
 Brief: To use mosaic to make hardwearing and decorative footpaths in the Peace Garden on the Manchester Peace Park in Kosovo.
Project Sponsor: Pam
Project Team: Lucy and Agron
Timescales: Spring or Autumn 2010 (To Be Confirmed)
Want to Get Involved? Email volunteer@makonline.org – we'd love to hear from you.
Want to help fund this project? Visit http://www.justgiving.com/mosaicproject to make a donation
Collaboration between MAK, Eden Project, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Castle Fine Arts Foundry and other artists in the UK and Kosovo has continued. The group has planned collaborative workshops and cultural exchanges. As reported in our Winter Newsletter, check out what they have been up to so far:
>> Peace One Day @ Yorkshire Sculpture Park
On the 20th September, MAK led a day of activities at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield. MAK were honored to lead the ‘Peace One Day’ activities, based upon the concept of global disarmament, peace and unity. On a gloriously sunny day the team led staff and visitors to explore how MAK's creative and construction projects can contribute to recovery and peace. All four MAK artist directors of Art in the Park led the day. Artists Agron and Fazli Blakçori (co-directors of Art in the Park with Matthew Raw and Mike Anitt) also spent a full week as 'artists in residence' at the Sculpture Park. Further activities throughout the day were led by other MAK supporters, and thanks must be given to Jane Knight, Peter Sandover, Stephen Raw, James Walmsley and The Travelling Band.
See the news article when it happened for more information.
>> Party for the Park @ Eden Project
MAK celebrated its 6 year partnership with The Eden Project on Friday 2nd October with a night of music, art, film and dance. Central to the day was the casting of Kosovar sculptor Agron Blakçori's 'Thinking Man' by Castle Fine Arts Foundry of Oswestry. The sculpture will be the first cast work to be installed on the Manchester Peace Park, Podujevo, Kosovo in 2010. Several of Cornwall flag artist Lucy Birbeck's huge 'Orfeo' art flags were brought back for this occasion from the Manchester Peace Park, Kosovo and billowed beautifully on the terrace of The Core. The Travelling Band, who helped lead the dedication of the Manchester Peace Park in March 2009, performed a superb set in the Mediterranean Biome. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the running and organisation of this fantastic occasion.
See the news article when it happened for more information.
>> Manchester Interactive Arts Exhibition
Artists from the UK travelled to the Expoart 40 Gallery in Prishtina to participate in an exhibit titled Interactive Arts from Manchester on the 18th November. The concept of the exhibition was to illustrate to the British and Kosovar artists new cultural and creative perspectives, and to promote cultural exchange between European Nations, through the uniting language of art. The visiting artists learned about art in Kosovo, and also about culture and everyday life to see where South Eastern European artists find their inspiration within their communities. Thanks must go to Fazli Blakçori and Saranda Bogujevci who jointly curated the exhibition, and all the artists for their work and effort.
See the news article when it happened for more information
Jo has been busy compiling the second Manchester album, '10' and it’s nearly ready!
In 1999, Pam Dawes put together the MAK compilation album Cohesion, showcasing Manchester’s emerging musical talent and including tracks from Elbow and Doves. 10 years later, curated by The Travelling Band’s Jo Dudderidge, 10 will be released in the New Year to once again support MAK’s work in Kosovo.
Elbow and Doves will again provide tracks for the compilation alongside more of Manchester’s emerging talent, including Cherry Ghost, Liam Frost, The Travelling Band, Nancy Elizabeth and Gideon Conn.
The album will be sold as a CD and hopefully via iTunes. It is likely that at this stage additional tracks can only be accepted for sale online. Contact pam@makonline.org for more details.
Work will continue on the Peace Park in Kosovo. In the year ahead it is hoped that gates and signage will be installed, and grass seed will be sown on the main field ready for the various planned sports pitches and courts. The trim trail will also be completed this year.
It is anticipated that the approach this year will also include starting up subprojects that can be managed independently and where possible worked on throughout the year by the local community in Kosovo. Likely subprojects include: the all-weather 5-a-side football pitch; the pond; the older-children's play area.
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