At t the beginning of October this year a group of four young people from Kumanovo set of to Leskovac, Serbia for a youth exchange called ‘We Are All Human’ to represent Macedonia, oh and their leader was Welsh?! The exchange included participants from Serbia, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Poland and Lithuania. After the usually cultural learning and introductions the group was split in two parts; film and theatre. These two groups then got down to some hard work creating videos / performances about different types of inequality and discrimination.
The final outcome was that these performances and videos were then performed and screened in front of a large number of local people in Leskovac Cultural Centre and everything was also filmed for local television.
The videos and theatre performances can be found at the Serbian hosting organisations; Resource Centre Leskovac YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RCLeskovac
The exchange was in general an all-round success; there were colourful characters from across Europe that made the exchange not only fun, but extremely interesting. For myself as a Welshman representing Macedonia and responsible for young Macedonians it was extremely interesting. It tested my language skills and gave me a good understanding of Balkan cultural identity. Throughout the exchange I felt welcomed and ever part of the Macedonian family. I want to thank Kristina, Julija, Elena and Hristijan for taking part on this fantastic exchange with me. Dan Carter (Wales / Macedonia)