Transforming Violence through Play in Nature
Manchester Peace Park, Podujeva, Kosovo, August 7-21, 2010
by Karen Payne and David Hawkins
“The children in the town will love Wild Zones! They like to be outside
but they have never played creatively in nature in these ways. Their
lives are still hard because of the war and they are so happy when
they can try something new.”
- Saranda, who invited us to create the Wild Zone in Kosovo. She survived
the massacre in Podujeve at age 13 when her mother, her two brothers,
her grandmother, aunt and cousin were killed.
Summary
Our work in Kosovo was in two parts:
1. Creating and playing in the Wild Zone in the Manchester Peace Park
2. Presentation to 40 medical personnel at the Podujeva Hospital about the
benefits of nature, play and art for healing from trauma
You can see more photos of the children of Kosovo in their new Wild Zone at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21620302@N06/sets/72157624954369226/show/
Background
In March 1999 people in Podujeva, Kosovo (population 130,000) received
warnings that Serbian paramilitary groups were in their area. The men went into
hiding because previous raids had always targeted Muslim men (Podujeva is 95%
secular Muslim). When Serbian paramilitaries arrived in part of the city and
found the men gone, they rounded up and shot 19 women and children.
Fourteen were killed outright and 5 were gravely wounded.
Saranda Bogujevci, aged 13, had sixteen bullets removed from her body and her
arm was almost destroyed. Six members of her family were killed in the
massacre. After extensive medical treatment in Manchester, England, Saranda
gave key evidence at a war crimes trial of three members of the Scorpions, a
paramilitary group alleged to be acting on behalf of the Serbian police. The
perpetrators of the atrocity were convicted and imprisoned.
In preparing her evidence, Saranda was counseled by Pam Dawes of Manchester
Aid to Kosovo. The children have also spoken in schools and churches about
ethnic reconciliation and their story became the core of an exhibition at the
Imperial War Museum (North) on Children and War. In 2003 the children
received the first Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage.
Our Partners: Manchester Aid to Kosovo (MAK), Manchester, England
Manchester Aid to Kosovo (MAK) is dedicated to providing aid and support to the
peoples of Kosovo. MAK was started by five men in a pub in 1998 when they
heard the unfolding reports of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Their decision to send
aid caught the imagination of the Greater Manchester people. Within two weeks
a convoy of 300 tons of aid was on its way from Manchester to Kosovo Albanians
in refugee camps in Albania. Within a year MAK transported 1,000 tons of crisis
aid to the region.
Hundreds of people contributed time and money to make this the largest
humanitarian convoy to cross Europe in 1999. Rock bands in Manchester,
including Doves, Elbow, Badly Drawn Boy, New order, Homelife and Mr. Scruff
offered benefit concert and made a special benefit CD for MAK.
For the past 10 years MAK has maintained their commitment to the people of
Kosovo. MAK supports recovery in Kosovo by providing opportunities,
resources, and developing partnerships in these areas:
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Art, Music and Sport
Construction of the Manchester Peace Park
Promoting justice and equality
Collecting and Distributing Aid
Family support
Education
Creating a Peace Park to Help Heal a Community from Atrocities
On a return visit to their hometown in Kosovo, Saranda and two other children
who survived the massacre had the idea of building a park there. They felt that
their recovery in Manchester had been aided by the peace and beauty of the
public parks. They hoped a park would help those at home recover from the
atrocities that took place in their community. They wanted their park to be a
living symbol of the love they received from the people of Manchester, so they
called it the Manchester Peace Park.
Wild Zones and the Manchester Peace Park
The founders of Wild Zones began our partnership with MAK in 2004. We
selected the Manchester Peace Park as one of the projects to feature in our
exhibition at the Eden Project in England called Cultivating Community. The
exhibition showed how people around the world transform violence through
innovative projects that involve gardens and care of the earth. We were
privileged to be involved in conversations with Saranda, her father and her uncle
as they envisioned the Peace Park with the Eden Project, Pam Dawes and the
founders of MAK. Together we explored the ways that examples of the other
projects in the exhibition could deepen our understanding of how the
Manchester Peace Park could be a profound source of healing the traumas
suffered in Podujeva.
The Manchester Peace Park is now a reality, and we were honored to be invited
by Saranda, the Board of MAK and community organizations in Podujeva to create
a Wild Zone in the Park in August, 2010.
We were not able to raise grant funding to support the Kosovo project on short
notice. We are grateful to all of our friends, colleagues, and several families who
come to Wild Zone events in California who contributed funding for our work in
Kosovo. We were very moved by the generous gifts to our online fundraising
through ChipIn.org (US) and Just Giving (UK).
Outcomes
Creating and Playing in the Wild Zone at the Manchester Peace Park
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Four areas in the woodland were selectively thinned and supplied with a
variety of natural materials. These continue to function as sites for play
and as ‘galleries’ for people in the community to see the results of the
children’s creativity
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Two tons of beautiful and varied rock were purchased for the Wild Zone in
the Peace Park. These will remain in the galleries for people of all ages to
use in ongoing projects.
Translation from Albanian: Go explore! Go Discover! Create! Have Fun!
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80 children made forts, and created rock sculptures for the first time. For
almost all of them this was their first time to explore off the paths, forage
for natural materials, use a wheelbarrow, work with tools, or experience
self-directed play in the woods. All of the children enjoyed these
activities, but some of them were ecstatic and unstoppable – move over
Andy Goldsworthy!
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Several children brought their parents to see what they had done and the
parents expressed joy and gratitude that their children were having these
experiences. Some of them told us that they would come back and
continue these activities with their children.
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Older people who walk regularly on the pathways through the woods
were delighted to see the children’s dens and sculptures. They are still
sad and traumatized by the death and destruction they experienced
during the war, but they said how wonderful it was to see new forms of
creativity and play emerging.
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Eight Albanian-speaking Play Rangers were trained and had hands-on
experience in facilitating child-directed play in nature.
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Thanks to an introduction from our partners at KaBoom!, we met Lance
Dickenson from the US Embassy in Kosovo. As an advisor to the Kosovo
Security Force (KSF), he has been promoting community service among
the KSF. He arranged a meeting with an officer of the Kosovo Security
Force (KSF), a NATO advisor and staff of Manchester Aid to Kosovo. As a
result, the KSF has pledged volunteers and materials for several projects
needed to complete the infrastructure of the Manchester Peace Park in
Podujeva.
2. Presentation to 40 medical personnel at the Podujeva Hospital about the
benefits of nature, play and art for healing from trauma
Outcomes:
 During the presentation a lively discussion developed in the audience.
They spontaneously began suggesting ideas for using nature to heal the
trauma of the adults in Podujeva. At one point, two people said
simultaneously in Latin, Medicus curat, natura sanat, which translates:
“The physician treats, but nature heals”. This led to further animated
discussion of possible projects.
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Saranda (who survived the massacre when she was 12 years old) wants to
introduce play therapy for children in hospitals in Kosovo.
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The Director of the hospital that is across the street from the Peace Park
has committed his support to all who expressed an interest in exploring
ways to use nature to heal the community. A further meeting to discuss
using nature to heal trauma is planned for September.
We hope this report will give you a sense of the impact of your generosity on the
people of Podujeva as they continue to heal from their traumatic experiences of
war.
With gratitude to all of you,
Karen, David, the children of Podujeva, and our wonderful partners at
Manchester Aid to Kosovo.
Pam Dawes of Manchester Aid to Kosovo with the children in the den they built
together.