Donor: Danish Association for International Co-operation (Mellemvolkeleight Samvirke)
Duration of the project: May – September 2000
Youth Summer Work Camp organised by the Youth Group of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, with the support of the MS-Denmark, took place in Tekija, a small town situated in the Djerdap gorge of the Danube River, close to the border with Romania. The main purpose of the camp was to provide information, education and training in human rights, with a focus on combating racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. The purpose of the camp was also to bring together young people from the former Yugoslavia and Europe. Therefore the reconciliation aspect of the camp was important as well, considering the aspect of breaking the isolation on the personal level between young people. Besides the importance of bringing young people together, the main concept was also to encourage the people from the local community to catch up with the cultural and social tendencies from other parts of Europe.The participants were divided into small groups during the day based on the working assignments they carried out. The programme envisaged various activities, among which: organisation of the camp cinema (where films made by directors from the former Yugoslavia and by the independent media were shown. The local population were encouraged to participate in these projections); discussions after the films; seminars, lectures and debates on human right issues; exhibitions presenting the works of the authors from the former Yugoslavia; organisation of sport competitions together with the local population; participation in the local Tekija festival called “Zlatna bucka”, which offered the opportunity of participating in the fishing and other sports competitions; etc. The participants also took part in actions aiming at improving the living conditions in the community of Tekija which included activities such as: cleaning the river banks, restoration of the local cinema which was not operating for years, establishing computer and Internet courses for the locals, etc.
