A reflection on accomplishing the things you want to do.
The community where we live faces various problems that need to be solved. This is how Art Club Amare for the high school ‘Rifat Mnjani’ came about, a club where young people can develop their talents in painting, embroidery and crafts. But not only that, they also served as a voice of young people for the problems that affect them and the community.
It all started with participation in the UpShift program where we won with the idea of creating an arts club. The budget that we won in this program was concretized with the necessary materials for the works. Of course, this was just the beginning of what lay ahead. After a bigger challenge awaited us, that of the continuation of the existence of the club. So we had to think about how we could own it. We came to the conclusion that it was best to sell the works and use the proceeds for materials and causes.
Immediately after the creation of the club, the first works started which would be presented in an exhibition. The Association of Nature and Tourism in Bulqiza was the first partnership with which we decided to carry out works on the tourist sites of the Bulqiza area in the exhibition. This exhibition served for the community to get to know the talents of young people, but also to promote the touristic places of the area.
This exhibition was the first initiative of many others later such as activities, fairs, exhibitions and various activities. We have been part of the National Day of Activism, American Week and local and national fairs since the beginning of the operation as a club. But we have also created various activities where we have been organizing Summer Day for three years. Throughout this activism, we are happy to say that we already have many individuals, organizations, municipal units and local businesses who support us,
Thanks to this activism, meeting new people made us have supporters at the international level as well. Oak House, in America, made our works part of their web, simultaneously helping to promote and sell paintings and crafts. Of course, this was something really big for us.
One of the most important participations that we have had as a club is the participation in the #spark program, offered by Co-PLAN, the Institute for Habitat Development with the support of the Public Relations Office at the American Embassy in Tirana. Here we were able to learn new things about how the club can contribute even more to the community. The initiative in this program was for the club to be able to help young people with special needs with some materials. This initiative and its realization have been among the best experiences throughout our experience. In addition to the initiative, we managed to help two 9-year-old schools with materials for painting and crafts.
What made us happy was not only in materials. Happiness was when we saw the realization of the causes, we saw the works as they entered various businesses, in people’s homes, in the municipal and administrative unit, as we listened to the Minister of State for Children and Young People, Bora Muzhaqi, wish the new year with the works ours. You too can make your dreams come true for your life. Activism, persistence, willingness to work, cooperation are enough. All you need is a spark.