“The interethnic communication remains one of the biggest challenges in Kosova. This lack of communication is most apparent in the limited knowledge that young people have about each other. They live with the prejudices and stereotypes instilled in them by the society,” Kadriu pointed out.

Enver Bajrami, spokesman of the Department of Education at the Municipality of Vushtrri, says that during 2017 only, 29 students dropped out of high school, whereas only one dropped out of primary school.

According to the head of the Kosovo Blind Association (KBA), Bujar Kadriu, most of the employees work as therapists, teachers, and in information technology. On the other hand, he says that the institutions do not provide enough space to increase the number of blind employees.

From the research “Women in Entrepreneurship” that was conducted by Riinvest Institute in 2017, it turned out that only 10 % of active businesses in Kosova are owned by women. This research emphasizes that most of these businesses are small and are mainly oriented in the trade and service sector, such as beauty and hairdressing parlors.

This center was founded with the intention of integrating people with mental disabilities into society. To build this center, more than 160,000 Euro was invested in 2016. The treatment at this center has been successful this far, although there are individuals who haven’t been able to socialize for decades.

“The phenomenon that is happening in Vushtrri is quite concerning. This is because the lives of families that are targeted by these criminals are endangered. Every citizen, from families to neighborhoods, education institutions, and religious institutions need to give their best in order to teach new generations not to steal. At the end, legal measures should be taken for those who steal.”

Forty youngsters, 20 Albanians and 20 Serbians, are learning the English language, near the bridge of the “Ibër” river. Since the end of war, the bridge separates the northern part of Mitrovica with mostly Serbs living in it, and the western part of Mitrovica with mostly Albanians living in it.

Vahide Morina, a psychologist at the Foundation Together Kosovo (FTK), located in Prishtina, gives advice on the web-page www.nukjevet.net for youth aged 12-25 and the problems they face. Among others, she helps them with professional instructions regarding trafficking, sexual abuse and sexual harassment. During the last two years, she also helps them in the field of reintegration in society.

A classroom with 12 students with special needs, such as Down syndrome, autism, speech and hearing impediment etc. still exists in “Ali Kelmendi” school. Two teachers use different games to teach boys and girls, aged 8 to 19.

“We noticed that the number of excessive users is increasing, because some drugs are often used in combination with alcohol. This is another problem, when these two get mixed. For example, cocaine and alcohol are linked to each other. The majority of those who use cocaine also use a lot of alcohol. During the next stages we are not sure whether they are addicted to alcohol or cocaine: often times it is both. Individuals develop double addictions,” says Blakaj.

Around 264,000 elementary school pupils in Kosovo have the option to learn sexual education in subjects such as biology or some other elective subjects. However, not all teachers teach the chapter about sexual education, although it is included in the curriculums designed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

“When you grow up in a small country where the LGBTQ community is still taboo, you have to be very strong to tell society how you feel. You have to expect common negative comments,which can really hurt you. Now I have friends who belong to the community and I feel like my true self when I am surrounded by people like me. My family still doesn’t know. They have their doubts but I haven’t told them how I feel. This bothers me the most because they don’t know and I am always stressed about it. When you know your family and you know that they are homophobes, you know what you will be dealing with,” says Y.U.