By: Bosiljka Vukanic<\/p>\n\n
Although political narratives often emphasize differences, everyday problems such as water cuts, environmental pollution, unemployment and the migration of young people equally affect both Albanians and Serbs in the Peja region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n Every day, we are loaded with news describing the political situation in Kosovo, big words of “big” people, big talks that do not solve anything. The same news is read by a Serb from Gorazdevac and an Albanian from Poscece, who do not have water from 8 am to 18 pm for several months during the summer. Both cannot sleep at night because of the noise of illegal sand separations. Both cannot water their fields because Bistrica has less and less water. They both clean up the garbage in front of their yards every day that passers-by throw out of their cars, and they both have no one to talk to in the evenings because their children have gone somewhere in the white world to look for their happiness and a better future. When the two meet somewhere, they will not talk about how the elections in Kosovo went or how the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina went, but they will talk about how was wheat this year, how the hail destroyed crops or how the summers are getting warmer and the winters are getting milder, how our water, air and land have been polluted, or how their daughters and sons have been waiting for work for 20 years. The forces that shape our daily lives don’t care about who we are or how we identify. A hole in the road will damage any vehicle, regardless of its quality or price, just as everyday problems which affect every person no matter what his last name or religion he professes.<\/p>\n\n Kosovo has been facing high unemployment and the migration of young people for years. About 1,1 million people of working age live in Kosovo. Of these, only 43,2% are economically active (employed or looking for work), while only 38,6% are employed. During 2024. 37.451 people left Kosovo. In the last ten years, about 100 residents have left Gorazdevac. Many young people in Kosovo do not see enough prospects for their future and are thinking about leaving. Those who stay most often do so because of work, family or a strong connection to their birthplace. Long-term unemployment and feelings of uncertainty often negatively affect the mental health of young people, increasing the risk of anxiety and depression, which is why many see leaving as an opportunity for a better and safer life. The migration of young and educated people from Kosovo leads to the loss of the working-age population, accelerates demographic aging and poses a serious challenge to long-term economic and social development.<\/p>\n\n Environmental pollution<\/strong> is a major problem for human health in Kosovo. Nature can be merciless, and if we destroy it, it will take all people with it, whether they live in Gracanica, Vitomirica or Djakovica.<\/p>\n\n The inhabitants of the Pec region drink water from Bistrica, a river that has been intensively exploited for years by extraction of sand and gravel. Such exploitation changes the riverbed, endangers the flora and fauna, but also adversely affects the safety and quality of life of the local population. In addition, Bistrica is seriously polluted, as waste is disposed of in numerous places in its riverbed. Farmers who irrigate fields with water from Bistrica often complain that slippers, toys, plastic bags, balls and other waste reach their crops together with water. Although they regularly remove garbage, it constantly remains in the fields where wheat, corn, potatoes and other agricultural crops are grown. These crops are later used to feed people and livestock or sold on the market, which further raises the issue of food safety and environmental protection.<\/p>\n\n In 2019. the residents of Gorazdevac, Ponosevac, Vragovac and Babic organized six protests in front of the newly built “Swiss” plant, due to the suspicion that chemical waste was stored at that location. Residents asked company representatives for evidence of the nature of the waste that was delivered but never received it. Suspicion of the presence of chemical waste was a problem for all communities living near the plant and, at least for a short time, united them in a common demand for a healthier and safer environment, primarily because of the future of their children.<\/p>\n\n Kosovo is a space that is shared equally by all people, regardless of whether they pray in a mosque, church or cathedral, the nature that surrounds us does not recognize differences, and pollution has no boundaries. <\/p>\n\n One of the biggest problems that the inhabitants of Gorazdevac and about thirty other places in the vicinity of Pec have been facing for years is water cuts. That happens mainly during the summer months and last up to 12 hours a day, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night. The inhabitants of these places therefore store water in barrels, bottles and balloons in order to use it in periods when there are cuts.<\/p>\n\n In the 21.st century, people in modern society are still forced to bathe with water heated on the stove and to prepare food using the water they have previously collected in bottles and other containers. Water cuts seriously affect daily life, hygiene and, indirectly, the health of the population. Although these cuts have not yet been in place this year, residents still fear that the problem could reappear.<\/p>\n\n Another big problem is the constant power outages. The poor power grid, built decades ago, gives way even with minor changes in the weather. When the power goes out on cold winter nights, darkness and cold make no difference.<\/p>\n\n For years, the narrative of differences that are supposedly insurmountable has been spreading in Kosovo society. However, the moment we close our ears to political incitement, we realize that we live in a reality that is often cruel to ordinary people \u2013 a reality in which our rivers dry up, young people leave, and the environment is polluted. Although identity is very important for all citizens of Kosovo, the way to a better future lies in overcoming such differences. When we agree to change the environment in which we live together for the better, it will also mean better coexistence. If problems unite us, then it should also be the solutions to those problems. A safe future lies not in the symbols that distinguish us, but in the willingness to put the world we live in in in order together.<\/p>\n\n (The author has a degree in English Language and Literature and holds a master’s degree in the same field. She lives and works in Gorazdevac (Pec) as an English teacher at the “Sveti Sava” High School<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Bosiljka Vukanic Although political narratives often emphasize differences, everyday problems such as water cuts, environmental pollution, unemployment and the migration of young people equally affect both Albanians and Serbs in the Peja region. Every day, we are loaded with news describing the political situation in Kosovo, big words of “big” people, big talks that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,46,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-balline-en","category-news","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11588,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11587\/revisions\/11588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musineinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}