Critical Mass #62
Latest News Critical Mass #62 In May 2014, the citizens’ initiative Bitola #naTocak initiated the first #Critical Mass. Then, for the first time, we called the citizens to come out and send an unambiguous message to the public officials that the traffic in Bitola is practically violence on the asphalt that is nurtured and nourished by the policies that have been practiced for decades, especially in recent years. All this results in pushing and chasing the citizens who move in alternative ways (on foot, on bike, with supportive equipment due to physical disabilities, parents with small children, etc.) from the city streets and forcing them to switch to moving by car as the only way which is safe under the given conditions. Here, after 8 years, the city is not only facing the same problem, but is starting to relentlessly fight with the sudden increase in the number of vehicles, which creates an additional suffocating traffic jam, and citizens who want to be active and move in alternative ways to be thrown into the fire along with the heavyweights on the streets. What we expect from local elected officials is to show a rudimentary sense of safety to move around the city and invest in sustainable modes of movement through safe and comfortable pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. As concerned citizens, we have always been an ally of the Municipality, pointing out to the local authorities that this traffic system is unsustainable and that the Municipality, after decades of investment only in the replacement of asphalt and widening of the streets for the purpose of flow and comfort for cars, it is time to turn back and to see that he has forgotten his citizens who move daily in the city streets in extremely unsafe conditions. In spite of the fact that the citizens came out on the streets 61 times with clear messages, the influence of the Municipality remains 0 kilometers of bicycle infrastructure built. In the meantime, numerous widened and newly opened streets are being built without planning bicycle traffic. Numerous promises for a final turnaround and planning of investments, so that Bitola becomes first of all a city for people, and not a city choked with motor vehicles. In the last local elections all parties and groups that make up the city Council were UNANIMOUS that our reactions are justified and necessary and that they will advocate for changes in traffic planning. When we already have that consensus, we see no reason for further delays. Bitola can become a cycling city in one mandate if it is set as a strategic objective. For now, we don’t see that. While the whole world invests in sustainable lifestyles, we remain stuck in the past.
Label of Trust Workshop
Latest News Label of Trust Workshop On 07.02.2022, 17 civil society organizations got acquainted with the standards of the Label of Trust and the benefits of using it through an online presentation. Among them was the YMCA youth association with its representative. The trust mark is a self-regulatory system that aims to make it easier for citizens and companies to choose trustworthy organizations to which they can donate. It strives to increase long-term trust between civil society organizations (CSOs) and local donors. The label is obtained through a carefully created process and criteria for transparency, accountability, performance results, compliance with legal regulations, etc. Civil organizations that possess the trust mark are good partners of citizens, but also other stakeholders in the community. Why donate to an organization that holds the label of trust? They have passed the process of internal inspection of the operation A board of experts from several fields evaluated the operation of the CSO They are recognized in the community as a reliable partner working in the public interest Increased transparency and accountability of CSOs To acquire the label of trust, a CSO has to adhere to a certain set of principles and criteria in the following areas: Mission and values Democratic management of an organization Financial management Transparency and reporting Communication and Advocacy Fundraising Human resources To receive the trust mark, civil organizations first perform a self-assessment, that is, they fill out a questionnaire for the evaluation of their work, and then the board of the trust mark checks all the documentation and additional meetings with the CSO. At the end of this process, the Board decides whether the CSO will receive the trust mark.
Youth Council in Bitola
Latest News Youth Council in Bitola On February 2, 2022, the constitutive session of the local Youth Council took place in Bitola Municipality. In addition to its project contributions, the YMCA actively engages in the city by participating in the local Volunteering Council. Now, the YMCA extends its involvement in the Youth Council with Ivana assuming the role of President. We extend our best wishes to her and the entire team for success! Ivana Atanasovska was chosen as the Youth Council President from two candidates. Mayor Toni Konjanovski addressed the nine council members, expressing hopes for their future endeavors and encouraging the generation of constructive ideas and proposals. These efforts aim to retain youth in the city and collaborate with local self-government to improve the Municipality’s future. Gabriela Ilievska, the Council President, conveyed her belief that the well-known saying “youth is our future” will be substantiated through the Youth Council’s actions, demonstrating the significant impact young individuals can make in preventing the emigration of their peers. Both the Council President and the Mayor stressed the Municipality’s readiness for continuous collaboration with the Youth Council, anticipating numerous initiatives and projects within legal constraints.
YMCA West Balkan Initiative
Latest News YMCA West Balkan Initiative West Balkan Initiative started during the pandemic period and with the idea of improving self-sustainability, good governance, and idea-sharing for strategical funding as a group in the balkan region. The leaders of YMCAs in N. Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, and Serbia hold regular meetings where they discuss joined strategies and national plans in order to create the action plan for this West Balkan Initiative. The goal is to develop every YMCAs local movement, reaching out to more communities with this joint effort, sharing our mission and vision. Follow our facebook page for updates on this!
Testimonials 2019
Latest News Testimonials 2019 Lidia, Luka, Andrea, Jovche, and the volunteers of “Bitola na tochak” – Mosaic, EVS project “We helped this initiative to become more active, helping them with their cause in every possible way. This meant helping them promote their activities on social networks, creating flyers and leaflets, and distributing them in local cafes along the main pedestrian street in the city (called “Shirok Sokak”). good ideas to the end, and let’s record them. And another thing we did, since we participated in the critical masses. – Luca had a lot of experience with bikes and made sure the bikes were always ready. We also helped at the camps of YMCA Bitola, providing mainly logistical assistance. We made sure all the camper tents were in order, helped with what was needed in the office and the warehouse where the camp supplies were kept, and also went to the campsite to take various things there, and also visited the nearby beautiful town of Krushevo. The third important aspect was the fact that we were given space to explore and show some aspects of our culture, we were given a lot of freedom for this, and we devoted some time to this to see what would happen.” Tamara, Viktor, Davor, Mia, and Sarah – Game on – Olde Vehte, Netherlands “When we applied, we expected it to be a normal project, but as the days passed, we realized that this would be some of our best moments! It all started with a dynamic game and then continued with several conversations we had with people from many other countries, people of various origins, etc. We were all enthusiastic, excited, and running around Olde Wechte with big smiles on our faces. After some time spent with many new friends and even more happy moments, we went to the part where we had a chance to be creative, innovative, and imaginative. We all had fun playing games that we made ourselves, which proved that we are capable of doing things that can give us a lot of excitement later on. It was quite a challenge for all of us, but in the end, it turned out to be the most fun weekend of our lives where we got to know the Dutch culture and gained some important skills! As we were closing the project, we were looking back at all our memories from these two weeks – and we would like to recommend everyone to apply for a youth exchange like this one in Olde Wechte.” Ivo Damjanovski – training in Hungary, organized by Egešek (Hungarian Youth Association) – 22-31.05.2019 “This training introduced me to coaching in more detail and thanks to it I understood the differences between mentoring and coaching, I practiced the tools and techniques I learned in the several coaching sessions, I found the bridge coaching style and I improved my communication (verbal and non-verbal). The training was good because every technique learned was followed by a space to practice it, meaning that the knowledge was not only applicable, but I also had the chance to try it out and experiment with the various techniques on the spot. I can apply the knowledge from the part of communication in my everyday life, but it is also very useful for working with young people, as are all the other tools from the part of coaching that we learned. Indeed, this was quite a useful training!” Bojan Velevski – EVS – Olde Vehte, Netherlands “I studied art history at Saint Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. My hobbies are hiking and photography. I have never lived abroad before, so I was looking for an option to go somewhere, and Wider Horizon was a great opportunity for me. Also, I wanted to participate in the Event Wise event. I remember that when I arrived in Olde Wechte without being quite hospitable. My first impression was amazing. I will be here for two months! At first, I was excited, confused, and happy at the same time. But I know that I wanted this and that it will all be okay. After two months I was genuinely sad that my Wider Horizon was ending because we connected very well with the whole group and it was wonderful to live together with those people. We had so much fun and so much sharing between us. There are several reasons why I decided to go for long-term EVS. When I first came here and saw how people live here and what kind of things are happening, I was just impressed. Another reason is that I met my girlfriend here during the “Wider Horizon” project and we both decided to come back. I learned so many new things, new techniques, and skills. I improved my language skills and cooking skills. I plan to work in the kitchen as much time as possible and also do some of the training, I also want to do a photography project and support the organization as much as I can.” Simona Stojchevska – Training – “Train your team by training yourself” Ravnogor, Bulgaria 22-29.10.2019 “We were participants from about 10 countries, and the goal of this training course was to expand the participants’ knowledge of different methods of training/learning/teaching activities. Different topics were covered: coaching and mentoring, communication and learning styles, setting goals for conflict management, teamwork and leadership, honesty, excuses and lies people play. The program offered us a wide variety of one-on-one coaching techniques. the participants had the opportunity to try the techniques and methods alone, we worked in pairs or trios, allowing us to experience each of the techniques in the role of a coach, participant, and objective observer in indoor and outdoor group activities where participants were able to experience many of the concepts of teamwork and leadership, mostly through body movement and non-verbal communication and rarely through verbal communication. In addition, each of the participants was part of an international 5-member coaching group that met every
Impact Summit 2019
Latest News Impact Summit 2019 On Saturday, the 21st of December, YMCA Bitola hosted its 4th annual Impact Summit at the NOVA International School in Skopje. The goal of the event was to bring together staff and campers from the 2019 GLOW and YMLP camps to highlight the service the campers and staff completed in their home communities both in their local GLOW or YMLP clubs. The event was also a great way to bring the staff and campers together from GLOW and YMLP 2019 to catch up about what everyone has been doing since camp in the summer. This year, 60 club leaders and members attended the event in Skopje to showcase their service projects. All clubs were responsible for designing and implementing their own service projects including applying for grants from YMCA Bitola for any materials they required. This year’s clubs had extremely creative and impactful projects including: working with youth with special needs, workshops on raising awareness topics, and upgrading school walls with useful and educational murals among many others. While the participants were extremely pleased with the classes and the event, we want to especially thank our donors: Mermeren Kombinat, OKTA, SASA Mine, TAV Airports, Alkaloid and Kromberg & Schubert, ESM, EED, Horus as well as individual donors for providing the monetary donations to make Impact Summit possible, and the NOVA International School for allowing us to use their beautiful space. We look forward to seeing all that we can accomplish in our communities this next spring!
Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Autumn) 2019
Latest News Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Autumn) 2019 The GLOW and YMLP Youth Fund by YMCA provides opportunities for GLOW&YMLP Clubs throughout the country to implement skills they ve learned in service project design and management by writing a grant and implementing a project to improve their community. In this years round of grant applications. 10 clubs were awarded the grant based on their project proposals, written by youth leaders, in the areas of environment, civic engagement and arts. GLOW & YMLP Club Bitola had divided their service project in two parts, before and after the new year period. In the first part they did literacy workshop on the subject “Reduce hate speech in the community” adapted to primary school kids, with aspects of improving the sense of belonging among the youth in the special needs communities. This was done in the Primary School “Kliment Ohridski” in Bitola. In the second part. “Diversity and Inclusion” will be included, it will introduce kids to diverse communities, especially with the special needs community. since this project will be mounting bird houses in the park around the school for kids with special needs in Bitola. GLOW & YMLP Club Delcheva did something similar bringing awareness about the discrimination against people with special needs in ther community GLOW and YMLP Club Gevgelija identified couple of Issues in their community – the absence of a recycling progratt and the abundance of litter on the streets. They did a clothing and food drive outside of the theater house in their community. GLOW and YMLP Clubs Gostivar completed their service project by providing some community members and families in Gostivar who are struggling with supplies, to acquire nutritious food, Furthermore, since winter is coming, some families may find it more difficult to acquire food. GLOW and YMLP Club Kochani held their service project having in mind the bad situation of the familles which are financially unstable especially in the winter time. They made blankets for families in need in the community, as well as donating clothes to the Red Cross. GLOW and YMLP Club Resen had their service project making the chemistry classroom more interesting for the students. A wall in that classroom was empty and it needed something that would make studying chemistry a little more interesting for everybody. so painting a periodic table mural made the classroom more interesting. GLOW and YMLP Club Shtip spend their service project with students with special needs and made them feel included and noticed. They tried to break down stereotypes surrounding these issues, but also spread positivity in this melancholic year period of gloomy weather in our city. GLOW & YMLP Club Skopje had their service project also with the theme of inclusion and awareness of youth with special needs. They spend the afternoon with the students at the special needs school and started the process of building relationships with them. They did several holiday themed arts and crafts projects together with the special needs residents of that schools. They don’t get the chance to practice it out of the school classrooms. GLOW & YMLP Club Tetovo conducted a needs assessment for our community and determined that a prevalent problem that they can actually impact with our given resources is the lack of winter clothing available for less privileged members of our community, especially those that we often see sitting outside at intersections even in the coldest months. They made scarves and recycled plastic bags into reusable sitting mats, and finally they went out into the community and gave out gift bags with hats, scarves, gloves, and sitting mats to those in need! We want to especially thank our corporate partners and donors: we want to especially thank aur donors: Mermeren Kombinat. OKTA, SASA Mine, TAV Airports, Alkaloid and kromberg & Schubert, ESM. EED. Horus as well as individual donors for providing the monetary. donations to make these service projects possible, as well as individual donors for providing the monetary donations to make this activities possible.
YMCA Corporate Sponsorship Reception 2019
Latest News YMCA Corporate Sponsorship Reception 2019 On Wednesday November 6th 2019, at the Park Hotel&SPA in Skopje was held the Corporate Sponsorship Reception in which YMCA welcomed the current and previous corporate partners as well as other socially responsible companies present at the event. The aim of the event is to celebrate the youth empowerment and social responsibility honoring the current corporate partners for the GLOW & YMLP Youth Development Program. After the Executive Director of YMCA Viktor Iliev was introduced, he made a brief speech about the importance, added value and some of the key benefits of investing in the non-formal education for young people, as well as the rising social awareness among the millennials which need to be followed by the corporate sector. Then he introduced the U.S. Ambassador, Ms. Katie Mary Byrnes who spoke about her recent visit of the YMLP camp and the importance to invest in our youth to have such experiences so we can become even better in delivering education imbued with sense of strong values modeled around the values of responsibility, courage and democracy. Following were stories of the campers Spasko and Makedonka reflecting upon their recent camp experience and campers alumni josa and Slave who shared impressions from their times at the camp, but also what inspired them later to become successful in life. After that followed the ceremonial part to recognize the 2019 corporate partners Mermeren Kombinat and OKTA as gold sponsors. SASA Mine and TAV Airports as silver sponsors, Alkaloid as bronze sponsor, Kromberg & Schubert as sponsor and ESM as Donor. For this year we also had support through the Horus Macedonia’s “Sustainable Academy project activities. From the training provided from them. weve learned some very useful practices and methods for communicating with our corporate partners aiming toward building more stable partnerships with them during the whole year round. After that there was a period of informal socializing with some of our campers. and alumni. This was a possibility for the company representatives to become better acquainted with the impact of the program throuch the personal stories of the campers.
We have spirit, Yes we have!
Latest News We have spirit, Yes we have! “YMLP I don’t wanna go home” were among the last words chanted as campers packed their bags and left this year’s Young Men’s Leadership Project (YMLP Camp). Camp YMLP is an 8-day, multi-ethnic camp focused on empowering young men to be service leaders in their community. This year’s camp was held from July 14 to 21 in the Begova Korija camp in Krushevo. The campers were joined by 30 Peace Corps staff members and local Macedonian volunteers to serve as facilitators, counselors and support staff for the week. Over the course of 8 days, our campers experienced the great outdoors of sleeping in tents and even learning to prepare their own meals in the forest. Campers spent the entire week in small teams learning, competing and camping together. All teams were tested at the end of the week at the coveted YMLP Olympic Games where all teams competed in a series of water balloon sports and obstacles to crown a winner. This year, the DARK KNIGHTS led by Peace Corps Volunteer Kevin Young came out on top. In addition to games and team building activities, campers had the opportunity to learn about leadership, civic responsibility, ecology, employability and personal development. One of the highlights of the week happened when our campers completed a camp service project where they created trails in the woods for local hikers. To our alumni – we hope you’ll use the tracking step on your next adventurous step. We especially want to thank our corporate partners and donors Mermeren Kombinat, OKTA, SASA Mine, TAV, Alkaloid and Kromberg and Schubert Airports, ESM, EED, Horus as well as individual donors for providing the monetary donations to make the camp possible.
Youth Employability Fairs at Camps GLOW & YMLP 2019
Latest News Youth Employability Fairs at Camps GLOW & YMLP 2019 The Youth Employability Fair (YEF) at GLOW & YMLP showcases the very best of the program’s approach to practical non-formal youth education, In all of GLOW & YMLP’s structured programming, our facilitators introduce the elementary principles of a topic or skill and then pull back, enabling campers to spend a majority of their time discussing their opinions on the ideas presented or actively engaging with and practicing new skills. The latter plays a crucial role in our Youth Employability class, a space where campers explore their career interests and develop the basic employability skills: networking, resume and cover letter writing, and interviewing. With most of GLOW & YMLP’s programming, campers have to wait until after camp to test their newly developed capacities in the real world. This is not the case with our Youth Employability program. The YEF allows campers to meet and network with industry leaders, ranging from sponsors to guests. Not only do campers nave an opportunity to actively practice employability skils, but our corporate sponsors directly engage with campers, serving as mentors in their career exploration, and do campers have an exportunity to actively practice employability skills, but our corporate Sponsors, directiy ensege with tampers, serving, as mentors in their Career exploration and witness the campers passion forthe GLOW & YMLP prograrn. There was a palpable excitement in the air all week at GLOW camp as the future leaders of the country were, perhaps for the first time, able to blossom and explore innovative and progressive ideas with each other through experiential learning. The GLOW girls are, by nature. an ambitious and motivated bunch, and everywhere they turned at camp a new opportunity was waiting to inspire them. The 2019 Youth Employability Fair was no exception. The second annual fair began with an address from CEO loannis Geroulanos of OKTA, a longtime gold-level sponsor of the GLOW and YMLP camps. As the campers situated themselves on the floor of the cafeteria and turned their expectant eyes up toward the speaker, Mr. Geroulanos dropped to the ground himself in his typical, relatable style to address the campers eye-to-eye, It was evident by the number of eager campers who later signed up to attend further break-out sessions with Mr. Geroulanous that his speech about social responsibility, finding one’s passion, and having no fear resonated with and empowered the girls. After the Inspiring preamble from Mr. Geroulanos, campers were ready to take on the next portion of the Youth Employability Fair. In this part of the fair, sponsors and guests promote their organizations in a round-table fashion that allows campers to utilize the skills they practiced throughout the week in their Youth Employability classes. These courageous teenagers fearlessly approached all twelve booths in the cafeteria and engaged with industry leaders in discussions. Not only did this provide an opportunity for campers to become accustomed to promoting themselves in a professional setting. but it also allowed sponsors to observe first-hand how their philanthropy is paying off in an authentic way. After the round table portion also with other professionals like Mermeren Kombinat, Alkaloid, Pekabesko, Rotary clubs, and SEGA Coalition, campers attended workshops with camp staff to perfect their persona. CVs, elevator speeches, and interview skills, Following the workshops, campers attended two rounds of breakout sessions according to the organizations that most interested them Although every breakout session had enthuslastic participants, among the most popular was from the SASA representative Veneta Ristovska who, as a former GLOW alumni herself, energized and motivated the girls in a way that allowed them to envision their tuture selves as successtul professionals in the working world. At YMLP. we kicked things off with a series of professional tables featuring our sponsors and guests, firstly with Mermeren Kombinat. Later, campers were free to rotate around these tables, meet and network with other professionals like OKTA, SASA, TAV Airports, Kromberg&Schubert, AmCham, BrightBox, Cylindo, Rotary clubs, and begin to discover how their professional interests could translate into working for a larger corporation or the civil society sector. Once the conversation died down, we transitioned to our Personal Branding workshop. Utilizing our staff and guests. campers participated in three stations that included: resume writing mentorship, interview practice, and brainstorming questions for our corporate sponsors. During this time, corporate sponsors were given a personalized tour of the campsite and had time to set up for their breakout session. Following the Personal Branding workshop, these breakout sessions began. Each corporate sponsor gave a 20-minute presentation on a topic of their choosing. This presentation was repeated, meaning our sponsors were able to Interact with approximately 15 unique campers in intimate and meaningful conversations. For Leonid Sajkov. al camper from Bitola, OKTAs presentation resonated most with him due [the speakers) wilingness to share her own professiona experience, I really enjoyed the presentation, especially because shel shared her experiences in finding a job, acing Interviews, taking opportunities, and all the risks Involved,” said Leo, Of course, anyone that follows YMLP’s social media knows a tup to camp must include chants. As we said goodbye to sponsors and guests, our campers. showed oft they carg spltand team pride with a booming sendoff. Page The YEFs second year of implementation further indicated the importance of the event and the value it brings to our camp program. Simply put, opportunities to formally explore career opportunities and network with leading professionals are extremely limited in N. Macedonia. We will continue to instill our campers with the professional skills through our Youth Employability class, but developing skills means little if they cannot be practiced. Due to our sponsors and guests interest in helping to mentor and develop the next generation of leaders, this practice is possible. The YEF gets campers excited to demonstrate their employability skills and learn more about themselves and the professional world around them. We look forward to our continued collaboration with sponsors and guests in this scope and future iterations of the GLOW &
