On 24 October 2019, the USAID North Macedonia Country Representative, Erik Janowsky and representatives from the United States European Command jointly visited the primary schools “Brakja Ramiz Hamid” in Suto Orizari and “Kiril i Metodij” in the village of Stajkovci, Gazi Baba, as part of the USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project activities.
During the visit, they were informed of the renovation activities in the “Brakja Ramiz Hamid” school that are implemented under the Project, with financial support of the United States European Command. In the school building, new doors are being installed, the floors of some of the classrooms are renovated, the walls in the halls are being repaired and the music cabinet room is being adapted, while in the satellite school in the village of Gorno Orizari, the school entrance is being renovated.
The Mayor of the Municipality Suto Orizari, Kurto Dudush, expressed the commitment of the municipality to implement activities for improvement of the conditions for stay of the students in the school, as well as to improve the quality of the teaching process. He emphasized that the school participates in the reconstruction by installing a thermal facade and changing the asbestos roof cover.
The director of the “Brakja Ramiz Hamid” school, Alvin Salimovski, believes that the activities involving students from different ethnic communities promote coexistence and integration. The school says that they will continue to organize workshops and other extracurricular activities for strengthening the democratic and civic values among young people.
In the primary school “Kiril i Metodij” in the village of Stajkovci, Gazi Baba, the attendees got acquainted with the youth initiatives that took place in the school in the past period, as a result of the new concept for Civic Education. The students painted the school fence and planted flowers and trees in the yard, and with the support of the Municipality of Gazi Baba, the entertainment section of the yard was paved and a gazebo was installed.
The Mayor of Municipality of Gazi Baba, Boris Georgievski, emphasized that the municipality has a very important role in supporting the schools and students to realize their ideas for improvement of the school community.
The school’s principal, Anita Angelovska, said that the school will continue to foster a democratic school climate and organize youth initiatives, based on which activities will be conducted for strengthening the democratic and civic values among young people.
During the visit, the students also participated in a healthy food workshop. Within the Erasmus + program, the young people prepared food together with their peers from the partner schools from Portugal, Poland and Spain in order to sell it and donate the raised funds for humanitarian purposes. Such activities also contribute to the development of entrepreneurial skills in young people.
The USAID Youth Ethnic Integration Project is a five-year initiative for strengthening the inter-ethnic cohesion among young people and development of the democratic and civic behavior. This project builds on the achievements of the USAID Interethnic Integration in Education Project, which over a five-year period worked closely with all primary and secondary schools, thus building 400 partnerships among schools across the country, organizing intercultural activities involving thousands of students and renovating 63 schools with the support of the US European Command.
Due to the flood that hit the region and the school on 6 August 2016, the school was cleaned and disinfected, pest control measures were taken and the walls were painted in the central and satellite school buildings, with financial support from the United States European Command.
This activity is part of the Youth Ethnic Integration Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of MCEC and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
